Read Online Sun on Fire by Viktor Arnar Ingólfsson - Free Book Online Page A

good ideas. They can use a guy with good connections and who knows the culture. At one point there was talk of making Anton Icelandic ambassador to East Asia, but the minister demurred on account of some gossip.”
    “Gossip?”
    “It’s not something that I can repeat.”
    “Did Anton have any family?”
    “He was unmarried, and had no children.”
    “Was he in this business by himself?”
    “Yes, but he had an assistant who traveled with him.”
    “So the assistant wasn’t with him here at the embassy on Sunday?”
    “No. Anton came on his own—after the reading, in fact.”
    “Have you heard from this assistant?”
    “Yes, he contacted us yesterday when Anton didn’t show up at their hotel. Arngrímur informed him of Anton’s death and took the guy’s information. The man also agreed to wait for ourpolice to contact him at the hotel. Arngrímur has his name and cell phone number.”
    “Who knew that Anton would be visiting here?”
    “I have no idea. I only found out myself shortly before the reading, when he called to invite me out to dinner. He said he was in Berlin unexpectedly for one night and wanted to see me. I told him to come to the embassy, which he did.”
    “So the killer must have had some other way of finding out that Anton was expected at the embassy?”
    The ambassador hesitated. “Yes, if he actually did have that information in advance.”
    “He must have known it, since he brought his weapon with him. He couldn’t have found the knife here in the building, could he?”
    “No.” Konrad shook his head. “I understand it was some kind of hunting knife.”
    “Which one of your guests is most likely to carry a knife like that?”
    “I have no idea.”
    “You’re certain you didn’t keep such a knife in your office desk?”
    “Absolutely certain.”
    16:50
    Arngrímur, Gunnar, and Commissar Fischer met the German forensic team’s van outside the Felleshus. Arngrímur directed them to the basement parking lot’s entrance beneath the plaza, and opened it with a remote control. The van drove cautiously down the ramp, with the three of them following on foot. Arngrímur pointed out where the entrance to the Icelandic embassy was, at the far end of the basement. It was quicker to move the equipment this way than to carry it through the Felleshus and across the plaza. This was the same route taken when the body was removed from the crime scene twenty-four hours earlier.
    Fischer said, “I assume the security people will have all the entrance systems here professionally tested.”
    “I’ll look into that,” Arngrímur replied, opening the door to the embassy basement.
    Four forensic specialists clad in white coveralls had climbed out of the van and were fishing out bags of equipment. In the meantime, Fischer was writing something in a notebook. Finally he tore the page from the book and handed it to Gunnar. “For form’s sake, here are the names of these four colleagues of mine,” he said.
    Gunnar took the piece of paper and shook hands with the men. “Thank you for your help,” he said.
    They all took the elevator up to the fourth floor, where Anna was waiting for them, also dressed in white coveralls.
    “Hello,” she said, coughing.
    Gunnar heard the youngest German whisper to his buddy, “He brought his grandma with him.”
    Fischer evidently heard this, too, because he grabbed the guy’s arm and said quietly, “You better show these people some respect. They are your colleagues.”
    The young man blushed. “Sorry, sir,” he whispered.
    Gunnar introduced Anna to the team. “She will be overseeing your work and countersigning all samples. I’ll be available to do any necessary interpreting.”
    Tobias Fischer turned to Gunnar and said, “Well, it looks like I’m finished here for the day. Please contact me if you need my help.”
    He wrote a telephone number on a business card and gave it to Gunnar. “Here are all my details and also my personal cell phone