Read Online The Draining Lake by Arnaldur Indridason - Free Book Online
Authors: Arnaldur Indridason
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that the body in Kleifarvatn was that of a man aged between 35 and 40. Based on the age of the accompanying Russian device, it had been left in the lake some time after 1961. A detailed study had been made of the black box discovered under the skeleton. It was a listening device – known in those days as a microwave receiver – which could intercept the frequency used by NATO in the 1960s. It was marked with the year of manufacture, 1961, badly filed off, and such inscriptions as remained to be deciphered were clearly Russian.
Erlendur examined newspaper reports from 1973 about the Russian equipment being found in Lake Kleifarvatn and most of what Marion Briem had told him fitted the journalists' accounts. The devices had been discovered at a depth of ten metres just off Geirshöfdi cape, some distance from where the skeleton had been found. He told Sigurdur Óli and Elínborg about this and they discussed whether it might be linked to their skeleton. Elínborg thought it was obvious. If the police had explored more thoroughly when they'd found the Russian equipment, they might have found the body as well.
According to contemporary police reports, the divers had seen a black limousine on the road to Kleifarvatn when they went there the previous week. They immediately thought it was a diplomatic car. The Soviet embassy did not answer enquiries about the case, nor did other Eastern European representatives in Reykjavík. Erlendur found a brief report stating that the equipment was Russian. It included listening devices with a range of 160 kilometres which were probably used to intercept telephone conversations in Reykjavík and around the Keflavík base. The devices probably dated from the 1960s, and used valves that had been rendered obsolete by transistor technology. They were battery-powered and would fit inside an ordinary suitcase.
The woman sitting opposite them was approaching seventy but had aged well. She and her partner had not had children by the time of his sudden disappearance. They were unmarried but had discussed going to the registrar. She had not lived with anyone since, she told them rather coyly but with a hint of regret in her voice.
'He was so nice,' the woman said, 'and I always thought he'd come back. It was better to believe that than to think he was dead. I couldn't accept that. And never have accepted it.'
They had found themselves a small flat and planned to have children. She worked in a dairy shop. This was in 1968.
'You remember them,' she said to Erlendur, 'and maybe you too,' she said, looking at Sigurdur Óli. 'They were special dairy shops that only sold milk, curds and the like. Nothing but dairy products.'
Erlendur nodded calmly. Sigurdur Óli had already lost interest.
Her partner had said he would collect her after work as he did every day, but she stood alone in front of the shop and waited.
'It's more than thirty years ago now,' she said, with a look at Erlendur, 'and I feel like I'm still standing in front of the shop waiting. All these years. He was always punctual and I remember thinking how late he was after ten minutes had gone by, then the first quarter of an hour and half an hour. I remember how infinitely long it was. It was like he'd forgotten me.'
She sighed.
'Later it was like he'd never existed.'
They had read the reports. She reported his disappearance early the following morning. The police went to her home. He was reported missing in the newspapers and on radio and television. The police told her he would surely turn up soon. Asked whether he drank or whether he had ever disappeared like this before, whether she knew about another woman in his life. She denied all these suggestions but the questions made her consider the man in completely different terms. Was there another woman? Had he ever been unfaithful? He was a salesman who drove all over the country. He sold agricultural equipment and machinery, tractors, hay blowers, diggers and bull-dozers, and
Erlendur examined newspaper reports from 1973 about the Russian equipment being found in Lake Kleifarvatn and most of what Marion Briem had told him fitted the journalists' accounts. The devices had been discovered at a depth of ten metres just off Geirshöfdi cape, some distance from where the skeleton had been found. He told Sigurdur Óli and Elínborg about this and they discussed whether it might be linked to their skeleton. Elínborg thought it was obvious. If the police had explored more thoroughly when they'd found the Russian equipment, they might have found the body as well.
According to contemporary police reports, the divers had seen a black limousine on the road to Kleifarvatn when they went there the previous week. They immediately thought it was a diplomatic car. The Soviet embassy did not answer enquiries about the case, nor did other Eastern European representatives in Reykjavík. Erlendur found a brief report stating that the equipment was Russian. It included listening devices with a range of 160 kilometres which were probably used to intercept telephone conversations in Reykjavík and around the Keflavík base. The devices probably dated from the 1960s, and used valves that had been rendered obsolete by transistor technology. They were battery-powered and would fit inside an ordinary suitcase.
The woman sitting opposite them was approaching seventy but had aged well. She and her partner had not had children by the time of his sudden disappearance. They were unmarried but had discussed going to the registrar. She had not lived with anyone since, she told them rather coyly but with a hint of regret in her voice.
'He was so nice,' the woman said, 'and I always thought he'd come back. It was better to believe that than to think he was dead. I couldn't accept that. And never have accepted it.'
They had found themselves a small flat and planned to have children. She worked in a dairy shop. This was in 1968.
'You remember them,' she said to Erlendur, 'and maybe you too,' she said, looking at Sigurdur Óli. 'They were special dairy shops that only sold milk, curds and the like. Nothing but dairy products.'
Erlendur nodded calmly. Sigurdur Óli had already lost interest.
Her partner had said he would collect her after work as he did every day, but she stood alone in front of the shop and waited.
'It's more than thirty years ago now,' she said, with a look at Erlendur, 'and I feel like I'm still standing in front of the shop waiting. All these years. He was always punctual and I remember thinking how late he was after ten minutes had gone by, then the first quarter of an hour and half an hour. I remember how infinitely long it was. It was like he'd forgotten me.'
She sighed.
'Later it was like he'd never existed.'
They had read the reports. She reported his disappearance early the following morning. The police went to her home. He was reported missing in the newspapers and on radio and television. The police told her he would surely turn up soon. Asked whether he drank or whether he had ever disappeared like this before, whether she knew about another woman in his life. She denied all these suggestions but the questions made her consider the man in completely different terms. Was there another woman? Had he ever been unfaithful? He was a salesman who drove all over the country. He sold agricultural equipment and machinery, tractors, hay blowers, diggers and bull-dozers, and
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