enough of this stuff?’ she snapped, throwing away the remainder of her cigarette and stalking into the building.
Gunna was in the lobby, her phone to her ear, when Herbert arrived with Einar, a broad-shouldered version of his younger brother but with hair cut sensibly and a businesslike air about him. Herbert had dark rings under his eyes and Gunna guessed he hadn’t seen much of his bed.
She cornered him once Einar was closeted with his mother.
‘Right, what happened last night?’
‘Hell, I don’t rightly know. It was on the road coming into Hveragerdi. It looks like the road was icy, he was driving too fast and lost it on one of the bends.’
‘Any witnesses?’
Herbert shrugged. ‘For what it’s worth, there was a truck about a kilometre behind him. The driver saw Elmar’s van on the bend and the next thing he knew it was rolling over off the road. It was the truck driver who called us out. When we got to the crash site, he was sitting in the van holding Elmar’s hand and keeping him awake.’
‘You said Elmar drove a van? What sort?’
‘I don’t know. A Toyota or a Nissan or some such thing.’
‘What colour?’
‘I’m not sure. Blue or black. He hadn’t had it long and I didn’t pay much attention to it. I’ve been a bit busy as well.’
‘And where is it now?’
‘It’ll be in the pound behind the police station. A recovery truck collected it last night.’
Gunna rattled her fingernails in an irregular tattoo against the wall as she thought.
‘Can you either get back to Selfoss and take some pictures of that van and email them to me, or get someone there to do it right now?’
‘Yeah, of course. I’ll get one of the guys at the station to do it,’ Herbert agreed, surprised at the intensity of Gunna’s demand.
‘You got a statement from the truck driver, didn’t you? This was definitely an accident?’
Herbert looked suspicious. ‘That’s what the man said and I don’t have a reason to not believe him. He said it was a clear road and Elmar was driving fast as he hadn’t long overtaken him.’
‘Fair enough,’ Gunna decided. ‘I’ll assume it was just an accident until I have a reason to think otherwise.’
Helgi didn’t have much appetite for breakfast. The hotel was virtually empty and the girl who had been on reception the night before brought him coffee, avoiding his eye as she did so. He texted Halla and told her how much he was missing her, waiting for his phone to bleep in response as he munched toast and the coffee began to nibble at the fringes of his dull headache.
He was wondering if the girl dispensing coffee stayed in the hotel at night, and if she had seen Anna Björg’s discreet departure, when his phone finally buzzed and he grabbed it.
Missing you too. Have a lovely day. XX
he read, and it only deepened his guilt.
He finished a tub of yoghurt that sat heavy on his stomach and wondered if he could call Anna Björg, and what her response would be. He tried to rehearse a conversation with her in his mind but kept coming to a grinding halt.
‘More?’ a voice at his elbow asked.
‘What?’
‘More coffee?’ the receptionist asked and Helgi searched her face for a smirk of recognition.
‘Er. Yes, please,’ he mumbled and picked up his phone again as the girl replaced the flask on the table with a full one. He poured himself a cup of coffee that he didn’t really want and punched in a text message to Anna Björg that he then deleted and started again.
Going out to Tunga this morning. Meet for lunch?
He wrote and pressed send, regretting it as soon as the message had gone.
A Polish girl with the kind of tired face that said minimum wage and long hours showed Gunna to the day room of the rest home.
‘Henning is there, in the corner,’ she said in passable Icelandic, pointing to a man with heavy glasses and a thick cardigan in spite of the stifling warmth.
‘The guy in the wheelchair?’ Gunna asked in dismay.
‘That’s Henning,’
Gunna was in the lobby, her phone to her ear, when Herbert arrived with Einar, a broad-shouldered version of his younger brother but with hair cut sensibly and a businesslike air about him. Herbert had dark rings under his eyes and Gunna guessed he hadn’t seen much of his bed.
She cornered him once Einar was closeted with his mother.
‘Right, what happened last night?’
‘Hell, I don’t rightly know. It was on the road coming into Hveragerdi. It looks like the road was icy, he was driving too fast and lost it on one of the bends.’
‘Any witnesses?’
Herbert shrugged. ‘For what it’s worth, there was a truck about a kilometre behind him. The driver saw Elmar’s van on the bend and the next thing he knew it was rolling over off the road. It was the truck driver who called us out. When we got to the crash site, he was sitting in the van holding Elmar’s hand and keeping him awake.’
‘You said Elmar drove a van? What sort?’
‘I don’t know. A Toyota or a Nissan or some such thing.’
‘What colour?’
‘I’m not sure. Blue or black. He hadn’t had it long and I didn’t pay much attention to it. I’ve been a bit busy as well.’
‘And where is it now?’
‘It’ll be in the pound behind the police station. A recovery truck collected it last night.’
Gunna rattled her fingernails in an irregular tattoo against the wall as she thought.
‘Can you either get back to Selfoss and take some pictures of that van and email them to me, or get someone there to do it right now?’
‘Yeah, of course. I’ll get one of the guys at the station to do it,’ Herbert agreed, surprised at the intensity of Gunna’s demand.
‘You got a statement from the truck driver, didn’t you? This was definitely an accident?’
Herbert looked suspicious. ‘That’s what the man said and I don’t have a reason to not believe him. He said it was a clear road and Elmar was driving fast as he hadn’t long overtaken him.’
‘Fair enough,’ Gunna decided. ‘I’ll assume it was just an accident until I have a reason to think otherwise.’
Helgi didn’t have much appetite for breakfast. The hotel was virtually empty and the girl who had been on reception the night before brought him coffee, avoiding his eye as she did so. He texted Halla and told her how much he was missing her, waiting for his phone to bleep in response as he munched toast and the coffee began to nibble at the fringes of his dull headache.
He was wondering if the girl dispensing coffee stayed in the hotel at night, and if she had seen Anna Björg’s discreet departure, when his phone finally buzzed and he grabbed it.
Missing you too. Have a lovely day. XX
he read, and it only deepened his guilt.
He finished a tub of yoghurt that sat heavy on his stomach and wondered if he could call Anna Björg, and what her response would be. He tried to rehearse a conversation with her in his mind but kept coming to a grinding halt.
‘More?’ a voice at his elbow asked.
‘What?’
‘More coffee?’ the receptionist asked and Helgi searched her face for a smirk of recognition.
‘Er. Yes, please,’ he mumbled and picked up his phone again as the girl replaced the flask on the table with a full one. He poured himself a cup of coffee that he didn’t really want and punched in a text message to Anna Björg that he then deleted and started again.
Going out to Tunga this morning. Meet for lunch?
He wrote and pressed send, regretting it as soon as the message had gone.
A Polish girl with the kind of tired face that said minimum wage and long hours showed Gunna to the day room of the rest home.
‘Henning is there, in the corner,’ she said in passable Icelandic, pointing to a man with heavy glasses and a thick cardigan in spite of the stifling warmth.
‘The guy in the wheelchair?’ Gunna asked in dismay.
‘That’s Henning,’
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