Outrage (20 page)

Konrad listened in silence. She wondered whether he grasped what she was doing by presenting these facts to him. He might have asked
What’s all this got to do with me?
but he said nothing. He merely sat there, frowning, as Elinborg continued with her account of Runolfur.

‘We believe - and we have evidence of this - that Runolfur, having met women through his work, sometimes ran into them later at bars around town. It’s possible that the women were of a similar type: young, single, and dark-haired. Perhaps he encountered them by chance, but we do know of one case where he had found out from the woman in question which bar she generally went to.

‘Runolfur had acquired a date-rape drug, Rohypnol, and he was carrying it when he was murdered - when his throat was slashed with a razor-sharp blade. The pills were found in his pocket. We have a theory about how he got hold of them. It appears very likely that Runolfur had been with a young dark-haired woman when he was killed. She left a shawl at his home.’

The police had been waiting for the results of the DNA tests, which showed that the hairs from the shawl matched the hairs from Runolfur’s bed.

‘I’ve got the shawl here,’ Elinborg continued. She opened her bag, removed the shawl, and spread it out. ‘It’s beautiful. When it was found it had a very strong smell, which is almost gone now. A smell of Indian cuisine - tandoori.’

Konrad did not say a word.

‘We’re pretty sure that there was a woman with Runolfur when he was killed. We think he met her in the same way as he did other women, by setting up a supposedly chance encounter at a bar. We believe he initially went to her home to install telephone or TV equipment, a fibre-optic connection or broadband, whatever telecoms engineers do. He may have returned shortly afterwards on the pretext that he had left some small thing behind, like a screwdriver or a torch. He had a pleasant manner and would have made conversation easily. They were of a similar age. They would have chatted about this and that, and he would have steered the conversation towards certain subjects in order to elicit information from her. She told him which were her usual bars and he also learned that she was unattached, lived alone and was a university student. That background knowledge made it easier to approach her later in public. By that time she must almost have felt she knew him.’

‘I don’t know why you’re telling me all this,’ said Konrad. ‘I can’t see that it has any relevance to me.’

‘No,’ replied Elinborg. ‘I understand, but I still want to ask your opinion. We have various small clues that I want to ask you about. Runolfur persuaded the woman to go home with him. He had the drug in his pocket, and it’s very likely that he slipped something in her glass while they were still at the bar. Or he may not have drugged her until they got to his flat.’ Elinborg glanced at the graduation photo of Konrad’s daughter, which she had examined the day before. ‘We don’t know what happened there,’ she said. ‘What we do know is that Runolfur was killed, and the young woman who was with him left the scene.’

‘I see,’ said Konrad.

‘Do you know anything about it?’

‘As I told you, I didn’t notice anything when I passed through. I’m sorry.’

‘How old is your daughter?’

‘She’s twenty-eight.’

‘Does she live alone?’

‘She rents a place near the university campus. Why do you ask?’

‘Is she interested in Indian cookery?’

‘She’s interested in all sorts of things,’ answered Konrad.

‘Do you recognise this shawl?’ asked Elinborg. ‘You can pick it up if you like.’

‘There’s no need,’ said Konrad. ‘I don’t recognise it. I’ve never seen it before.’

‘It smelt strongly of tandoori spices. I recognised the smell, because I’m keen on Asian cuisine myself. I have a special tandoori pot, which I use a lot. It’s essential for cooking those dishes. Does your daughter have a tandoori pot?’

‘I really couldn’t say.’

‘We know you bought one last autumn - I can show you a copy of the receipt if you like. Was it for your own use?’

‘Have you been investigating me?’ asked Konrad.

‘I need to know what happened in Runolfur’s flat when he was killed,’ said Elinborg. ‘If you can tell me, then you’re the person I’ve been looking for.’

Now Konrad stared at his daughter’s photograph.

‘This hasn’t been made public, but when Runolfur’s throat was slit he was wearing a T-shirt,’ said Elinborg. ‘It looks like a woman’s garment and I believe it was your daughter’s. You said she went to San Francisco with you, on your second visit. I believe she bought the T-shirt there. It has the words
San Francisco
on the front.’

Konrad’s gaze remained fixed on the photograph.

‘You were observed near the scene,’ said Elinborg. ‘You were hurrying, and talking on your mobile. I think you went to her aid. Somehow she managed to make a phone call and tell you where she was. When you got there and saw what had happened, when you realised what had been done to your daughter, you lost it, grabbed a knife …’

Konrad shook his head.

‘… that you had brought with you, and you went for Runolfur.’

Konrad looked steadily at Elinborg.

‘Did Runolfur visit your daughter’s home twice, about two months ago?’ she asked.

He made no reply.

‘We have a record of Runolfur’s call-outs. It lists all the homes and businesses he went to and it shows that he called twice within a few days at the home of Nina Konradsdottir. I think I’m right in saying she’s your daughter?’

‘I don’t keep tabs on exactly who calls on my daughter.’

Elinborg sensed that the man’s confidence was dwindling. ‘Did she ever mention his name?’

Konrad dragged his gaze from the graduation photo and turned to Elinborg.

‘What are you trying to say?’

‘I think you killed Runolfur,’ she said quietly.

Konrad sat staring at Elinborg, as if he were trying to work out what he should say, what he could say, to make the detective accept it and go away, so the problem would be over with once and for all and nobody would ask any more awkward questions. But he could find no words. He could not speak. Seconds ticked past and before long his features expressed defeat, followed by helplessness, as he spoke haltingly:

‘I … I can’t do this any more.’

‘I know it must be hard—’

‘You don’t understand,’ he interrupted. ‘You can’t possibly understand how awful it is. What a nightmare it’s been for all of us. Don’t even try to understand it.’

‘I didn’t mean to …’

‘You don’t know what it was like. You don’t know what happened. You can’t imagine.’

‘Tell me.’

‘He raped her. That’s what happened. He violated her! He raped my daughter!’ Konrad took a deep, shuddering breath. He avoided meeting Elinborg’s gaze. He reached for the photo, held it in his hands and studied his daughter’s face, her dark hair, her pretty brown eyes, and her happy face on that sunny day.

Then he groaned. ‘I wish it
had
been me that killed him.’

21

Konrad would never forget the phone call from his daughter that night. He saw her name on the screen:
Nina
, followed by three little hearts. His mobile had been on the bedside table and he’d answered at the first ring.

When he’d seen what time it was he had been taken aback.

And when he heard the pain in her voice, his blood had run cold.

‘Oh, God,’ he moaned. He was still clutching his daughter’s photo. ‘I … I’ve never heard anything like it in my life.’

Konrad and his wife had had no particular anxiety about their daughter. Not any more, at least. When she was younger, and they knew she was out on the town with her friends, they were always a little uneasy. And the same was true when she first left home and rented her own flat. News reports of brutal attacks in the city centre, growing violence in connection with drug use, and rapes were not calculated to reassure them, and they urged her always to carry her mobile. If anything happened, she was to ring home. They had been just as uneasy about their sons when they had first started going out at night.

Nothing serious had befallen any of them before. A wallet had been stolen on a foreign holiday, and a couple of years ago their younger son had caused a minor road accident. The family had lived a fairly uneventful life, and that was what they wanted. They had maintained their standards and treated others with consideration and respect. The couple were close and united in all they did, had a wide circle of friends, and enjoyed travelling both in Iceland and abroad.

They had made a good life for themselves, were happy with what they had achieved and were proud of their children. Both sons were now settled: the elder one, who lived in San Francisco, was married to an American woman who was also a doctor doing postgraduate training. They had a child, a little girl named after her Icelandic grandmother. For the past two years the younger son had been living with a woman who worked in the corporate division of one of the major banks. Nina was in no hurry to settle down. She had lived with a young computer scientist for a year but since then she had been single.

‘She’s always been reserved and self-sufficient,’ Konrad said to Elinborg as he replaced the photo on the table. ‘She’s never been any trouble. Although she has a lot of friends, I think she’s happiest on her own. That’s just the way she is. And she would never hurt a fly.’

‘They don’t care about that,’ said Elinborg.

‘No,’ said Konrad, ‘that’s for sure.’

‘What did she say when she called?’

‘It was impossible to understand her. A stifled howl of anguish - terror and weeping and fear, all at the same time. She couldn’t say a word. I knew it was Nina’s phone because I saw the caller ID, but I thought at first it was some stranger who had stolen it. I didn’t even recognise her voice. Then I heard her say
Daddy
, and that’s when I knew something terrible had happened. That she must have experienced some unspeakable horror.’

* * *

‘Daddy.’ The voice was racked with sobbing.

‘Now, now,’ Konrad spoke into the phone. ‘Try to calm down, sweetheart.’

‘Daddy,’ his daughter wept. ‘Can you come? Please … please … please come.’

Her voice cracked. Konrad heard his daughter keening at the other end of the line. He was out of bed now. He walked down the hall and into the living room. His wife followed anxiously.

‘What’s happening?’ she asked.

‘It’s Nina,’ he replied. ‘Are you there, darling?’ he asked. ‘Nina? Tell me where you are. Can you do that for me? Tell me where you are, and I’ll come and get you.’ He could hear nothing but crying. ‘Nina! Tell me where you are.’

‘I’m at … at his … his place.’

’
Whose
place?’

‘Dad, you’ve got to come. You mustn’t call the police.’

‘Where are you? Are you hurt? Are you injured?’

‘I don’t know what I’ve done. It’s awful. It’s … so awful. Daddy!’

‘Nina, what’s wrong? What’s happened? Have you been in a car crash?’

His daughter was whimpering again. Konrad could hear nothing but her stifled wailing.

‘Speak to me, sweetheart. Can you tell me where you are? Can you do that? Just say where you are and I’ll come and fetch you. I’ll come right away.’

‘There’s blood everywhere, and he’s lying … lying on the floor. I’m scared, I’m scared to go …’

‘What house is it, darling?’

‘We walked. We walked here. Dad, you can’t come here. I don’t know what to do. You have to come alone. Just you! You’ve got to help me.’

‘I’ll come and get you. Do you know the name of the street?’

Konrad dressed hurriedly in tracksuit bottoms and shrugged on a jacket over his pyjama top.

‘I’m coming with you,’ said his wife.

He shook his head. ‘She wants me to come alone. You stay here. Are you there, sweetheart?’ he asked.

‘I don’t … don’t know the name of the street.’

‘What’s the name of the man who lives there? Maybe I can find him in the phone book.’

‘His name’s Runolfur.’

‘Do you know his surname?’

Silence.

‘Nina?’

‘I think …’

‘Yes?’

‘Dad? Are you there?’

‘Yes, my dear.’

‘I think … I think he’s dead.’

‘All right. Don’t worry. It’s all right. I’ll come and get you, and everything will be all right. But you’ve got to tell me where you are. Which way did you go?’

‘There’s blood everywhere!’

‘Try to be calm, now.’

‘I can’t remember anything. Not a thing.’

‘All right.’

‘I went into town for the evening.’

‘Yes.’

‘And I met this man.’

‘Yes.’

Konrad heard that his daughter was becoming less hysterical.

‘We passed the High School. And then the American Embassy, round that way,’ she said. ‘You must come alone. And make sure no one sees you.’

‘All right.’

‘I’m so scared, Dad. I don’t know what happened. I only know I must … must have attacked him.’

‘Where did you go next, darling?’

‘I don’t remember anything - but it’s not that I was drunk. I didn’t drink anything. And yet I can’t remember. I don’t know what’s wrong with me …’

‘Can you see any bills lying around, something with his name on, which might show the address?’

‘I don’t … don’t know what’s going on here.’

‘Have a look around, dear.’

Konrad opened the garage door, got into the car and started the engine. He reversed out into the street and drove off. His wife had refused to be left at home and she sat in the passenger seat, devoured by anxiety as she listened to the conversation.

‘Here’s a bill. It’s addressed to Runolfur. And there’s an address.’ Nina read it out.

‘That’s my brave girl,’ Konrad said. ‘I’m on my way. I’ll be with you in five minutes, at most.’

‘You must come alone.’

‘Your mother’s with me.’

‘No! God, no! She mustn’t come. You and Mum mustn’t be seen here. I don’t want anyone to see. I just want to go home. Please, please don’t bring Mum …’ Nina was sobbing uncontrollably. ‘I can’t do this,’ she moaned.