Frozen Assets

‘You’re welcome,’ he replied, hauling himself to his feet. ‘If there’s anything else, give me a call,’ he added in a tone that indicated a call would be welcome.

Gunna left him to pull himself out of the old-fashioned wetsuit, sitting in the back of a van that had seen better days. She turned to the forlorn jeep squatting on its wheels on the quayside.

‘Good man. That would have been me otherwise,’ she called to the young officer who opened the car’s passenger door to release a flood of water that engulfed his feet. She ran a finger along the bonnet to expose a streak of blue paint under the green algae. As the policeman who had opened the door stood to one side in embarrassment, she peered at the sodden interior, looking carefully at the ignition with the key still in it.

‘Right, then. Plain clothes will be here any minute to have a look over this and I’ve already asked for forensics to see what they can find,’ she told the uniformed man.

Gunna ran practised eyes over the sodden interior of the car. There was nothing to be seen apart from drifts of fine sand in every corner.

‘We’ll get the tyres checked and see if there’s anything there that might link it to something useful,’ Gunna muttered to herself. ‘Right then, young man. What can you tell me?’

‘I’ve already checked the number through the computer. It belongs to Rögnvaldur Jónsson, address in Akranes.’

‘How did you do that so quickly?

‘The diver already gave me the registration number, so I checked it.’

‘Good lad.’

‘And I’ve spoken to the owner. He says he left it at the airport while he went to Tenerife for three weeks in March.’

‘March?’

‘Yeah. When he came back, it wasn’t there any more.’

‘Which is when he reported it stolen?’

‘Yup. The guy’s a plumber and he was more upset about losing the tools in the back than the car itself, so he was quite cheerful when he found out he might get his spanners and stuff back.’

‘If it’s still there. I don’t want to mess about too much until CID have had a look. I don’t suppose I’ll need to trouble our plumber again if you’ve already got a statement from him,’ Gunna said with her eyes narrowed. She crouched on to her haunches, reached inside the open driver’s door and ran a hand under the seat.

‘A plumber who spends three weeks off his face on sangria doesn’t strike me as the bird-watching type,’ she said, lifting out a compact pair of binoculars, light glinting from the lenses. ‘So, what do you suppose these were used for?’

‘I’m not buying it. Sorry,’ Gunna said forcefully.

‘What else do you have then?’ Sævaldur demanded. ‘Come on, who else could have bumped Einar Eyjólfur off?’

‘That’s just what we’re not going to find out if you refuse to investigate anything other than the first thing that pops up in front of your eyes.’

‘Rubbish,’ Sævaldur sneered. ‘Gústi is as guilty as hell. No doubt.’

‘No doubt in your mind, that is. Look, I’ve a witness who saw a car on the dock late that night, quite likely around the time that Einar Eyjólfur landed in the water.’

‘So what? Some bloke driving around who might or might not have seen something?’

‘It needs to be followed up.’

Sævaldur looked unconvinced and Vilhjálmur Traustason sighed.

‘If you are certain, Sævaldur, that this man is the perpetrator, then I think we should proceed and charge him formally. You don’t agree, Gunnhildur?’ he asked as if calling on deep reserves of patience.

‘You know I don’t,’ Gunna snapped. ‘Gústi’s a scumbag but he’s not a killer. He’s a minor villain who’ll grab an opportunity if it presents itself. He doesn’t kill and he certainly doesn’t plan anything to the extent of driving a hundred kilometres to dispose of a body.’

‘Gústi’s done plenty of nasty stuff. It’s common knowledge. A murder like that’s just a step up to the next level for his sort,’ Sævaldur said. ‘He did five years of an eight-year stretch for GBH. Come on, Gunna. You’ve seen the bastard’s file.’

Gunna’s eyes narrowed and Vilhjálmur’s widened as he listened to the two of them sparring.

‘For your information Gústi confessed and did those five years for one of Mundi Grétarsson’s hoodlums. Gústi didn’t commit the crime, but he did get a very generous payoff for doing the time. I thought you’d know that. It’s common knowledge,’ she snapped.

Vilhjálmur looked horrified. ‘Is this true?’ he demanded, looking hard at Sævaldur.

‘Who the hell knows? The man confessed and he didn’t have an alibi anyway.’

‘Not that anyone looked too hard for one,’ Gunna added. ‘And from what I hear, he’s not the only one to sit out someone else’s time.’

Vilhjálmur frowned. ‘Gunnhildur, are you sure that this man is not connected with the death of Einar Eyjólfur Einarsson?’

‘He may be, but only indirectly as one of the last people to see him alive. I’m completely confident he’s not the killer.’

‘Sævaldur, you have this man in custody?’

‘Of course. We’ve charged him with theft and fraud already for the credit cards.’