Far North - Michael Ridpath [131]
‘On what charge?’ said Baldur.
‘Gabríel Örn’s murder for now,’ said Snorri. ‘Once they are in custody we’ll see if we can expand it to the other two cases. I need to be up to speed for when the British call. Magnús, you stay here.’
Magnus stayed as Baldur left with Vigdís. He took Baldur’s chair. Thorkell and the Prosecutor were listening closely.
‘OK, Magnús. If there was a conspiracy to shoot Óskar and Lister, and I emphasize the word if, what does it look like?’
‘Assuming Frikki’s story is correct, a group of five of them all met at the demonstration in January. That’s Sindri, Björn, Harpa, Ísak and Frikki. At that stage they were all strangers and they were all fired up over the kreppa and who caused it. They drank a lot, Harpa lured out her ex-boyfriend Gabríel Örn, they beat him up and killed him. Probably accidentally, but we need to establish that. They planned a cover-up to dress up the death as suicide. That worked.’
Snorri was listening closely.
‘Now, later, we don’t know when, some of them got together and decided to take things further. Having killed once, they wanted to kill again, once again people they thought were responsible. Óskar Gunnarsson. And Julian Lister.’
‘So who was involved at this stage?’
‘Of the original five, probably just Björn, Sindri and Ísak, who was in London. But I’m convinced that another conspirator joined them. The guy who actually pulled the trigger.’
‘And who is that?’
‘We have no idea. My bet is that he’s an Icelander who doesn’t speak any foreign languages, but that’s just a guess. Ísak speaks English, I wouldn’t be surprised if Björn does too, and I think they prepared both hits.’
‘And is it just the two targets?’
‘I think there’s another. A, um, contact of mine spoke to Sindri.’
‘By contact you mean girlfriend?’ said Snorri. ‘Baldur told me.’
‘Yes,’ Magnus admitted. ‘They were both drunk, but Sindri suggested that there is another target, someone he called Ingólfur Arnarson.’
‘The first settler?’
‘I thought one of the Viking Outvaders.’
‘I see what you mean.’
‘And even if we pick up Björn and Sindri, the assassin, whoever he is, will still be at large. So they are in danger.’
‘You think we should warn the Outvaders?’
‘I do.’
‘Which ones?’
‘All of them. Or at least the highest profile ones.’
Snorri blew through his cheeks as he thought through the consequences of all this. ‘These men are terrorists. Icelandic terrorists.’
Magnus could see the impending national shame. ‘Seems to me they are criminals,’ he said. ‘A bunch of three or four individuals, not a political movement. We’re talking nutters here, not terrorists.’
Snorri gave him half a smile. ‘Maybe. But if we are not very careful this is going to get caught up in the Icesave negotiations.’
‘We don’t have to cooperate with the British,’ said the Prosecutor. ‘We could force them to make a formal application for assistance. And of course the Lister shooting is in French jurisdiction.’
‘We should cooperate,’ said the Commissioner. ‘Magnús, leave the politics to me, I’m going to have to speak to the minister. For now help Baldur arrest these people and find out who their accomplice is. The man who pulls the trigger.’
Snorri’s phone rang. He answered it. It was his secretary. ‘Put him through,’ he said. He switched to English. ‘Good morning, Chief Superintendent Watts. How can I help you?’
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
WHEN MAGNUS GOT back to the Violent Crimes Unit, Baldur had the whole team in a meeting. Magnus strode into the conference room and took a seat. Baldur acknowledged his presence with a quick flick of his eyes.
‘Árni, I want you to arrest Harpa,’ the inspector commanded. ‘Do you know where to find her?’
‘She’ll be at the bakery, I expect. Or her home. I have both addresses.’
‘Vigdís. Take a couple of uniformed police officers and arrest Sindri. Magnús, you’ve been in touch with the Grundarfjördur police?’
Magnus nodded.
‘Get them to arrest Björn right away. And bring him down to the station here.’
‘I got a result