Far North - Michael Ridpath [147]
‘Do you know how he is?’
Magnus raised an eyebrow at the uniformed policeman who had finished on the radio. ‘I’ll check,’ the constable said.
He left the car door open as he called Páll on the radio. Magnus considered asking Harpa to step back, but there wasn’t much point. She would want to know.
‘Do you have Björn Helgason there?’ the officer asked.
‘Yes.’ Magnus heard Páll’s voice. From his tone, he knew what was coming next. ‘But he’s dead at the scene.’
Magnus heard a short gasp from Harpa. He took the radio mike from the constable. ‘Páll, it’s Magnús. Did you get a chance to ask him any questions?’
‘No. He lost consciousness as soon as I got to him.’
‘Damn!’ Magnus was focused on the next victim. Ingólfur Arnarson, whoever that was, did not have long to live, unless they figured something out. He had an idea. ‘Páll?’
‘Yes?’
‘See if you can find Björn’s phone. Then check “last number called”.’
‘Roger.’
Magnus straightened up as he waited for Páll to get back to him. The colour had drained from Harpa’s face, but her eyes were dry.
‘I’m sorry,’ Magnus said.
‘I’m OK,’ Harpa said. ‘It will probably hit me soon. But in the hut back there I realized what Björn was doing was wrong. He killed other people. He brought this on himself.’
The radio crackled into life. ‘Magnús?’
‘Yes?’
‘I tried redial. It didn’t just have the number it had the name of the contact.’
‘And who was it?’
‘Einar.’
Behind Magnus, Harpa let out a cry. ‘No! No, no, no, no, no!’ There was pain and desperation in her voice. ‘Don’t believe him, Magnús. He must have made a mistake!’
But Magnus knew Páll had got it right. And so, he thought, did Harpa.
CHAPTER FORTY
ÁRNI WAS DRIVING back to Reykjavík from Hafnarfjördur, having spoken to both of Ísak’s parents and learned nothing. They were as mystified as the police as to their son’s whereabouts. The mother especially had sensed that something was seriously wrong, but Ísak had been totally uncommunicative.
Árni was almost back at police headquarters on Hverfisgata when his phone rang. It was Baldur. ‘Árni, get over to Seltjarnarnes right away. We know who the assassin is. Harpa’s father. Einar.’
‘I’m on my way.’
‘OK. Don’t make an arrest until the uniformed back-up is there.’
‘What am I arresting him for?’
‘The murder of Óskar Gunnarsson. We’ll start with that and work up from there.’
Blue-light time. It took Árni longer than he would have liked to fix it to the roof of his unmarked Skoda, but then he was off. He put his foot down and sped through the Reykjavík traffic, a tense grin on his face. He swerved as he almost caught a motorbike he hadn’t seen in the oncoming lane. He checked the mirror. The guy had come to a stop but hadn’t actually fallen off.
He slowed down as he approached the Bakkavör turn-off. It was lucky he did, because he caught sight of Einar stepping out of his Freelander and going into his house.
Árni slowed to a stop, just as two patrol cars swerved into the road behind him, sirens off, fortunately. Árni waved them down.
‘The suspect has just gone into his house! Come on!’
‘Hold on a moment.’ One of the officers was on the radio. ‘They want us to hold off. They think he’s armed. We wait for the Viking Squad.’
So Árni waited in his car fifty metres along from Einar’s house. He had the front door covered: there was no way Einar could leave without Árni spotting him. The two patrol cars were joined by another one, and they retreated around the corner to lurk.
Everyone was waiting for the Viking Squad, Reykjavík’s SWAT team made up of volunteer officers from across the Metropolitan Police. Árni was disappointed not to make the arrest himself, but it would be cool to see the SWAT team in action.
Then his phone rang. It was Baldur. ‘Árni? I want you back at the station.’
‘But Einar—’
‘The Viking Squad will arrest him as soon as they get there. I want you back here now. We need to figure out who the next target is. Róbert will relieve you.’
Árni saw his colleague approaching in another unmarked Skoda.