Nightblind by Ragnar Jónasson Read Free Book Online

the same lines,’ Ari Thór protested. ‘There aren’t many police officers who know Siglufjördur as well as you do, which makes you the ideal man for this kind of assignment,’ he added and immediately regretted using the word. It seemed wrong to be talking about an assignment under the present circumstances.
    Tómas looked away, avoiding Ari Thór’s eyes.
    ‘I take it you’ll be helping me with the investigation?’ he asked. ‘That shouldn’t be an issue, as long as it’s formally in my hands. But it looks to me that you’re not in the best of health?’ he spoke more softly, with an almost fatherly tone.
    ‘Well, I’m supposed to be on sick leave today, but of course I’m ready to do what I can,’ Ari Thór replied. ‘It’s just the two of us?’
    ‘Not a chance. The technical team is on the way to the crime scene and they’ll search every square inch of that damned house. Then there are two lads we can have, one from Ólafsfjördur and one from Akureyri, if we need them. They’ll start by making house-to-house enquiries in the area to find out if anyone heard a shot or noticed any unusual movements … any unfamiliar cars about. You know. I’m not hopeful, but you can never tell.’
    Tómas stood up, ready to leave. He looked out of the window for a while. The rain had stopped but the town still looked grey and drab. The wonderful glow that normally bathed the town in the summer was now gone, but the picture-perfect charm of a snowy winter hadn’t yet arrived; it was as if Siglufjördur was caught in a limbo between two worlds at this time of year, and it certainly wasn’t Ari Thór’s favourite season.
    ‘So,’ Tómas said at last and turned around. ‘Where shall we start?’
    Ari Thór hesitated. It was a question he hadn’t expected.
    ‘The weapon,’ he said at last. ‘Where did the weapon come from?’
    ‘Quite right,’ Tómas said. ‘We’ll get a ballistics report from Reykjavík and hopefully they’ll be able to tell us what type of shotgun was used. If the weapon is legally registered then it shouldn’t be a problem to track down the owner sooner or later.’
    ‘There’s no guarantee that the shotgun is a registered weapon, even though it should be,’ Ari Thór said, and related his earlier conversation with Herjólfur’s son.
    ‘Dope, you reckon?’ Tómas said thoughtfully. ‘Drugs have never been that much of a problem in Siglufjördur, although I gather it’s been more of a problem since the new tunnel was built, bringing the place closer to the main roads. For better or worse.’
    ‘And this political angle. Any idea what that might be?’ Ari asked.
    ‘No, there’s nothing that springs to mind. There aren’t that many politicians around here, just a few town councillors who aren’t exactly the type to be involved with drugs. Some of them are kids I knew when they were still in nappies.’ Tómas smiled broadly.
    Ari Thór knew that there was no need to take Tómas too seriously when he referred to ‘kids’.
    ‘There are some politicians from Reykjavík who have summer houses here,’ Ari Thór said thoughtfully.
    ‘Don’t even mention that. It makes me want to weep,’ Tómas said. He had never been shy of sharing his robust views on Siglufjördur turning into a summer-house district. The local property market was thriving, certainly doing better than it had around the turn of the century when the declining fishing industry had seen the town become less prosperous. Since then, local people who had moved away had been buying houses in the town and doing them up as summer homes. Skiing enthusiasts had been doing much the same, as the Skardsdalur ski slopes inside the town limits were particularly popular.
    Ari Thór remained puzzled by the attraction of skiing. He hadborrowed skis a few times and tried out the slopes after moving north, but it seemed to him as if the skis were controlling him rather than the other way around. He guessed that wasn’t the