Nightblind by Ragnar Jónasson Read Free Book Online Page A

way it was supposed to be. He mentally reprimanded himself for allowing his thoughts to wander at such a critical time.
    Tómas continued, apparently not noticing his deputy’s poor concentration, ‘It wouldn’t do any harm if something as unpleasant as a shooting could be blamed on some outsider. But we shouldn’t be too hopeful…’
    Tómas still hadn’t sat down. He seemed to think better on his feet.
    ‘We still don’t know who Herjólfur talked to last night,’ he went on. ‘His phone is locked, but we’ll hopefully be able to sort that out later today.’
    ‘I’ve been through his duty records and there’s nothing there that jumps out as being unusual,’ Ari Thór said. ‘We can try and get into his email to see if there is anything there.’
    ‘Absolutely,’ Tómas sighed. ‘It’s a damned nightmare. A damned nightmare! I simply cannot remember a police officer ever being injured in a firearms attack in this country. You can imagine the turmoil this is causing in Reykjavík. They’re in a blind panic at headquarters, every one of them. This is something that just shouldn’t happen!’
    ‘No…’ Ari Thór said thoughtfully, an unsettling idea striking him as he uttered the words. ‘It could have been me.’
    Tómas frowned and was quiet for a moment.
    ‘It’s possible.’
    ‘More than possible,’ Ari Thór said sharply. ‘ I should have been on duty last night. This bloody flu saved my life.’
    ‘It’s possible,’ Tómas repeated patiently. ‘Of course we can’t rule out that Herjólfur was the target.’
    ‘No, I can’t imagine that,’ Ari Thór said firmly, still upset at the thought that he could have been there in Herjólfur’s place, and Kristín in Helena’s position.
    That would have left little Stefnir without a father and Ari Thór could hardly bring himself to think it through any further.
    ‘Who could have wanted him dead? It’s not as if we made a point of letting people know that he was on duty instead of me.’
    ‘Whatever happens,’ Tómas said, with rising impatience. ‘We need to get to know Herjólfur better. Talk to his wife when she’s had a chance to, to collect herself, as much as she can, anyhow. Had he crossed swords with anyone in the town? Had he received any threats?’
    ‘His wife would have mentioned it,’ Ari Thór said.
    ‘You’re sure? I doubt she was that talkative after receiving news like that.’
    ‘No, she wasn’t,’ Ari Thór admitted. ‘She didn’t say a lot and seemed to be in shock.’
    ‘We’ll pay her a visit tomorrow. I hear she’s been unwell,’ Tómas added.
    ‘Unwell? What’s wrong with her?’
    ‘I’m not sure. I know that Herjólfur had finished a year’s leave when he got the promotion and the posting here. He was granted extended leave to look after his wife.’
    ‘A year off? That’s quite something. He really made sacrifices for her then.’
    ‘Hmm. I don’t know about that,’ Tómas said, and dropped his voice as if Herjólfur was listening in around the corner of the kitchen. ‘He was on full pay the whole time.’
    ‘Full pay? That’s not bad at all. We’re clearly members of a pretty decent union.’
    ‘I’m not sure the union had anything to do with the decision. He’s well connected. His father was a legend in his own lifetime, a copper of the old school, high-ranking and plenty of influence. He was a shrewd one. I remember meeting him once, a proper tough character. He’s dead now, the old man. But we can say that Herjólfur had blue blood in his veins, royalty within the force, you understand?’
    ‘That’s why he got the job and I didn’t?’
    ‘More than likely.’
    Ari Thór was silent.
    ‘Then there’s something else … that old house by the tunnel,’ Tómas began. ‘That place has a weird history. Twin brothers lived there around the middle of the century, inherited the house from their parents. One night around 1960, one of the twins was found dead at the back of the