Summerchill by Quentin Bates Read Free Book Online Page B

statement and said that she’d fallen down the stairs. No case.’
    ‘You questioned Stefán?’
    ‘He flatly denied that he had anything to do with it, and he came up with an alibi.’
    Helgi nodded. ‘I don’t suppose that alibi was supplied by Axel Rútur Karlsson, was it?’
    ‘You’re way ahead of me.’ Hlynur grinned. ‘He’d been at Axel Rútur’s flat all that evening and the guy’s girlfriend confirmed it as well.’
    ‘Now there’s a surprise.’
    ‘Why? Have you got something on this character?’
    ‘Maybe. But it’s Axel Rútur who has disappeared, so it’s a missing person inquiry.’
    ‘Well . . .’ Hlynur sucked his teeth. ‘If both of them were to disappear, then Reykjavík would be a better place without them.’
    ‘They make a habit of this?’
    ‘It looks like it. But they’re discreet. I don’t know about Axel Rútur. Stefán’s no bright spark, but he’s cunning and he lies like a cheap watch. They’re both responsible for plenty of black eyes and broken fingers. No witnesses, no evidence and nobody dares bring charges or be a witness against either of them. That’s why all we hear are whispers about these two and never anything definite.’
    The young woman looked through the glass panel with a quizzical expression on her face.
    ‘Signý?’ Helgi asked.
    ‘That’s me.’
    ‘My name’s Helgi Svavarsson and I’m a detective with the serious crimes unit. Could I come in? I’d like a word.’
    He watched her face fall and she stepped to one side to let him into the apartment. Helgi looked around and could see right away that it was well kept, but that it was thrift rather than cash that kept the place smart. The furniture was unfashionable and faded. The TV was an old set and not the usual flat screen. The room had been painted recently in bright primary colours and a child’s drawings were pinned to the walls.
    ‘Would you like a coffee?’
    ‘I would, thank you. You live alone?’
    She poured water into a kettle and measured coffee into a plastic filter that she propped in the mouth of an old-fashioned thermos. Helgi’s heart warmed to her and he could see she was nervous, wondering why he was there. He had to admit he liked the look of her: sturdy legs and a pleasingly plump figure in a T-shirt that showed it off, topped by blonde hair in a thick curtain around her shoulders.
    ‘No. My son’s with his father this weekend.’
    ‘I’m investigating the disappearance of a gentleman called Axel Rútur Karlsson,’ he said, watching as she opened the fridge.
    ‘And how does that concern me? I don’t know anyone of that name.’
    ‘But you’ve met his friend Stefán Ingason.’
    There was a squelch as the milk carton she had taken from the fridge hit the floor and she spun round to face him. Signý’s face had gone pale behind the freckles. Helgi stood up and watched in alarm as she joined the milk on the floor.
    ‘Shit,’ he swore to himself, and crouched next to her. He put a hand to her neck and felt a clear pulse, while her heaving chest told him she was breathing.
    With the decisions taken, the walls went up fast. Tadeusz wanted to be finished and Logi felt it was time to get out of town for a while. The big guy’s visit was still preying on his mind, and while Tadeusz had noticed he wasn’t as cheerful as usual, he said nothing. The two Polish boys appeared their usual selves, and while Logi desperately wanted to know what had become of the Outlander and its owner, he was aware that it was best to know as little as possible.
    Marek muttered to himself as he stretched at the top of the stepladder, fiddling with the cables and switches that had always been a mystery to Logi.
    Tadeusz screwed the last of the wallboards in place and whooped.
    ‘Doors or lunch break?’ Logi asked.
    ‘You’re the boss,’ Tadeusz said. ‘Up to you.’
    ‘Pizza? The usual?’
    ‘Yeah, why not?’
    Logi called the pizza takeaway in Hafnarfjördur they had been using for