‘What’s that?’ Erlendur asked, pointing to a lump between the seats.

‘Is it all right to look at it?’ Thorbergur asked. ‘Don’t forensics need to examine it?’

Erlendur wasn’t listening. He reached over the driver’s seat and grabbed the object that had caught his attention. He prised it carefully out of the car but it still fell apart. Holding the two pieces, he showed them to Thorbergur.

‘What have you got there?’ the diver asked.

‘I think it’s… I think it’s a book,’ Erlendur said, inspecting the two halves.

‘A book?’

‘Yes. Probably about the lakes in this area. The boy must have bought it for her.’

Erlendur placed the book in Thorbergur’s hands.

‘I must go to his father before it’s too late,’ he said, checking his watch. ‘I believe we’ve found them; I don’t think there’s any doubt. He must hear what happened. His son was in love, that’s all. He never meant to leave them with all that uncertainty. It was an accident.’

Erlendur walked quickly towards the Ford. He was in a hurry because before he went to the nursing home he had another call to make, in search of the truth.

She was a small child, sitting alone on the shore of the lake, listening to the whispering from the water, She was a young woman, gazing out at the lake, and saw its beauty and the light emanating from it, She was an old woman, kneeling beside the child, and she was a small child again, listening to the whispering and hearing the forgiveness in the words, and the whispering carried from the water and the whispering said: My child.

It took her a long time to regain consciousness; she was so infinitely tired and lethargic that she could hardly open her eyes.

‘Bald… vin,’ she sighed, ‘It was an accident, What happened when Daddy died… it was an accident.’

She couldn’t see Baldvin but sensed his presence.

She was no longer cold and it was as if a heavy burden had been lifted from her, She knew what she had to do, She would tell, Everything, Everything that had happened at the lake, She would tell anyone who would listen what had happened.

She was about to call Baldvin when she discovered that she couldn’t breathe any more. Something was tightening on her throat.

She opened her eyes and looked for Baldvin but couldn’t see him.

She clutched weakly at her throat.

‘This isn’t right,’ she whispered.

‘This isn’t right… ’

36

Erlendur drove down the cul-de-sac to Baldvin’s house in Grafarvogur. He parked by the drive to the garage and stepped out. He was in a hurry. He wasn’t sure if he was doing the right thing; he would have preferred to have gone straight to the old man but on the other hand he was tormented by questions about the defibrillator that Baldvin alone could answer.

He pressed the doorbell and waited. As he rang the bell again, he noticed Karólína’s car parked in the road a little way from the house. When he had rung a third time he heard a sound from inside before the door opened and Baldvin appeared.

‘You again?’ he said.

‘Can I come in?’ Erlendur asked.

‘Haven’t we been over this?’ Baldvin asked.

‘Is Karólína with you?’ Erlendur said.

Baldvin’s gaze travelled past him to her car. He nodded and let Erlendur in. Closing the door behind him, he invited Erlendur into the sitting room. Karólína emerged from the bedroom, tidying her hair.

‘We saw no point in hiding any longer,’ Baldvin said. ‘I’ve told you what happened. Karólína’s going to move in with me next week.’

‘You needn’t tell him anything,’ Karólína said. ‘It’s none of his business.’

‘Quite right,’ Erlendur said, smiling. He was in a hurry to get to the hospital but made an effort to appear relaxed. ‘But one would have thought you’d have wanted to be careful,’ he said, ‘not attract too much attention.’

‘We have nothing to hide,’ Karólína said.

‘Are you sure?’ Erlendur asked.

‘What do you mean?’ Baldvin asked. ‘I’ve told you the whole thing. I left María alive at the holiday cottage.’

‘I know what you told me.’

‘What are you doing here, then?’

‘You lied about the whole thing,’ Erlendur said, ‘and I wondered if I could persuade you both to tell me the truth this time. It would make a refreshing change.’

‘I didn’t lie about anything,’ Baldvin said.

‘Why do you think he’s lying?’ Karólína asked. ‘That we’re lying?’

‘Because you’re both liars,’ Erlendur said. ‘You lied to María. You plotted behind her back. Put on a whole play for her. Even though Baldvin claims he backed down at the last minute, it’s still a crime. You’ve both lied to me from the beginning.’

‘That’s bullshit,’ Baldvin said.

‘How do you intend to prove it?’ Karólína asked.

Erlendur smiled thinly and looked at his watch.

‘I can’t,’ he said.

‘Then what do you want?’

‘I want to hear the truth,’ Erlendur said.

‘I’ve told you the truth,’ Baldvin said. ‘I’m not proud of what I did but I didn’t murder María. I didn’t do it. She committed suicide after I left for town.’

Erlendur stared at Baldvin for a long time without saying a word. Baldvin’s gaze flickered over to Karólína.

‘I think you did it,’ Erlendur said. ‘You did more than just push her towards suicide. You killed her. You put the noose round her neck. You hanged her from the beam.’

Karólína had sat down on the sofa. Baldvin was standing in the kitchen doorway.

‘Why are you saying this?’ he asked.

‘You two spun a web of lies for María and you’re still lying. I don’t believe a word you say.’

‘That’s your problem,’ Karólína retorted.

‘Yes, it’s my problem,’ Erlendur agreed.

‘You don’t know…’

‘How do you sleep at night?’

Baldvin didn’t answer.

‘What do you dream about, Baldvin?’

‘Leave him alone,’ Karólína said. ‘He hasn’t done anything.’

‘He told me you pushed him into it,’ Erlendur said, his eyes fixed on Karólína. ‘That it was your fault. I got the impression he was shifting all the blame on to you.’

‘He’s lying,’ Baldvin said.

‘He said you were the moving force behind this.’

‘Don’t listen to him,’ Baldvin interjected.

‘Calm down,’ Karólína said, her gaze on Baldvin, ‘I know what he’s trying to do.’

‘Was Baldvin the prime mover, then?’ Erlendur asked.

‘You won’t succeed,’ Karólína said. ‘Baldvin can say what he likes.’

‘Yes, of course,’ Erlendur said. ‘I don’t know whether to take any notice of anything he says. About himself. About you. About María.’

‘What you believe is your problem,’ Karólína said.

‘You’re actors,’ Erlendur said. ‘Both of you. You acted your roles for María. You wrote a scenario. You chose the setting. You chose the backdrop. She never suspected anything. Unless she found out about the defibrillator.’

‘The defibrillator?’ Karólína said.

‘Of course it was only there to flesh out the background,’ Erlendur said. ‘It was a – what do you call it? – a prop. It was never intended to work. It was never intended as a safety precaution. The machine was never intended to save María’s life. It was only a prop on the set you designed for an audience of one – for María.’

Karólína and Baldvin’s stares locked for an instant. Then Baldvin lowered his gaze to the floor.

‘The machine is broken,’ Erlendur told Karólína. ‘That’s why he had to retrieve it from the cottage. He used it to fool María. It was supposed to show that he was in earnest, that he would do everything in his power to ensure her safety.’

‘What do you think you know?’ Baldvin demanded.

‘I’m sure I know: you murdered her. You needed money that she alone had access to, unless she died before you. You were having an affair with Karólína and didn’t want María to know; you couldn’t divorce her because of the money. But you wanted Karólína. And I imagine living with María must have been wearing in the long run. Her mother was always there and even after Leonóra was gone it was as if she was still present in the house. María thought of nothing else. I expect you’d lost interest in her long before and that she was just in the way. In your way, in the way of both of you.’