“But you don’t have any friends there … ?”

The question dangled in the air.

“He’s adjusted very well,” the woman said at last, looking at her husband who had not contributed anything to the conversation as yet.

“Have you changed schools often?” Sigurdur Oli asked.

Hallur looked at his mother.

“About three times,” he said.

“But this time we’re staying put,” the woman added, directing another glance at her husband.

“Anton said you were with another boy when he met you and gave you the knife,” Sigurdur Oli said. Anton didn’t know him and said he wasn’t at the school. Who was this boy?”

“He didn’t give me any knife,” Hallur said. “He’s lying.”

Are you sure?” Elinborg asked.

Anton had confessed under cross-examination to having given Hallur the knife. A boy he had never seen before had been with Hallur at the time. Hallur was new to the school and kept a fairly low profile, though Anton said that he had once been round to see him at that big house. According to Anton, Hallur had talked candidly about his parents, describing his mother as an appalling snob, who was constantly interfering, a total control freak. His parents were forever in financial difficulties; once their house had even been repossessed, yet this did not seem to prevent them from living in some luxury. Hallur had the biggest collection of computer games Anton had ever seen.

He didn’t know why Hallur wanted the knife, unless perhaps because it was stolen. Hallur saw him with it and when Anton told him that Doddi had stolen it from the carpentry workshop, Hallur suddenly became very keen to acquire it. They met round at Anton’s. Hallur brought along another boy the same age but Anton did not know his name.

“You went round to Anton’s,” Sigurdur Oli said. “You gave him a computer game, he gave you the knife.”

“That’s a lie,” Hallur said.

“There was a boy with you at Anton’s place,” Elinborg said. “Who was he?”

“My cousin was with me.”

“What’s his name?”

“Gusti.”

“When was this?”

“I don’t remember, several days ago.”

“His name’s Agust, he’s my brother’s son,” the woman said. “He and Hallur spend a lot of time together.”

Sigurdur Oli noted down the name.

“I don’t know why Anton’s claiming he gave me the knife,” Hallur said. “He’s lying. It’s his knife. He’s just trying to frame me.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know.”

“Can you tell us where you were last Tuesday afternoon when Elias was stabbed?” Elinborg asked.

“Is this really necessary?” Hallur’s father asked. “You’re talking to him as if he’s done something wrong.”

“We’re just checking the reliability of the witness statement we’ve taken, nothing more,” Elinborg said, without removing her eyes from Hallur. “Where were you?”

“He was at home,” the woman said. “He was asleep in his room. He finished school at one and slept till four. I was at home.”

“Is that right?” Elinborg asked the boy.

“Yes,” he said.

“Sleep a lot during the day, do you?”

“Sometimes.”

“We can never get him to bed in the evening,” his mother said. “He’s up all night. It’s hardly surprising he sleeps during the day.”

“Don’t you go out to work?” Elinborg asked, addressing the mother.

“I only work half days,” she said. “In the mornings.”

When the figure removed the muffling scarf, Erlendur found himself face to face with Sunee’s brother Virote. He was still holding the bag of drink-cans.

“You?” Erlendur said.

“How you find me?” Virote asked.

“I… what are you doing out in this weather?”

“You follow me?”

“Yes,” Erlendur said. “Do you collect cans?”

“It pay little money”

“Where’s Niran?” Erlendur asked. “Do you know?”

“Niran okay,” Virote said.

“Do you know where he is?”

Virote was mute.

“Do you know Niran’s whereabouts?”

Virote looked at Erlendur for a long time, then nodded.

“Why are you hiding him?” Erlendur asked. “You’re only making matters worse. We’re starting to think he must have attacked his brother. Your actions only support the idea. When you take him away like this, hide him.”

“It not like that,” Virote said. “He not do nothing to Elias.”

“We have to talk to him,” Erlendur said. “I know you’re trying to protect him but this has gone too far. You won’t gain anything by keeping him hidden.”

“He not attack Elias.”

“Then what? What do you mean by hiding him like this?”

Virote did not speak.

“Answer me,” Erlendur ordered. “What were you doing at your sister’s friend’s house?”

“I visit him.”

“Is Niran with him?” Erlendur asked.

Virote did not answer. Erlendur repeated his question. An icy wind whipped about them in the alleyway and it occurred to Erlendur that Virote must be freezing. His light trainers were wet through, and he was only wearing jeans, a thin windcheater, a scarf and a baseball cap besides. Sensing that Virote was wavering, Erlendur put the question a third time.

“You have to trust us,” Erlendur said. “We’ll make sure nothing happens to Niran.”

Virote looked at him for a long time, as if pondering what to do, whether to trust him. Finally he seemed to make up his mind.

“Come. You come with me.”

27

The mobile rang in Erlendur’s pocket. It was Elinborg to tell him about the meeting with Hallur and his parents. Erlendur asked her to call back later. Elinborg said that next she and Sigurdur Oli were going to visit Hallur’s cousin, Agust, who might possibly be able to give them some answers about the knife. They rang off.

Erlendur replaced the phone in his coat pocket.

“Where’s Niran now?” he asked.

“He with Johann,” Virote said.

“Where you were?”

“Yes.”

“Is Johann with him?”

“Yes.”

On the way Virote told him about Johann whom Sunee had met last spring. They had been seeing each other ever since but Johann was very hesitant and wanted to take things slowly. He was divorced, with no children of his own.

“Do they plan to live together, Sunee and Johann?” Erlendur asked.

“Maybe. I think they get married.”

“And Niran?”

“Johann help Niran. Sunee take to him.”

“Why?”

“Johann help Niran. He very angry. Very difficult. Then this happen.”

The parents of Hallur’s cousin Agust looked on as Elinborg grilled their son. The mother gasped and the father leaped to his feet in agitation when Elinborg asked the boy straight out if he had murdered Elias. Agust answered every question very much as Hallur had and their stories tallied in all the main details. Neither he nor Hallur had received a knife from Anton. Agust said he had only met Anton on that one occasion at his place and couldn’t explain why the boy was claiming that he had intended to swap a computer game for the wood-carving knife. He didn’t know him at all.

Agust attended a different school from his cousin Hallur but their circumstances were very similar. Agust’s parents seemed to have no shortage of money; they lived in an attractive detached house with two cars parked outside the garage.

“Do you know a boy by the name of Niran at your cousin’s school?” Sigurdur Oli asked.

Agust shook his head. Like Hallur he seemed quite unperturbed by the visit from the police, and gave the impression of being polite and well brought up. He was an only child and it emerged that he and Hallur were almost like brothers and were always messing about together. A quick check revealed that neither had ever been in trouble with the law.

“Did you know his brother Elias?”

Again Agust shook his head.

“Where were you when the murder was committed?”

“He was with his father up at Hafravatn,” the mother said. “We have a summer cottage by the lake.”