Yrsa Sigurdardóttir - The Day Is Dark

‘I’m not entirely sure what we’re doing here.’ Alvar wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead. It was hot and stuffy in the meeting room and their attempts to turn down the radiator had produced no results. Outside it seemed to have warmed up a little, despite the poor forecast, but it seemed to take the building as long to adapt to rises in temperature as it did to drops. ‘I could help with the search if they want. It’d give me something to do.’ They had watched some of the men set out into the snow; they were wearing thick winter coveralls and had two dogs on leads. They were too far away for anyone to see who they were, but it was clear the group had expanded since the first three had arrived.

‘I doubt they care about receiving any direct assistance from us. They just want to talk to us,’ said Thóra. ‘Especially now they know who the bones in the drawers are likely to belong to.’ She had told the police about her phone conversation with Sigmundur Pétursson, and had gone with them to the coffeemaker in search of the necklace. The bulletin board was where he had said it would be, but the necklace was gone. That made his story slightly more dubious, but the investigators appeared to be content with the information nonetheless, even though Thóra understood from them that since Usinna had never been reported lost or dead it wasn’t a given that any of this was connected to her. Thóra gave them Pétursson’s name and phone number, in case they needed further confirmation. She didn’t actually understand why the police had chosen to bring them back to the area instead of just sending one or two officers to take statements from them at the hotel. Maybe something else had come to light that they wanted to explain to the group, or have the group show them. For instance, it was easier said than done to investigate the computer system. Thóra herself wouldn’t have found much there without the assistance of Friðrikka and Eyjólfur, who knew the system like the backs of their hands.

‘They’ve found something.’ Finnbogi seemed to be speaking to himself rather than to the others as he leaned on the table and stared into his lap. ‘They’re acting differently to yesterday.’

Thóra agreed with this, and from the look on Matthew’s face he did too. The policemen seemed much more serious, avoiding looking any of them in the eye and if they addressed them at all they did so in short sentences, stiffly polite. ‘I should hope they have,’ she said nonchalantly. ‘They’re not here for a holiday. With all these personnel, they must have come up with something. But it’s in our interests that their investigation succeeds. We’re all looking for the same answers, aren’t we?’ Christ, it would be good to get home and no longer have to constantly be the group’s cheerleader.

There was a knock at the door and a Greenlandic policeman walked in. At first Thóra thought he had a gun, but then she realized it was a black radio attached to his belt. The radio crackled for a moment, but no voice was heard. ‘I would like to speak to you two further.’ The man pointed at Friðrikka and Eyjólfur. ‘Am I right in thinking that you are employees here?’

Eyjólfur sighed but Friðrikka appeared not to have heard the man. ‘Does this have to do with anything in particular?’ asked Thóra. She did not trust them to help the investigation in their current states. ‘Neither of them was at the place where the bones were found. Friðrikka had stopped working here by then, and Eyjólfur was only here occasionally. Besides that, they’d never been to Greenland until after Usinna died.’ She hoped this was true. ‘I’m just wondering whether this is something Matthew or I could help you with. Those two are rather tired.’

The policeman opened his mouth and appeared on the verge of bawling her out when his radio started crackling again. An unfamiliar name was called and the officer brought the radio up to his mouth. ‘I’m here. Over.’ The officer turned his back on the group. ‘I’m not alone.’ Through the static they heard someone say in Danish: ‘I think you need to come. It’s impossible to describe this. I’ll send someone for you.’

‘There they are,’ Matthew called from the window. He was speaking to Thóra, but naturally everyone heard him and tried to see what was going on. A car drove extremely slowly along the track to the camp and entered the parking area. Thóra thought it resembled a funeral procession, and judging by how quickly the policeman had left them it was entirely likely to be one. He had rushed out but come back in to the meeting room almost immediately to get the keys to Berg Technology’s jeep, since there were too many people for one car. The jeep had then sped off. At least two hours had passed and everyone in the stuffy meeting room had been a bit bleary-eyed by the time he returned and informed them of what was going on.

The cars were parked outside the cafeteria, but their chrome bumpers and exhaust pipes could be seen from the meeting room, gleaming as they pumped their fumes into the cold, still air. ‘I’m going out.’ Thóra took Matthew by the arm. ‘Come on. The man didn’t say anything before he left about us being banned from getting fresh air.’

‘He just forgot to say it,’ said Friðrikka shrilly. ‘We shouldn’t go anywhere. What if they have body bags in the cars? I couldn’t bear it.’

‘Fine. Then you stay, but I’m out of here.’ Thóra yanked determinedly on Matthew’s arm. ‘Come on.’ After one final unsuccessful attempt to see into the cars through the window he followed her, but was clearly reluctant.

‘They’ll herd us back in as soon as they see us. We’re getting dressed for nothing. It’s also blatantly obvious what we’re doing. Who goes out into this weather without having urgent business?’

Thóra had already thought of this. ‘Loan us some cigarettes, Bella. We’ll just say we came out for a smoke.’

‘Me too.’ The doctor had become just as excited as Thóra. ‘I’m coming with you.’

Bella held tight to her cigarette packet, just in case they tried to take it off her.

‘Okay, okay. Let’s go.’ The more time they wasted standing there bickering, the more they would miss. In the end four of them went outside, while Eyjólfur and Alvar stayed inside with Friðrikka, who was still lecturing them about what a bad idea it was as Thóra shut the door behind them. They beat all speed records putting on their coveralls and snow boots and showed the same swiftness in lighting their cigarettes on the landing outside, before walking in the direction of the cars. Thóra didn’t dare not smoke her cigarette properly, but it took all her willpower not to retch. She noticed that the doctor appeared to be having the same problem. Matthew, however, exhaled a grey cloud and beamed at her.

They stopped a short distance from the cars. From there they could see everything that was happening without running the risk that the police would herd them back inside. The police noticed the smokers but didn’t appear too worried about them, since they were busy unloading one of the pickup trucks.

Thóra was relieved when she saw that it was a number of bags each too small to contain the body of an adult individual, though they seemed heavy. The men were silent as they carried the grey bags into the cafeteria building. Their seriousness was compelling; the smokers all forgot to keep up the pretence of activity and even Bella’s cigarette burned up slowly and evenly. Finally the last two bags were carried towards the house. One of the policemen was careless and slipped on a patch of ice. He landed on his tailbone with a great shout, but it was not concern for his possible injuries that made the four ‘smokers’ gasp. When the man dropped the bag, an arm rolled out of it.