Yrsa Sigurdardottir - Ashes To Dust

‘I’ve spoken to a lot of people, and not a single one has mentioned this to me,’ said Thóra, surprised. ‘Is it because you have a better memory, or is there something else going on?’

Paddi turned to smile at her.‘Naturally, some people have a better memory than others,’ he said.‘In this case there’s nothing going on, there’s a simple explanation: the smack didn’t stop here for long. It came in the evening and sailed away early the next morning, without many people noticing it.’

‘But you saw it leave?’ said Thóra.

‘Yes, I always had one foot down at the harbour, still have. Not much has changed. My wife used to suggest that we hire a bulldozer and push the house down there to spare me the to-ing and fro-ing.’ He looked up at the sky. ‘May God rest her soul.’ He resumed his story – much to Thóra’s relief, since she never knew what to say at moments like these. ‘So I was messing around down there, securing my boat because the forecast was bad, as I recall, when this smack came sailing into the harbour. The men were yapping something at me in a foreign language, and even though I didn’t understand the words I realized they were asking for mooring. I pointed them to an empty space and that was that.’

‘Do you know what nationality they were, or how many of them were on board?’ asked Thóra.

Paddi the Hook shook his head. ‘Bloody limeys, I think,’ he said. ‘I counted two, but there could have been more as it was quite a big boat.’

‘And when was it they left, given that it seems no one but you saw them? In the middle of the night?’

‘No, love,’ said Paddi.‘They waited out the worst of the weather, since their boat wasn’t exactly in the best condition. If I could have spoken to them man to man, in Icelandic, I would have pointed out that they could have repaired most of the damage here, with us. But it didn’t get to that stage, because I was up early the next morning and watched through the kitchen window as they sailed away. Although it was dark outside it was clearly them, because the harbour was lit. I recognized their smack as it travelled out to sea. They definitely left.’

‘Do you by any chance recall the name of the boat?’ asked Thóra.

‘No, I don’t,’ he replied, avoiding her glance. ‘I’m not so good at reading, I don’t mind admitting. It actually hasn’t been too much of a problem -I’m more one for working with my hands, and it’s often easier when book-learning’s not getting in your way.’

She smiled at him. ‘But you have got a good memory. How can you remember this, for example? Hundreds of boats must have been through this harbour; what was so special about this smack?’

‘There was nothing that special about it – it was a fairly good-looking boat and all that, but it’s true that other, better boats have stopped here.’ He looked back out over the rudder. ‘I remember it so clearly because of what happened the next morning, when Tolli discovered blood on the pier where it had been moored.’

Thóra’s expression revealed nothing, although she was very excited. ‘I’m guessing you mean the weekend before the eruption?’ she asked. ‘I’ve heard about this but I understood that no boat had been anchored there for a long time before the blood was found.’ She decided not to tell him where she’d heard this, since she preferred not to advertise the fact that she and Bella had been snooping through Gudni’s files.

‘That’s because no one knew the smack had been there but me,’ Paddi replied. ‘When I left the harbour it was there, but for some reason the men moved it from that pontoon over to one located a bit further to the east. I watched them sail away, but I’ve never understood why they moved the boat. Maybe the weather seemed worse in the place I pointed them to.’

‘Did you tell anyone about the boat?’ said Thóra. She was surprised this hadn’t come up in Gudni’s report, although there was a chance she and Bella had overlooked it in their haste.

‘No, actually I didn’t,’said Paddi. ‘No doubt I would have done eventually, but then the volcano went up and I had other things to think about. No one asked me, and then I had the feeling that this information might be used against someone. So I decided to wait and see, and Mother Nature decided for me. I have to admit that since the bodies were found in Maggi’s – Markus’s father’s – house I’ve often wondered about that blood on the pier, and I expect I’m not the only one.’

‘Do you mean the harbour-master who discovered the blood?’

‘No, he’s long dead, the old man,’ replied Paddi. ‘I was thinking about Inspector Leifsson, for starters, not to mention all the locals who came down to see it for themselves. You don’t see that quantity of blood on the pier just from a large catch of fish.’

Thóra thought for a moment.‘I’m sure you know who Dadi was,’ she said. ‘He was seen there that morning. Do you think he could have had something to do with the blood?’

‘That boring old bastard?’ said Paddi bluntly. ‘He may have, though I doubt it. Dadi was a lazy coward who wouldn’t say boo to a goose. He was a real drip, not like a proper Islander. His father wasn’t born here, you know.’

‘So do you think he was telling the truth when he denied knowing anything about the blood?’

‘I didn’t say that. He could have known more than he let on. Actually, he wasn’t the only one seen there -just the only one the police knew about.’

‘Really?’ exclaimed Thóra.‘There were others there? Why was this kept secret?’

‘I should make something clear before we go any further, so there’s no misunderstanding,’ said Paddi.‘Maggi was a decent fellow. He was a hard worker from the old school, who wasn’t afraid of anything and worked like a dog for his family. He deserves everything that he has, and I don’t know of anyone who thinks he got it through any funny business. Leifur is a good man too; Markus I only knew as a child, a cheeky little monkey, good fun.’

‘But?’ said Thóra.‘Praise like that is usually followed by a “but”.’

Paddi smiled at her. ‘But,’ he said, no humour in his voice, ‘when Maggi got ill and started losing his grip… Look, everyone knows about his condition although Leifur tries to keep it secret. He took over the company from his dad, and people are getting worried about how it’s going. Maria doesn’t bother to hide the fact that she’d rather live anywhere else but here. If they move, the company will be sold and the only ones who’d have the means to buy it would be big-city fat cats. And they would move the fishing rights somewhere where it would be more profitable to fit out the ships and process the catch. You might say Leifur has the whole community by the short and curlies, so everyone tiptoes around for fear of offending him. There are others to whom some of us owe our livelihood, but he’s the one who looks like he’s leaving.’

‘I see,’ said Thóra. She knew that the Islanders’ fears were not ungrounded – in such a small community, every employer mattered. ‘And you think Leifur uses this to keep people quiet?’ She was starting to convince herself that Magnus had been one of those seen down at the harbour that fateful night.

‘No,’ said Paddi.‘I’m pretty sure he doesn’t. In some ways Leifur is a simple fellow, like me, and doesn’t care much about what others are thinking. He just does his own thing and is probably pretty happy with how everything’s going, and no one argues with him when he suggests something. I predict that if things go on this way, he’ll get a big head.’ Paddi steered the ship closer to Heimaey and pointed out the land formed of new lava, which was impressive when you thought how short a time had passed since it had poured out. ‘The problem is that different people have different views on what’s best for Leifur and Markus, and on what can and can’t be said as far as this case goes. Almost all the Islanders will only say what they think will be best for the brothers. Whether that’s the right thing to do, that’s another question. Some people may actually be keeping quiet about the good things and discussing stuff that could make the brothers look bad, without realizing it.’