Yrsa Sigurdardottir - Ashes To Dust

‘What is it about this tattoo? There’s been nothing about a tattoo in Adolf’s case.’

‘Alda had a picture of it in her desk drawer, a tattoo that says Love Sex. We found the tattoo parlour where it was done, and they told me Halldora Dogg had had it drawn on her back. But that’s all I know,’ said Thóra. ‘When I asked her about it, she responded by putting the phone down.’

‘Do you know when it was done?’asked Svala. ‘This hasn’t been mentioned in any of the files I’ve seen, and I think I have everything.’

Thóra reached for the piece of paper on which she’d written the information. ‘The twenty-sixth of February, 2007,’ she read. ‘The tattoo parlour is called Mirror of the Soul, if that helps at all.’

‘What?’ said Svala.‘What did you say?’

‘Mirror of the Soul,’ repeated Thóra, surprised at the woman’s interest in the name.

‘No,’ said Svala impatiently.‘When did she get this tattoo?’ Thóra repeated the date.‘And it says Love Sex?’ asked Svala, still sounding surprised.

‘Yes,’ answered Thóra.‘Not exactly a work of art.’

‘Maybe not,’ said Svala, obviously pleased. ‘But very good news for Adolf.’

In front of Thóra sat the man from the picture in Alda’s desk, Adolf Dadason. He was older than he looked in the photo, and even better looking. There was something attractive about him, even though Thóra knew he was a waste of space. Svala hadn’t tried to make any excuses for his character; she had even offered the opinion that his behaviour was typical of the kind of man who put his own interests and desires before everything else. So his charisma didn’t come from his personality, only from his physical appearance. Adolf was the living incarnation of a one-night stand, a man who offered sex without emotion. He would no doubt have prospered in prehistoric times. Thóra could feel herself attracted to him in a way, but at the same time she pitied him for existing during the wrong time period. She hastily directed her gaze elsewhere when he suddenly looked up at her from beneath his heavy brow, as if he knew what she was thinking. Before she looked away, she saw one corner of his mouth lift in an ironic smile. She felt as if he were inviting her to go to some out of the way place and have a quickie before they went any further. Thóra was relieved when Svala broke the silence.

‘You realize, Adolf, that you owe a great debt to Thóra, and it’s only fair that you assist her in return. If she hadn’t contacted me, your case would be hard to win, but now it looks as though we may be able to clear your name.’ Svala hesitated a moment, but then added: ‘Almost, anyway. We don’t know how the judge will react to you having drugged the girl with emergency contraceptives.’

Thóra watched Adolf, whose face didn’t change as his lawyer spoke. Svala had arranged this meeting at Thóra’s request, after their phone conversation the night before. She had been so happy with the information about the date of Haldóra’s tattoo that Thóra suspected she would have done even more if Thóra had asked her to. ‘You do understand how important the tattoo is?’ pressed Svala, when Adolf showed no reaction.

He shrugged his shoulders, looking bored.‘Yes, yes. It’s all the same to me.’

Svala put her hands on the desk. They were sitting in her office at the legal firm where she worked. The furniture appeared to be brand new and very expensive, and even the computer on the table seemed to be from a different generation to the piece of junk Thóra used, with its clunky monitor. Freshly brewed espresso fitted perfectly with the whole image, and it didn’t hurt that it was accompanied by chocolates. Visitors to Thóra’s firm should be grateful if Bella had remembered to buy milk for their coffee, or the coffee itself, for that matter. This was one of the advantages of working for a large legal firm: decent coffee and better conditions. At the moment Thóra couldn’t see any disadvantages, although there must have been some. ‘No one goes and gets a tattoo that reads Sex, much less Love Sex, under forty-eight hours after they were raped. This strengthens your declaration that the sex with Halldora Dogg was consensual.’

Adolf sat there silently, expressionless, so Thóra decided to join in the discussion. ‘It would help me if I could ask you something about Alda’s role in this,’ she said.‘As Svala said before, Alda was interested in this tattoo.’

Adolf shifted in his seat. ‘I know nothing about that woman,’ he said, and glanced out of the window, which had a wonderful view of the city. ‘She was against me at first, and then all of a sudden on my side.’

Svala smiled warily. ‘That’s not entirely true. She told me she contacted you. You even planned to meet up.’

‘Yes,’ said Adolf, then added after a brief silence: ‘Alda did actually contact me. But I changed my mind about meeting her.’

‘Do you know why she wanted to talk to you?’ Thóra asked. ‘She could just as easily have contacted the police if she only wanted to give them information pertinent to the case.’

‘No, I don’t know why,’Adolf replied, still looking out of the window.

‘Didn’t she mention why, when she called – or did she come to visit you?’ asked Thóra, not knowing how Alda had contacted the man. When Adolf did not reply, she added:‘You realize that she knew your parents, don’t you?’

Adolf shifted again in his chair without saying anything. ‘How about you answer the lady?’ said Svala testily. ‘These aren’t complicated questions.’

‘I’m not sure I should say anything about it,’ said Adolf calmly, now looking at his lawyer.‘It’s not as simple as you think.’ Svala started to say something, but stopped. ‘As you know, I’m involved in more than one case right now.’

‘Do you mean the hospital case?’asked Svala. ‘Are the two cases connected?’

‘No,’ replied Adolf dryly.‘But I need to speak to you in private before we go any further.’

Thóra did not object. Adolf was Svala’s client and it was right that his interests had precedence over a favour for an old university classmate. She nodded consent as Adolf and Svala left the office together, leaving her with the view. She was happy not to have had to leave the room, as it would have been awkward to wait outside while they discussed things. It also gave her space to consider what this meant, and to try to understand Alda’s connection to the death of Adolf’s mother. She wanted to ask Adolf if he had any idea why Alda had got hold of his mother’s autopsy report. Given how long his corridor conversation with Svala was taking, she was sure he knew the answer. Had Alda also discovered something that could help Adolf get financial compensation for his mother’s accidental death? Where could such information have been found? Had Alda spotted something in the autopsy report that Thóra and others had overlooked? Thóra had barely been able to get through the document, so she wouldn’t have been capable of noticing anything unusual.

The door opened and Svala stuck her head through the gap. ‘Who is Alda’s next of kin?’ she asked.

Thóra looked at the woman in surprise. This seemed an odd and irrelevant question from someone she had always found very straightforward, but she replied without comment that she imagined Alda’s sister or parents must be her heirs, although she hadn’t ever checked.

‘Precisely, so no children, in other words,’ said Svala, and closed the door again. Thóra sat and stared at it. She hadn’t had time to form an opinion on any of this when the door reopened and Svala appeared in the gap once more. ‘Do you know anything about her estate?’ she asked. ‘What there is to be divided?’