Arnaldur Indridason - Oblivion

Joan looked up.

‘How’s his sister?’ she asked again. ‘Kris told me she was real sick.’

‘Tell us a bit more about Earl. What exactly does he do here on the base?’

‘Do? What do you mean? He’s in the marines.’

‘What does he do in the marines?’

‘This and that. Security at the moment. I believe. I don’t know what he does. He never tells me about his assignments. I think... I don’t think he’s allowed to. That must be the reason. He’s so quiet. Never speaks to me. Not a word. I gave up asking a long time ago.’

‘Where does he work?’ asked Caroline.

‘Earl works in the hangar.’

‘The hangar?’

‘Yeah, the big one.’

‘Hangar 885?’

‘He’s there all day and all night and never tells me a thing about what he does.’

‘Are you saying he’s a security guard in the big hangar?’ asked Caroline, her eyes on Marion.

‘Last I heard. I don’t know. I don’t care what he does.’

‘Where is he now?’ asked Caroline. ‘Greenland?’

‘He was in Greenland but I thought he was coming home this evening.’

‘What’s he doing there?’

‘He wants a transfer. To the base whose name I always forget. I think he’s going to drag me there next.’

‘Has he been planning this for a while?’

‘No idea.’

‘Was it him who slashed Kris’s tyres?’ asked Marion.

‘Why won’t you leave me alone?’

‘Did he lie in wait for Kris outside the building?’ asked Caroline.

‘Why are you asking me? Why don’t you ask him?’

‘Oh, I intend to,’ said Caroline, ‘but first I want to hear it from you.’

‘I can’t talk to you.’

‘Why not? What are you afraid of?’

Without warning Joan leapt to her feet, as if to rush out of the flat and escape all this, but Caroline was too quick and caught her before she could reach the door. Joan tore herself loose and Caroline grabbed hold of her again, trying to restrain her. Joan struggled, screaming at her to leave her alone, trying to twist out of her arms. Marion, watching the scuffle, saw that Caroline suddenly had Joan’s wig in her hands. It had come off in the fracas, and when Joan realised, she ceased her flailing about, clasped her hands over her shaven head and collapsed weeping to the floor in the corner by the door. Her scalp was covered in plasters and bandages which Marion initially took to be fastenings for the wig but then realised were stained with blood.

‘What’s this?’ asked Caroline, stunned, as she stood with Joan’s hair in her hands, gaping at her head. ‘What...? What... what in hell happened to you?’

‘Don’t look at me,’ whimpered Joan and snatched the wig back from her. ‘Leave me alone. Go away and leave me alone... don’t look at me...’

Caroline caught Marion’s eye, then knelt down beside Joan on the floor and put her arms round her.

‘What happened?’ she asked gently. ‘Was it Earl? What did he do to you?’

‘Isn’t it hideous?’

‘It’s...’ Caroline didn’t know what to say.

‘It was... he used one of his horrible hunting knives. Isn’t it... isn’t it hideous?’ said Joan, weeping from a combination of anguish, fury and humiliation. ‘Then he took his razor to me and... I couldn’t do anything, he’s so strong, so terribly strong... and he threatened me... threatened to... threatened to kill me...’

The dressings on her head formed an irregular pattern and Marion and Caroline stared at them uncomprehendingly until Joan began to tear them off, revealing the letter ‘K’ gouged into her scalp with a sharp knife, from her forehead to the nape of her neck.

‘“K”?’ said Caroline. ‘Is that...?’

‘Kris. Earl went for me when he came home from the Animal Locker one evening. He’d heard... heard about me and Kris. He went crazy.’

‘How did he hear about you and Kris?’ asked Caroline.

Joan didn’t answer. She sat, her eyes lowered, her shoulders shaking with sobs. Caroline let her be for the moment. Marion held out a handkerchief and Joan took it gratefully. All resistance was at an end and she sat there on the floor, frightened and vulnerable, sniffing into the hanky.

How did Earl find out about your affair?’ asked Caroline again.

‘Somebody must... must have told him,’ whispered Joan. ‘I don’t know. We tried to be careful. Somebody at the Animal Locker. All of a sudden he knew and...’

‘And what?’

‘He couldn’t stand it,’ said Joan. ‘He threatened to kill me, and I know he’s capable of it, the fucking sadist. He threatened to kill me if I went to the police after he... after he cut me. Like he’s any better, screwing around over there in... in Greenland.’

Joan raised tear-filled eyes to Caroline’s face.

‘He couldn’t stand that it was an Icelandic,’ she said. ‘I reckon that was the worst part for him. To be cuckolded by an Icelandic. He couldn’t give a shit about the money — Kris owed him for the grass. Earl was pissed about it but that was all. Though when he heard we were...’

‘Yes?’

‘He swore he was going to kill him. God, I can’t...’

Joan started crying again and Caroline waited patiently for her to recover.

‘What happened?’ she asked eventually.

‘I don’t want... it wasn’t my fault how...’

‘How what?’

‘Earl made... Earl made me call him and invite him over. He stood over me with the knife. God, I... I didn’t dare not to. I tried to warn Kris when he came here and he left almost at once but they were waiting for him—’

Joan broke off.

‘I don’t know why I’m protecting Earl. I don’t know why I should. The fucking jerk.’

‘Did he attack Kris? He and his friends?’

‘I don’t know... I don’t know how he found out,’ said Joan, weeping silently. Then suddenly she seemed to wake out of her daze and stared at Caroline in terror.

‘You can’t tell him I told you this!’

‘It’ll—’

‘You can’t! No way! He’ll kill me. He... Look what he did to me.’

‘It’ll be OK,’ said Caroline, hugging her tight. ‘It’ll be OK.’

‘Earl says it’s all my fault,’ said Joan, wringing the blonde wig in her hands as if it were her only fixed point in life. ‘He keeps saying that. He made me call Kris... said he just wanted to talk to him. Said he wasn’t going to hurt him. He promised. He promised me. I regret it so much but what was I... what was I supposed to do? I didn’t know what Earl was planning. He wasn’t here when Kris arrived. I thought he was planning to be here but he didn’t show up. I told Kris to go right on home, that Earl was after him. I told you he was with me for two hours — that wasn’t how it was at all. He left at once. I told him it was over between us and that he might be in danger... the poor boy ran out and... by then they’d slashed his tyres...’

Caroline and Joan walked out of the building ahead of Marion, intending to go to the squad car that Caroline had parked a little way off, when they saw three men coming towards them.

‘Who’s this?’ whispered Marion, stopping behind the two women.

‘Christ knows,’ said Caroline with a groan, looking for an escape route between the barracks buildings, but immediately giving it up as a bad idea. ‘I’ve never seen them before.’

‘What’s happening?’ asked Joan, petrified.

The men were wearing air-force uniforms and from his insignia Marion guessed the leader was some sort of officer. He was short and powerfully built, with a crew cut and a stern expression. The other two looked equally stern but stayed in the background; Marion assumed these two were ordinary airmen. All three were armed with revolvers at their belts. The airmen were also carrying automatic rifles.