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Bolungarvíkur Engineering as subcontractors. Most of their stuff was kept at Ísafjördur, but they kept quite a few machines here at Bolungarvíkur Engineering’s yard. A digger had its brakes sabotaged. No one was hurt, but the company placed a guard on the yard. Then two bulldozers were damaged, and finally another digger. It looked accidental. Of course there was lots of talk from Rós and others about the hidden people. After the third episode, the construction company put a whole squad of guards on the yard and the damage stopped.’
    ‘So, the sabotage happened in the night?’
    ‘Yes, if it was sabotage. They couldn’t prove it. It could just have been faulty parts.’
    ‘Did the guard see anything?’
    ‘No. I interviewed him. He’s a local guy – Jonni Gudmundsson.’ Tómas paused, his face suddenly stricken. ‘Oh, God, why didn’t I think of that?’
    ‘What is it?’ said Magnus.
    ‘Jonni lives next door to Rós.’
    ‘Does he now? But this is a small town. Couldn’t that just be a coincidence? I mean Arnór lives opposite the Mayor. Everyone lives near everyone else.’
    Tómas shrugged. ‘That’s true.’
    Magnus thought. ‘OK. So what have we got? We know Rós hates the construction companies because she wants to protect the elves. We also know she understands how these machines work. So she breaks into the compound in the middle of the night, sabotages one of the machines and claims it’s the elves. The company puts a guard on the gate, but he is a neighbour of Rós’s, so she tells him to look the other way while she does it again. And again. Make sense?’
    ‘Makes more sense that Rós broke those machines rather than the hidden people,’ said Tómas.
    ‘Quite. But the construction company doesn’t give up and they complete the tunnel. Rós is really upset by now. And when she tries to apologize to her elf friends, Gústi drives his digger through the ceremony, spoiling everything. She wants to avenge the elves and so she plants some bait under some loose rock, where Gústi will go and check it out. He falls for the trap, she starts the landslide, and all the elves are happy, even if Gústi isn’t.’
    ‘Sounds plausible.’
    ‘But we have nothing that amounts to proof yet.’
    ‘Shall we go and speak to Rós?’
    ‘No,’ said Magnus. ‘The more evidence you’ve got when you confront a suspect, the better. Let’s talk to Jonni first.’
    Bolungarvík Engineering’s yard was on the edge of town. They found Jonni dismounting from a snowplough. He was in his early twenties, wiry under his bulky winter clothing, with a toothy smile under a yellow hard hat.
    ‘Jonni, this is Sergeant Magnús Ragnarsson from Reykjavík,’ Tómas said grimly. ‘He has come to ask you some questions relating to Gústi’s death. We would like you to accompany us to the station.’
    Magnus was happy to see the look of concern, verging on panic, that crossed Jonni’s previously cheerful face.
    They slung Jonni in the back of Tómas’s jeep for the small trip to the police station, and let him stew. Magnus gave him twenty minutes waiting in the interview room before striding in with Tómas. They turned on the tape recorder and Tómas introduced the interview.
    ‘Jonni,’ Magnus said. ‘It’s looking increasingly likely that Gústi’s death was murder and not an accident. We believe you have information that will help us determine how he was killed. It’s very important that you answer my questions fully and honestly. Otherwise, if it turns out that this does become a murder investigation, you will be in big trouble. Do you understand?’
    ‘Yes,’ said Jonni, his voice hoarse. ‘But I don’t know anything about Gústi’s death. I was supposed to come over and help him later on that morning, when I had finished ploughing. But I wasn’t there when he died, I promise.’
    ‘No. I want to speak to you about the machinery that broke down this summer. When you were guarding the yard