Read The Draining Lake for Free Online Page B
Authors: Arnaldur Indridason
television. He nodded to his father and kept watching the programme. As far as Erlendur could see it was a cartoon. He had given his son a key to the flat and could expect him at any time, even though he had not agreed to let him stay.
'Would you mind switching that off?' he said as he took off his coat.
'I couldn't find the remote,' he said. 'Isn't this telly prehistoric?'
'It's only twenty years old or so,' Erlendur said. 'I don't use it much.'
'Eva phoned me today,' Sindri said, stubbing out his cigarette. 'Was it some friend of yours who arrested her?'
'Sigurdur Óli. She hit him. With a hammer. Tried to knock him out, but caught him on the shoulder instead. He wanted to charge her with assault and resisting arrest.'
'So you made a deal that she'd go into rehab instead.'
'She's never wanted therapy. Sigurdur Óli dropped the charges for my sake and she went into rehab.'
A dealer called Eddi had been involved in a drugs case and Sigurdur Óli and two other detectives had tracked him down to a den just up from Hlemmur bus station, close to the police station on Hverfisgata. Someone who knew Eddi had phoned the police. The only resistance they'd met had been from Eva Lind. She was completely out of her mind. Eddi lay half-naked on the sofa and did not stir. Another girl, younger than Eva Lind, lay naked beside him. When she saw the police Eva went berserk. She knew who Sigurdur Óli was. Knew that he worked with her father. She snatched up a hammer that was lying on the floor and tried to knock him out. Although she missed, she fractured his collarbone. Racked with pain, Sigurdur Óli fell to the floor. As she'd wound up for a second shot, the other officers had pounced and had floored her.
Sigurdur Óli did not talk about the incident but Erlendur heard from the other officers that he had hesitated when he saw Eva Lind going for him. She was Erlendur's daughter and he did not want to hurt her. That was how she had been able to deliver the blow.
'I thought she'd clean up her act when she had that miscarriage,' Erlendur said. 'But she's twice as difficult. It's as if nothing matters to her any more.'
'I'd like to go and see her,' Sindri said. 'But they don't allow visitors.'
'I'll have a word with them.'
The telephone rang and Erlendur picked it up.
'Erlendur?' said a weak voice on the other end. Erlendur recognised it at once.
'Marion?'
'What was it you found at Kleifarvatn?' Marion Briem asked.
'Bones,' Erlendur said. 'Nothing that need concern you.'
'Oh, really,' said Marion, who had retired but found it difficult not to get involved in any especially interesting cases that Erlendur might be investigating.
There was a long silence on the line.
'Did you want anything in particular?' Erlendur asked.
'You ought to check out Kleifarvatn better,' Marion said. 'But don't let me disturb you. Wouldn't dream of it. I don't want to disturb an old colleague who's got plenty on his plate already.'
'What about Kleifarvatn?' Erlendur asked. 'What are you talking about?'
'No. Goodbye,' Marion said, and hung up on Erlendur.
7
Sometimes, when he thought back, he could smell the headquarters on Dittrichring, the smothering stench of dirty carpet, sweat and fear. He also remembered the acrid stink of the coal smog that blanketed the city, even blocking out the sun.
Leipzig was not at all as he had imagined. He had swotted up before leaving Iceland and knew that it was located on the confluence of the Elster, Parthe and Pleisse rivers, and was an old centre of the German publishing and book trades. Bach was buried there and it was home to the famous Auerbachkeller , the beer cellar on which Goethe modelled a scene in Faust . The composer Jón Leifs studied music in Leipzig and lived there for years. In his mind's eye he had seen an ancient cultural German city. What he found was a sorry, gloomy post-war place. The Allies had occupied Leipzig but later handed it over to the Soviets, and the bullet holes could still be
'Would you mind switching that off?' he said as he took off his coat.
'I couldn't find the remote,' he said. 'Isn't this telly prehistoric?'
'It's only twenty years old or so,' Erlendur said. 'I don't use it much.'
'Eva phoned me today,' Sindri said, stubbing out his cigarette. 'Was it some friend of yours who arrested her?'
'Sigurdur Óli. She hit him. With a hammer. Tried to knock him out, but caught him on the shoulder instead. He wanted to charge her with assault and resisting arrest.'
'So you made a deal that she'd go into rehab instead.'
'She's never wanted therapy. Sigurdur Óli dropped the charges for my sake and she went into rehab.'
A dealer called Eddi had been involved in a drugs case and Sigurdur Óli and two other detectives had tracked him down to a den just up from Hlemmur bus station, close to the police station on Hverfisgata. Someone who knew Eddi had phoned the police. The only resistance they'd met had been from Eva Lind. She was completely out of her mind. Eddi lay half-naked on the sofa and did not stir. Another girl, younger than Eva Lind, lay naked beside him. When she saw the police Eva went berserk. She knew who Sigurdur Óli was. Knew that he worked with her father. She snatched up a hammer that was lying on the floor and tried to knock him out. Although she missed, she fractured his collarbone. Racked with pain, Sigurdur Óli fell to the floor. As she'd wound up for a second shot, the other officers had pounced and had floored her.
Sigurdur Óli did not talk about the incident but Erlendur heard from the other officers that he had hesitated when he saw Eva Lind going for him. She was Erlendur's daughter and he did not want to hurt her. That was how she had been able to deliver the blow.
'I thought she'd clean up her act when she had that miscarriage,' Erlendur said. 'But she's twice as difficult. It's as if nothing matters to her any more.'
'I'd like to go and see her,' Sindri said. 'But they don't allow visitors.'
'I'll have a word with them.'
The telephone rang and Erlendur picked it up.
'Erlendur?' said a weak voice on the other end. Erlendur recognised it at once.
'Marion?'
'What was it you found at Kleifarvatn?' Marion Briem asked.
'Bones,' Erlendur said. 'Nothing that need concern you.'
'Oh, really,' said Marion, who had retired but found it difficult not to get involved in any especially interesting cases that Erlendur might be investigating.
There was a long silence on the line.
'Did you want anything in particular?' Erlendur asked.
'You ought to check out Kleifarvatn better,' Marion said. 'But don't let me disturb you. Wouldn't dream of it. I don't want to disturb an old colleague who's got plenty on his plate already.'
'What about Kleifarvatn?' Erlendur asked. 'What are you talking about?'
'No. Goodbye,' Marion said, and hung up on Erlendur.
7
Sometimes, when he thought back, he could smell the headquarters on Dittrichring, the smothering stench of dirty carpet, sweat and fear. He also remembered the acrid stink of the coal smog that blanketed the city, even blocking out the sun.
Leipzig was not at all as he had imagined. He had swotted up before leaving Iceland and knew that it was located on the confluence of the Elster, Parthe and Pleisse rivers, and was an old centre of the German publishing and book trades. Bach was buried there and it was home to the famous Auerbachkeller , the beer cellar on which Goethe modelled a scene in Faust . The composer Jón Leifs studied music in Leipzig and lived there for years. In his mind's eye he had seen an ancient cultural German city. What he found was a sorry, gloomy post-war place. The Allies had occupied Leipzig but later handed it over to the Soviets, and the bullet holes could still be