Page 50 of The Darkness
‘Yes, unbelievable. But she had a powerful motive, as we both know.’
‘Yes, she did.’ Hulda made an effort to breathe calmly.
‘She can expect to do time. And her son, well, who knows what’ll happen to him? It’s tough, Hulda; don’t you agree?’
‘Yes, of course. I really don’t know what to say …’
‘One can’t help but sympathize with her.’
‘Well, I suppose …’
‘You’ve got a reputation for that, Hulda: for giving people the benefit of the doubt. Avoiding passing judgement. I’m aware of that much, though, sadly, we’ve never got to know each other as well as we might have done.’
Sadly. The hypocrisy of it.
‘Did you give her an easy ride?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘During the interview.’
‘No, far from it. I came down pretty hard on her, considering the circumstances.’
‘With no result?’
‘No.’
‘The thing is, Hulda, there’s one part I don’t quite understand,’ he said, drawing his brows together and employing that familiar patronizing tone he’d used so often before. ‘You see, Emma claims that she confessed to you during your conversation …’
It was as if Magnús had lobbed a hand grenade into the room. Hulda felt herself go weak at the knees. Was there any way she could dig herself out of this? How much had Emma said? Why had she betrayed Hulda like that? It was incomprehensible.
Or was Magnús bluffing?
Fishing for the truth?
Trying to trick Hulda into admitting misconduct?
The problem was, she couldn’t read him, didn’t know how to play the next move. Should she make a clean breast of things or carry on lying to him and deny it?
Hulda took her time before answering. ‘Well,’ she said eventually, ‘to tell the truth, she was very unclear. Of course, she was still in a distressed state about those pictures we found of her son. It’s possible she may have thought she’d confessed to something, but that wasn’t how I experienced our conversation.’ She dabbed at the perspiration on her brow.
‘I see.’ Magnús’s face remained impassive.
He was quite good at this, Hulda realized: she’d underestimated him.
‘So it was all a misunderstanding between the two of you. Could that explain it?’
Hulda had the feeling that she was digging herself deeper and deeper into a hole with every question she answered. She felt uncomfortable in Magnús’s office, as if she were trapped there.
‘Must have been. Are you absolutely sure she did it – knocked him down, I mean? Regardless of her confession?’
‘What are you implying?’ he asked slowly, sounding more curious than surprised.
‘Perhaps it was just a cry for attention, especially if she told you she’d already confessed before.’ Hulda went on trying to brazen it out, though all she really wanted at this stage was to give in and admit everything.
‘She was definitely responsible for the hit-and-run, I don’t think there’s any real doubt about that. But that’s not the main issue here.’
‘Oh?’
