Page 56 of The Darkness
‘Yes, I gather she was a friend of hers.’
‘OK.’
‘You didn’t know her? Interpret for her?’
‘Nope.’
‘The thing is, she went missing.’
‘Went missing?’
‘Well, either that or did a disappearing act. She was a Russian asylum-seeker, too, and it occurred to me that the cases might be linked.’
‘OK. Nothing yet. This first document is just some kind of residence certificate from Russia; she must have brought it with her to prove her identity.’
‘Oh, I see,’ said Hulda, a little disappointed. She knew she was clutching at straws, but these papers were her last chance. ‘Please read them carefully,’ she added, as politely as she could.
‘Sure.’
Bjartur read on without speaking, his back to Hulda, while she perched uncomfortably on the edge of his bed, waiting in an agony of suspense. The silence dragged out interminably until finally Bjartur showed some kind of reaction.
‘Whoa,’ he said, and it was evident from his tone that he’d found something unexpected. ‘Whoa,’ he repeated.
‘What?’ Hulda got up and peered over his shoulder. He was reading the last sheet of paper, which was handwritten.
‘Have you found something?’ she demanded impatiently.
‘Well … I wouldn’t like to … though …’
‘What?’ she asked, her voice sharpening. ‘What does it say?’
‘She’s talking about a trip she made to the countryside with a friend who she refers to as K. Could it have been Katja?’
‘Yes, could be, could be.’ Hulda felt herself tensing with excitement. At last.
‘And someone … I’m not sure if it’s a man or a woman …’
‘Come on, out with it …’
‘She’s used an initial again. But from the context it looks like there was a man with them.’
‘What’s the initial?’
‘An A.’
XIX
He laughed.
‘Put the axe down and we’ll talk. You don’t have the guts to use it, anyway.’
Beside herself with terror, she braced herself against the door, brandishing the axe in front of her with one hand while groping for the door handle with the other.
He didn’t seem in the least fazed and took a step closer. Then, in one fell swoop, he was on her and had torn the axe from her hand.
For an instant, he stood quite still.
She was paralysed by fear, though all her instincts were screaming at her to get outside.
