Thor seemed to mull this over for a while before answering: ‘All sorts of things, really. We just talked about life and our day-to-day existence, as friends do.’
‘And it was usually just the two of you? At lunch?’
‘Yes. Always. I must say, I don’t understand what you’re trying to imply with these questions.’
‘I’m only trying to get a sense of Elín,’ Helgi answered.
‘Shouldn’t we wait a while and see if there’s really cause to be worried before you start trying to dig up her secrets?’
Helgi pounced on the word: ‘Secrets? You were friends and met up for lunch – that’s hardly a sensitive subject, is it?’
Thor shook his head. ‘No, but… I’m just not sure she’d appreciate questions of that sort. As you can probably tell, I’m positive she’s out there somewhere, safe and sound. You could hardly find a quieter soul than Elín is these days. She doesn’t travel abroad much any more, she lives alone, reads a lot, has a small circle of close friends and definitely no enemies. She must simply have decidedto take a holiday. My wife makes an unnecessary fuss about this sort of thing; she’s keen to look out for her authors.’
‘How was she the last time you met? Did she seem well balanced?’
‘Was she depressed? Is that what you’re asking? It sounds to me as if the police think she’s killed herself.’
‘To tell the truth, I have no idea,’ Helgi said, rather more sharply than he intended. ‘It’s perfectly possible, but let’s hope not. I’ve simply been given the job of asking around about her.’
Thor nodded, looking a little chastened.
‘She was very much her usual self, if you want to know.’ He paused: ‘Though, come to think of it, if anything, I suppose she was unusually upbeat, elated even…’
‘Elated? What about?’
‘I have no idea. About life, perhaps. I didn’t give it much thought at the time, not until you asked me just now. Perhaps I’m reading too much into it, but it reminded me… well…’
‘Go ahead.’
‘It reminded me of the old days, when she was still writing. She used to have the same sparkle in her eyes then. She always got so much pleasure from writing and being creative. Apart from that, she was planning a walking trip with her friend Lovísa; they used to go on outings into the mountains together.’
‘Do you think she could have been considering taking up writing again?’
‘I’m quite sure she wasn’t. She would have told me.’
‘What about her private life? Could she have started a relationship?’
Thor smiled. ‘I very much doubt it. And it bothers me a bit that you keep talking about her in the past tense. As far as we know, she’s fine. We mustn’t give way to pessimism.’
Helgi had the impression that Thor was a man who was used to getting his own way; that he was more accustomed to giving orders than receiving them. He ignored the man’s criticism. ‘Why do you find it so unlikely that she could have started a relationship?’ he asked instead.
‘Because she’s been single for years. I don’t think she knows any other kind of life. And, take it from me, people aren’t very willing to change at our age.’
‘Have you read all her books?’ Helgi asked then.
The question seemed to take Thor by surprise.
‘What? Her books? Yes, of course. I could hardly avoid it; I was under pressure from both Elín and my wife, as you can imagine. Crime novels aren’t really my thing, though; I would never normally read them. Though I did very much enjoy her series, all ten books.’
‘Yes, very accomplished,’ Helgi said, by which he mainly meant the opening chapters of Elín’s first book that he had reread on the plane. It was such a long time since he had read all her novels that he couldn’t remember that much about them. His preference was for golden-age detective stories by British and American authors.
‘Have you and Rut been together long?’ he asked, changing tack again.
‘Since we were at university, not that I can see how that’s relevant. Lovísa, Elín and I were at school together, but I met Rut when I had just started a business degree. She was reading Icelandic. Lovísa and Elín studied law, but it didn’t suit Elín, so she dropped out. Lovísa finished her law degree, as you know. Although we’re very different people, we look out for each other.’
Helgi thought he detected a peculiar emphasis on these words.
2005
