‘I have a question, nothing major, but I felt I ought to check with you first.’
‘Of course. Go ahead.’
‘I’m going to the party of a mutual friend of Elín’s and mine, a lawyer who’s celebrating his seventieth birthday. Inevitably, there will be other friends and acquaintances…’
‘And you want to know if it’s all right to talk about what’s happened.’
‘That Elín’s missing, yes. There are bound to be questions if she doesn’t show up. Well,whenshe doesn’t show up. I’m not getting my hopes up that she’ll take us all by surprise.’
The news of Elín’s disappearance still hadn’t got out. It could only be a matter of a few more days, though. Either the story would be leaked or Helgi’s superiors in the police would decide to appeal to the public for help.
‘Let’s hold off on that for a while,’ Helgi said. ‘Can’t you say she’s—’
Lovísa interrupted: ‘I’ll say she’s ill. That’s the only explanation that could possibly work. Elín would never normally miss a friend’s seventieth birthday.’
‘Whose birthday is it?’
‘A lawyer called Baldur Baldursson. You may have heard of him. He’s having a big bash at his house. His parties are famous.’
Helgi recognized the name. Baldur had earned a good reputation as a lawyer and defence counsel. A distinguished and honourable man. He was exactly the sort of person Helgi would have expected Elín and Lovísa to know.
‘I’m sorry to ask you to lie, but…’
‘Don’t worry, Helgi. It’s a white lie that won’t hurt anyone. The main thing is that Elín comes home safe. We’re putting our faith in you.’
They said goodbye, but no sooner had Helgi rung off than he remembered the birthday card and envelope he had come across at Elín’s house. The tickets to the football game.
Could they have been intended as a present for Baldur? The fact that his seventieth was imminent would have come as no surprise to his friends and he had presumably sent out the invitations well in advance.
Distinguished and honourable, yes, that’s how Helgi pictured the lawyer, and it now occurred to him that it might be safe to confide in him about what had happened.
It wouldn’t take long to find the address, and after that Helgi intended to invite himself to the birthday party, armed with a card and gift.
Baldur Baldursson lived in a handsome detached house in picturesque Thingholt, in the old part of the city. It was surrounded by a large garden, the branches of the stately trees now laden with snow. The noise of the party carried out to the pavement, a roar of conversation interspersed with music, and the house appeared to be full of people. A few guests were even standing outside in the icy wind, smoking.
Although Helgi wasn’t wearing a suit, he was neatly dressed. He strode confidently towards the front door. The key to success as a gatecrasher was never to hesitate but to behave as though you belonged there. He nodded politely to the smokers and received a few smiles in return.
Once he got inside he had trouble squeezing through the throng, hardly knowing where he should be heading, such was the crush.
He recognized the odd face here and there, but none of these people were part of his own social circle. They were prominent society or media figures, including a fewpeople from the arts world. He hoped he would bump into the host before he saw Lovísa, as he didn’t relish the thought of having to explain his presence to her.
Helgi could never hope to own a home like this. The house was very large, an old, established villa, with elegant, stylish furniture and priceless art on the walls. All of a sudden, someone tapped a glass and a sort of silence spread gradually through the crowd, though not everyone stopped their gossiping.
A woman who must have been around the same age as the host took the floor.
‘I know the speeches are over, but we’re all aware that Baldur’s a huge fan of the band the Studmenn, and we’ve managed to twist Jakob Frímann’s arm to come and play a few songs on the piano, which I know we’ll all enjoy. So please put your hands together to welcome him.’
The musician sat down at the grand piano to applause from the guests, and it was then that Helgi spotted the man whose birthday it was.
Baldur squeezed through the crowd and took up position by the piano, as if intending to sing along. He didn’t, but Helgi resigned himself to having to listen to three well-known hits by a band that had been formed before he was born, and one encore, followed by the inevitable ‘Happy Birthday’ at the end.
Helgi felt he didn’t belong here, and indeed he didn’t. After this brief glimpse into the world of the rich and famous, he doubted he would be interested in getting to know it any better.
In that instant he caught sight of Lovísa and saw thatshe had clocked him too. Unable to hide a look of astonishment, she made a beeline for him. She was holding a glass of champagne and, to his surprise, she managed to navigate through the room without spilling so much as a drop on the other guests.
‘Helgi? What on earth are you doing here? Were you looking for me? Have you found Elín?’ she said in a rush before he had a chance to answer.
He shook his head.
