“Actually, you’d be surprised just how few there are, according to the National Registry. It seems a coincidence too striking to ignore that Svana Geirs would know two people with the same initials. It also seems odd that she wouldn’t have your name and number in her phone memory when the rest of the syndicate are all there.”
With one hand in her pocket, she pressed the green button on her phone that her thumb had been hovering over, while looking Jónas Valur in the eyes.
“It may well seem odd…” he began, shutting his mouth suddenly as a faint buzz could be heard from his jacket hanging on an old-fashioned hatstand in the corner. His eyes narrowed and Gunna immediately sensed the man’s fury.
“I take it that’s your phone ringing over there?” she asked sweetly, lifting her own phone from her pocket. “If you answer it, you’ll find yourself talking to me.”
“Probably nothing important,” Jónas Valur said dismissively. “I receive dozens of calls every day.”
“But you don’t,” Gunna corrected him. “I happen to know that your personal mobile number is carefully given out to only a few selected friends and your business calls come here to be screened by the witch next door.”
Jónas Valur stood up and leaned forward with his knuckles on the surface of the desk. “I think I’ve told you everything I have to say without a lawyer present. So if you don’t mind, I’m a busy man.”
His eyes indicated the door.
“What did Svana talk to you about?” Gunna asked, remaining seated as he loomed over her.
“I have said everything I’m prepared to say.”
“Did she call you to let you know that the syndicate was being closed down?”
“What the hell are you talking about, you stupid woman? Don’t you know what’s good for you?” Jónas Valur hissed, lifting his knuckles from the desk and impotently balling his fists.
“If I’m expected to take that as a threat, then it might be as well to continue this conversation at Hverfisgata,” Gunna said in a voice that she did her best to keep even.
“On what grounds?” he sneered. “Sleeping with a murder victim? That doesn’t mean that I had any hand in her death.”
“Or Steindór Hjálmarsson’s?”
Jónas Valur sank back into his chair and his face hardened. “What did you say?”
“You heard me.”
“I had nothing whatsoever to do with that.”
“That’s not what I’ve heard.”
“That was all Bjartmar’s doing.”
“And he’s conveniently no longer with us.”
Jónas Valur’s eyes bulged with fury that he concealed with a humorless smile. “Nonetheless, it was Bjartmar’s affair entirely. He was a good friend, but the man had a temper that he sometimes found difficult to rein in. I knew nothing of this until long after the event, and then only through unreliable hearsay. Needless to say, I never asked Bjartmar about these rumours.”
This time Gunna stood up and towered over him.
“In that case you won’t have any objection to making a formal statement to that effect. Nine tomorrow morning at Hverfisgata? Ask for me at the main desk,” she said crisply, turning to leave Jónas Valur glaring at her as she closed his office door behind her.
Gunna hunted around for the car, cursing the department’s finances that left them short of vehicles and forced them to hire cars to fill the gap. She clicked the fob, saw lights flash and strode across the car park to where today’s Audi waited for her.
Her phone trilled as she started the engine, and she fumbled for it as the car began to bump forward through the puddles.
“Gunnhildur,” she barked without bothering to check the caller ID.
“Hæ, it’s me. Busy?”
“As always. What can I do for you, Skúli?”
“Ah. It’s more a case of what I can do for you.”
“Go on,” Gunna instructed, intrigued, letting the car come to a halt. She heard Skúli take a deep breath.
“It’s about Gulli Ólafs. I’ve been talking to a friend of a friend and thought you might be interested to know there’s a rumour around the news desk that he and Helena Rós are more than usually good friends. You know, Hallur Hallbjörnsson’s wife?”
“That’s very diplomatically put, Skúli. I don’t suppose you could name a source, could you?”
“I could, but I’d best not.”
Gunna put the car into gear and it jerked forward, splashing its way through a deeper than usual pool of rainwater.
“That certainly throws a new light on things. Thanks for letting me know, Skúli. It’s appreciated.”
“That’s not all, though. Listen …”
Gunna braked and the car ground to a halt a second time. “There was a journal meeting this morning and a load of the usual old stuff came up, but there was also a mention by one of the senior editors that he has someone sitting on a story about Svana Geirs and her little club. There was a bit of an argument about whether or not we should actually use it when it shows up, as it’s definitely going to upset her family.”
“And what was the verdict?”