Silence of the Grave by Arnaldur Indridason

Author:Arnaldur Indridason
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, pdf
Tags: Mystery & Detective - General, Detective, Mystery & Detective, Reykjavík (Iceland), Fiction - Mystery, Fiction, Suspense, Adventure, Crime & Thriller, General, Genre Fiction, Thriller
ISBN: 9780099469544
Publisher: Vintage Books
Published: 2010-05-02T04:00:00+00:00

16

Elsa opened the door for Sigurdur Óli and asked him to join her for a cup of tea. As he watched Elsa in the kitchen, he thought about Bergthóra. They had argued that morning before leaving for work. After rejecting her amorous advances he had begun clumsily to describe his concerns, until Bergthóra became seriously agitated.

"Oh, just a minute," she said. "So we're never supposed to get married? Is that your plan? Is the idea that we just live in limbo with nothing on paper and our children bastards? For ever."

"Bastards?"

"Yes."

"Are you thinking about the big wedding again?"

"Sorry if it bothers you."

"You really want to walk down the aisle? In your wedding dress with a posy in your hand and . . ."

"You have such contempt for the idea, don't you?"

"And what's this about children anyway?" Sigurdur Óli said, and immediately regretted it when he saw Bergthóra's face turn ever darker.

"Do you never want to have children?"

"Yes, no, yes, I mean, we haven't discussed it," Sigurdur Óli said. "I think we need to discuss that. You can't decide on your own whether we have children or not. That's not fair and it's not what I want. Not now. Not straight away."

"The time will come," Bergthóra said. "Hopefully. We're both 35. It won't be long until it's too late. Whenever I try to talk about it you change the subject. You don't want to discuss it. Don't want children or a marriage or anything. Don't want anything. You're getting as bad as that old fart Erlendur."

"Eh?" Sigurdur Óli was thunderstruck. "What was that?"

But Bergthóra had already set off for work, leaving him with an horrific vision of the future.

Elsa noticed Sigurdur Óli's thoughts were elsewhere as he sat in her kitchen staring down at his cup.

"Would you like some more tea?" she asked quietly.

"No, thank you," Sigurdur Óli said. "Elínborg, who's working on this case with me, wanted me to ask if you know whether your uncle Benjamín kept a lock of his fiancée's hair, maybe in a locket or a jar or the like."

Elsa thought about it.

"No," she said, "I don't remember a lock of hair, but I'm not a hundred per cent sure what's down there."

"Elínborg says there should be one. According to the fiancée's sister, who told her yesterday that she gave Benjamín a lock of hair when she went on a trip somewhere, I believe."

"I've never heard about a lock of her hair, or anyone else's for that matter. My family aren't particularly romantic and never have been."

"Are any possessions of hers in the basement? The fiancée's?"

"Why do you want a lock of her hair?" Elsa asked instead of answering his question. She had a prying look on her face which made Sigurdur Óli hesitate. He didn't know how much Erlendur had told her. She saved him the bother of asking.

"You can prove that it's her buried up on the hill," she said. "If you have something from her. You can do a DNA test to find out whether it's her, and if it is, you'll claim my uncle murdered her and left her there.

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