Thin Ice: An Inspector Gunna Mystery (Gunnhildur Mystery Book 5)

by Quentin Bates

  Quentin Bates escaped suburbia as a teenager and spent a decade in Iceland, before returning to his English roots with an Icelandic family and eventually turning to writing for a living. Thin Ice is Sergeant Gunnhildur Gísladóttir’s seventh appearance to date in five full-length novels and two novellas.

  The Officer Gunnhildur Mystery Series

  Frozen Out

  Cold Comfort

  Chilled to the Bone

  Winterlude

  Cold Steal

  Summerchill

  Thin Ice

  An Icelandic mystery featuring Officer Gunnhildur

  Quentin Bates

  Constable • London

  Constable

  First published in Great Britain in 2016 by Constable

  Copyright © Quentin Bates, 2016

  The moral right of the author has been asserted.

  All characters and events in this publication, other than those clearly in the public domain, are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

  A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

  ISBN 978-1-47212-150-9

  Constable

  is an imprint of

  Little, Brown Book Group

  Carmelite House

  50 Victoria Embankment

  London EC4Y 0DZ

  An Hachette UK Company

  www.hachette.co.uk

  www.littlebrown.co.uk

  For the two Sylvias

  Contents

  1 Thursday

  2 Friday

  3 Saturday

  4 Sunday

  5 Monday

  6 Tuesday

  7 Wednesday

  8 Thursday

  9 Friday

  Acknowledgements

  1

  Thursday

  The hard guy in the leather jacket was big, with bulky shoulders and knotted forearms, and his jaw jutted forward as if asking to be punched.

  So Magni obliged, swatting the tough guy aside with an effortless backhander. He never could resist an invitation; the big man stumbled back, emitting a high-pitched keening sound as he hit the wall, his dinnerplate hands held to his face as blood seeped through his fingers.

  Magni felt no animosity towards the meathead who had been stupid enough to be in the wrong place at the right time. Or was that the wrong time, he wondered? Whatever, the guy was spitting teeth into his cupped hands and whimpering, so he only needed a casual eye to be kept on him. Nothing to worry about, Magni decided with satisfaction. At any rate, the ugly black pistol in Össur’s nervous hand was far more persuasive than mere muscles.

  The old man’s face went pale, paler than it normally was, and Alli the Cornershop didn’t look like a man who spent much time in the sun. He looked sick as he handed over a carrier bag that Össur glanced into before tucking it under one arm.

  ‘You must know you don’t have a chance in hell of getting away with this,’ Alli snarled. ‘I’ll have the pair of you bastards brought back here trussed up in barbed wire.’

  ‘Good luck, grandpa.’

  Even from behind the black balaclava, Össur’s nasal voice was enough to identify him. He was sweating, though he had promised himself that he would stay calm. At last he had the cash in his hands. Maybe it wasn’t enough to retire on, but it would keep him in comfort for a good few years somewhere warm and cheap, especially if he could lose the thick-headed halfwit looking sorrowfully at the big guy who was now counting his remaining teeth.

  ‘Come on. We’re out of here,’ Össur snapped and Magni emerged from his reverie, pushing open the door. ‘Sit yourself down, grandpa, and don’t even think of trying to come after us. All right?’ The pistol in his outstretched hand pointed at Alli’s face.

  With an apologetic glance at the big man, now spluttering through the blood in his mouth, Magni followed Össur out and down the stairs, emerging into the quiet residential street of well-tended gardens in front of houses built fifty years ago. Nobody was moving and nothing was happening on this quiet afternoon with a chill in the still air. A dog barked in the distance and children could be heard playing in a garden somewhere in the tangle of old houses that made up this dog-leg street leading downhill to the town centre.

  ‘Where the fuck is Árni?’ Össur pulled the balaclava off his face and thrust the pistol into the pocket of his jacket, casting about for a glimpse of the souped-up Land Cruiser that should have been waiting for them, its engine idling and Árni behind the wheel, ready to roll to the end of the street, then a burst of power up the hill and they’d be on the main road and out of sight of a livid Alli the Cornershop and whatever goons he could summon at short notice.

  ‘He’s not here, is he?’ Magni said, stating the obvious to Össur’s irritation.

  ‘I can fucking see that. So where is he?’

  ‘I don’t know. Call him,’ Magni shrugged. ‘But I reckon we’d be best off out of here pretty quick,’ he said, setting off downhill at a smart pace and without a backward glance at the house they had just left.

  Össur had to admit that for once Magni had a point and set off after him, one hand on the 9mm pistol in his pocket and the other hugging the shopping bag full of euros, with the smaller bag of Alli the Cornershop’s finest merchandize stuffed inside his jacket.

  * * *

  They burst through the shopping centre’s doors to find comforting but slightly distorted Christmas muzak burbling inside, even though it wasn’t yet December. It was only two minutes from the quiet street where Alli the Cornershop lived in his flat above a boarded-up shop that had been closed for years, but it seemed to be a different world to this one of families browsing through shops and teenagers cruising aimlessly between the hot-dog stand and a shop selling computer games.

  ‘Where the fuck is Árni?’ Össur snarled as he sat himself down in a corner of the coffee shop, glancing out of the windows as if expecting the police or worse to arrive at any moment. He stabbed at his phone and listened in frustration as the ring tone echoed from the loudspeaker until a warm voice politely informed him that the user must be out of range and invited him to try again later.

  Össur tried again immediately and the result was the same.

  ‘Shit, shit, shit!’ Össur swore, dropping the phone on the table. ‘Fucking hell!’ he added in a savage afterthought.

  ‘Hey, you mind your language,’ Magni reminded him gently. ‘There are children about.’

  ‘Don’t you tell me what to do,’ Össur snapped back, furious that the seriousness of the situation was not making an impression on Magni, who sat with his beefy hands in his lap.

  ‘You want a coffee?’

  ‘Of course I don’t want a fucking coffee.’

  ‘You sure?’ Magni asked. ‘I think it looks a little suspicious, two guys sat in a coffee shop with no coffee.’

  Össur had to admit that the big man, who normally seemed slow on the uptake, was quite right.

  ‘Go on, then.’

  Össur tried his phone once more while Magni queued patiently, calling Árni’s number again before trying another.

  ‘Hey, man,’ he said, trying to sound as relaxed as he could whe
n the phone was finally answered by a sleepy voice. ‘You seen Árni Sigurvins today?’

  ‘Who?’ The voice queried.

  ‘Árni Sig. Drives a Land Cruiser. You know.’

  ‘No, pal. Sorry.’

  The same conversation was repeated twice with minor variations until Magni returned with two coffees and a sticky Danish pastry.

  ‘You want half?’ he asked, making to break it in two.

  ‘Fuck, no.’

  Össur’s fingers drummed frantically on the table.

  ‘Don’t swear. I told you already.’

  ‘Yeah, yeah. Look, we need to get out of here, and quick.’

  ‘How about we get a taxi?’

  ‘Are you insane?’ Össur stared at him. ‘A taxi? Fuck, no. Alli’s going to be searching for us high and low soon. That’s if he hasn’t put a price on our heads already.’

  Magni stuffed half of the pastry into his mouth and chewed, grinning amiably at Össur. ‘Like he’s going to be searching for us in a shopping centre, right? No sign of Árni?’

  ‘Come on.’

  ‘Already? Why don’t we wait until dark?’

  Össur’s teeth chattered in agitation. ‘Because we have to get away from here before someone notices us.’

  ‘And that old guy finds us?’

  ‘That’s it. We need a car.’

  Magni shrugged. ‘Árni?’

  ‘That useless bastard,’ Össur snarled. ‘When I see him, I’ll twist his fucking head off. We need a car,’ he repeated, looking desperately across the car park outside where people were coming and going with bags of shopping, some of them laughing as if they didn’t have a care in the world. Össur wanted to kick and punch them.

  ‘Come on.’

  He pushed his chair back so hard that it banged against another table and people looked up to see what the commotion was.

  ‘Calm down, man,’ Magni urged him, but Össur was already heading for the door, practically at a run, while Magni loped after him.

  Outside he cast about urgently and Magni wondered what he might be looking for.

  ‘Hey, slow down, will you?’

  ‘Come on,’ Össur said decisively, and hurried across the car park towards the more sparsely filled area furthest from the shops. It was almost dark and the street lights flickered into life, casting their orange glow.

  A large white car stood with doors open as Össur scurried towards it with Magni trailing behind. Magni saw the driver’s door close and the headlights come on as the car rolled slowly across the car park. He wondered what Össur was doing as he saw him break into a run, heading to intercept the car, and then catch hold of the rear passenger door handle, yank the door open and yell something at the occupants.

  By the time Magni caught up, Össur was in the car, hunched on the back seat, the door still open behind him.

  ‘Just who are you and what do you want? Get out or I’ll call the police.’

  The woman in the driver’s seat had the sort of determined voice that carried, but her jaw dropped and she sat in shocked silence as Össur pulled the pistol from his pocket and jammed it low and hard into the ribs of the young woman in the passenger seat. The girl started and stared, her mouth hanging open.

  ‘You’re going to shut the fuck up and drive. Understand?’ Össur said, his voice hoarse. He shuffled across the broad back seat and snapped at Magni. ‘Get in, will you? This lady’s going to give us a lift. Now go.’

  ‘Where are you going?’

  ‘Be quiet, will you?’ Össur pushed the muzzle of the pistol hard into the girl’s ribs, making her cry out.

  ‘Mum, please,’ she pleaded.

  ‘But where?’ the woman asked. ‘Which way?’

  ‘She means which turn-off,’ Magni explained patiently. ‘Calm down, will you?’

  ‘OK, the main road,’ Össur decided, gnawing at the fingernails of the hand that didn’t hold the gun pressed into the girl’s side.

  ‘Where are we going, Össi?’ Magni asked in an undertone. ‘I mean . . .’

  ‘We’ll just get away from town and have them drop us somewhere. Or we can take the car and leave them, maybe?’

  ‘The police will be looking for it the moment these two are on their own,’ Magni pointed out.

  ‘Hey, you,’ Össur said, jabbing the girl with the pistol. ‘Give me your phone.’

  ‘I forgot it. Left it at home,’ she replied, her voice both surly and frightened as she edged across the seat as far as she could from the gun.

  ‘Hers, then,’ Össur ordered. ‘And don’t try and tell me you both came out without a phone.’

  ‘Where is it, Mum?’

  ‘In my bag. On the seat.’

  ‘This one?’ Össur demanded, lifting up a bag made of soft leather. The girl nodded and Össur stuffed the pistol back in his pocket as he went through the bag, throwing the contents on the seat. Lipstick, a makeup compact, a pack of tampons and a bunch of keys were all shaken out in a pile on the plush white seat before Össur triumphantly put a smartphone into his pocket. ‘And your phone?’ he snapped at the girl. ‘Where is it?’

  ‘Really. I didn’t bring it. It’s on the table at home. The battery was flat so I left it there to recharge.’

  ‘If I find out you’re lying . . .’ Össur said, eyes narrow.

  The woman in the driving seat looked around. ‘Listen—’

  ‘You watch the road.’

  ‘Look, where do you want to go? Take the car if you want, as long as you don’t hurt us. We won’t say anything to the police. We’ll just say the car was stolen, honestly.’

  The fear in the woman’s voice was clear. Magni could see that her hands were sweating on the wheel and he wondered what Össur had planned, if he had anything planned now that their flight would certainly have left without them. He could see that Össur was terrified that his plans had fallen through and Árni had failed to be there just at the critical moment they needed him.

  ‘Go that way,’ Össur said suddenly.

  ‘Where?’ The woman asked, baffled.

  ‘That way over there, you stupid bitch, take the turn-off there,’ Össur yelled and the woman quailed as she hauled the car off the main road and up the slip road.

  ‘Now what?’ she screeched as a roundabout approached.

  ‘Over there, that way, go on.’ Now it was fully dark and they could only see the woman’s features in the glow of the dashboard. ‘Faster,’ Össur ordered.

  ‘Össi, where the fuck are we going?’ Magni demanded, and the brooding lack of a reply convinced him that Össur had no idea.

  ‘Look,’ Össur said in an urgent whisper, ‘we’ll find some place up in the country where there’s no phone or anything, dump these two there and we can take the car. By the time they’re found, we’ll be clear away. All right?’

  Magni nodded in dubious agreement.

  ‘All right,’ he said, wondering where they would find somewhere safe to dump two city women in the middle of a winter’s night.

  ‘What the hell is this place? Magni?’

  Össur’s voice trembled. A large white building loomed out of the darkness in front of them. Every window was black and a padlock hung from the front door.

  ‘It used to be a community centre years ago,’ Magni said. ‘Then it was a hotel for a while. Don’t know what it is now, though.’

  ‘Shit. We can’t stop here. We need somewhere nobody’s going to see us.’

  The two women still sat in the front seats of the car, hugged by the deep upholstery, and staring at the building lit up in the glare of the headlights. They sat in silence until the engine stopped and the silence deepened.

  ‘What happened?’

  ‘I think we ran out of petrol,’ the older woman said, her hands still gripping the wheel. ‘I tried to tell you, but you wouldn’t listen.’

  ‘Shut the fuck up, will you?’ Össur snapped.

  ‘Well, we’ll have to stay here now, won’t we?’ Magni said with a laugh that set Öss
ur’s teeth on edge with frustration.

  Magni made short work of the padlock and the door swung open. Össur scowled and went in last, shepherding the two women ahead of him. He flicked a light switch and swore when nothing happened.

  ‘Hold on,’ Magni said, looking around him in the faint beam of light that the torch in his phone emitted. ‘There must be a fuse board here somewhere. There’s power because there are lights over there.’

  His voice echoed and the vapour of his breath gathered in the beam of light. Then there was darkness as he vanished around a corner and into another room, his footsteps slapping on the tiled floor.

  ‘In here,’ he called, and the two women looked at each other.

  ‘Go on,’ Össur ordered. ‘You. Give me the car keys.’

  ‘I told you, it’s out of petrol,’ the older woman said in rising panic, her arms wrapped around herself. ‘Why are you doing this? What’s wrong with you people? Why have you brought us to this place?’

  ‘Keys,’ Össur said, standing close to her and glaring into her eyes until she looked away and dropped them into his outstretched hand.

  They stood in the kitchen doorway to see Magni standing on a stool looking at a fuse box high on the wall. He clicked one of the switches and looked over his shoulder.

  ‘Try the light.’

  The girl switched on the light and the long kitchen with its steel tables was flooded with fluorescent brightness as the tubes in the ceiling flickered into life. Magni jumped down from the stool.

  ‘The lighting circuit must have been switched off,’ he said, looking around the kitchen with a grin on his face, ‘but the power wasn’t off.’ He opened a chest freezer in the corner and his grin widened as he lifted up a frozen leg of lamb. ‘Roast lamb for breakfast?’