‘Why not?’ said Magnus, pulling up next to the German, who was standing with his thumb out, looking cold.
‘It’s going to be humiliating, him in the car with you and me.’
The car came to a halt. Magnus got out of the driver’s seat and took the keys with him. He shook Martin’s hand and gave him the keys.
‘Look after the car, will you? And Vigdís.’
‘I will,’ said Martin with a grin.
Vigdís rolled down the window. ‘What the hell are you doing, Magnús?’
‘I’ll walk back to Raufarhöfn and drop the other car in Akureyri.’ He took a well-thumbed Icelandic–English dictionary out of his pocket and tossed it into Vigdís’s lap. ‘Here. You may need this.’
Vigdís stared at the dictionary, and then at Martin climbing into the seat next to her. ‘You planned this, Magnús!’
‘Have a good trip!’ Magnus said. ‘I’ll tell Baldur I gave you four days’ leave after all the overtime you worked on the case.’
Vigdís shook her head. And then she smiled.
Martin put the car into gear and drove off, towards the south. The long, slow way around the island.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
This is based on a much shorter story under the same title that appeared in Deadly Pleasures (edited by Martin Edwards), an anthology of short stories by members of the Crime Writers’ Association.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Michael Ridpath spent eight years as a bond trader in the City before giving up his job to write full-time. He lives in north London with his wife and three children.
Also by Michael Ridpath
FIRE & ICE SERIES
Where the Shadows Lie
66º North
Sea of Stone
Meltwater
NOVELLAS
The Polar Bear Killing
Published in e-book in Great Britain in 2015 by Corvus, an imprint of Atlantic Books Ltd.
Copyright © Michael Ridpath, 2015
The moral right of Michael Ridpath to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988.
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, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities, is entirely coincidental.
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A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
E-book ISBN: 978 178239 759 5
Typeset by Servis Filmsetting Ltd, Stockport, Cheshire.
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