Where the Shadows Lie (Fire and Ice)

to him?
    There was only one way to find out.
    He rang the bell at the side entrance of the house, which was where the stairs led up to her flat.
    She answered the door. ‘Oh, it’s you.’
    ‘I’ve come to say I’m sorry,’ Magnus said. ‘I acted like a jerk.’
    ‘You did.’ Ingileif’s face was cool, almost expressionless. Not hostile, but certainly not pleased to see him.
    ‘May I come in?’ he asked.
    ‘No,’ said Ingileif. ‘You did act like a jerk. But your basic point was correct. You are leaving Iceland in a couple of days. It doesn’t make sense for us to get more emotionally involved with each other.’
    Magnus blinked. ‘I understand that. It was what I told you, after all, but much less tactfully. But …?’
    Ingileif raised her eyebrows. ‘But?’
    Magnus wanted to tell her that he really liked her, that he wanted to get to know her better, that it might not make sense but that it was the right thing to do, he knew it was the right thing to do. But her grey eyes were cold. No, they said. No.
    He sighed. ‘I’m very glad I met you, Ingileif,’ he said. He bent down, kissed her quickly on the cheek and turned into the gathering gloom.
    Árni sat in his car, parked illegally just outside Eymundsson’s Bookshop in Austurstraeti, and called the station. Magnus had left for the evening. Then he called Magnus’s mobile number. No reply – the phone was switched off. So then he called his sister’s house.
    ‘Oh, hi Árni,’ Katrín said.
    ‘Have you seen Magnús?’
    ‘Not this evening. But he might be in. Let me check.’ Árni tapped his fingers on the dashboard while his sister looked in Magnus’s room. ‘No, he’s not here.’
    ‘Any idea where he might be?’
    ‘How the hell should I know?’ Katrín protested.
    ‘Please, Katrín. Where does he go in the evening, do you know?’
    ‘Not really. Wait, I think he goes to the Grand Rokk sometimes.’
    ‘Thanks.’ Árni hung up and drove rapidly up to the Grand Rokk. He was there in two minutes.
    He had to speak to Magnus. He had checked. He had made a mistake. He knew who had killed Agnar.
    He stopped the car in the street right outside the bar and ran in. He flashed his badge at the barman and asked if he had seen Magnus. He had. The big man had left fifteen minutes before.
    Árni jumped back into his car and headed up the hill towards the Hallgrímskirkja. He stopped at a junction. A man crossed in front of him wearing a baggy hooded sweatshirt. The man was fairly tall, slim, with brown skin, walking determinedly. Árni knew him from somewhere.
    He was the guy in the arrivals hall at Keflavík Airport. The American who had been met by the Lithuanian drug dealer.
    It was a quiet road. The Hispanic guy had increased his pace to a brisk walk. He lifted up his hood.
    As Árni crossed the junction heading uphill, he glimpsed Magnus shambling slowly further along the street, head down, deep in thought. Árni was tired. It took him a couple of seconds to realize what was happening. He braked, slammed the car into reverse, and sped backwards down the hill. He crashed into a parked car, threw open the door and jumped out.
    ‘Magnús!’ he shouted.
    Magnus spun around when he heard the sound of smashing metal. So did the Hispanic guy.
    The guy was only twenty metres away, maximum. He was gripping something in the front pocket of his sweatshirt.
    Árni charged.
    He saw the Hispanic’s eyes widen. He saw him pull the gun out of his pocket. Raise it.
    Árni launched himself into mid air just as the gun went off.
    Magnus saw Árni leap out of his vehicle, heard him shout, saw him run towards the tall figure in the grey hoodie.
    He rushed forward just as Árni bowled the man over. He heard the sound of a gunshot, muffled by Árni’s body. The man rolled away from Árni, and turned towards Magnus. Raised his gun from a prone position.
    Magnus was about twenty feet away. No chance of reaching the man before he pulled the trigger.
    There was a gap between two houses on his left. He jinked and dived through. Another gunshot and a ricochet of a bullet off metal siding.
    Magnus found himself in a back yard, other back yards ahead and to one side. He turned right and leapt at a six-foot-high fence. Swung his body over just as another shot rang out.
    But Magnus didn’t want to run away from this guy.
    He wanted to nail him.
    A floodlight burst into life, dazzling Magnus. This yard backed on to a more prosperous looking house. Magnus