Where the Shadows Lie (Fire and Ice)

man had granted himself a hundred per cent mortgage in the boom times.
    ‘It has to do with our family, Erna. And with your husband.’
    ‘Oh. I feared as much.’
    ‘The manuscript is an old saga that had been in my family for generations. Gaukur’s Saga . Did Hákon ever mention it to you?’
    ‘Not directly. But that’s what he spent so much time discussing with your father, isn’t it?’
    ‘That’s correct. And when my mother died at the end of last year—’
    ‘Oh, yes, I’m so sorry about that. I would have gone to the funeral if I could.’
    ‘Yes. Well, after she died, I decided to sell the saga, through Professor Agnar. And the police think that it was for this saga that Agnar was killed.’
    ‘I see. But I still don’t understand what this has to do with Tómas.’
    Except that Ingileif could see in Erna’s face that she was beginning to understand.
    ‘It all goes back to my father’s death.’
    ‘Ah. I thought it might.’ Erna was wary now.
    ‘I’m sure that the police will ask you questions about it soon. Perhaps today,’ said Ingileif. ‘And I promise I won’t tell them what you tell me.’ This promise was easier to make now that Magnus had made an idiot of himself. ‘But I want to know what happened to my father. I need to know.’
    ‘It was an accident,’ said Erna. ‘Hákon witnessed it. A terrible accident. There was a police investigation and everything.’
    ‘Did your husband tell you what he and my father were doing that weekend?’
    ‘No. He was very secretive about all that, and frankly I wasn’t interested. They were researching something, I’ve no idea what.’
    ‘Did he ever mention a ring?’
    ‘A ring? No. What kind of ring?’
    Erna seemed genuinely puzzled. Ingileif took a deep breath. The questions were going to get more painful, there was no way of avoiding it.
    ‘It was a ring that was mentioned in Gaukur’s Saga , the manuscript the professor who was murdered was trying to sell. You see, the police believe that my father and your husband found the ring that weekend.’
    Erna frowned. ‘He never mentioned it. And I never saw a ring. But it is just the kind of thing that would fascinate him. And there was something. Something hidden in the altar in the church. I saw him sneak in there several times.’
    ‘Did you ever look to see what it was?’ Ingileif asked.
    ‘No. I told myself that it was none of my business.’ Erna shuddered. ‘But the truth is I didn’t want to look. I didn’t want to know. Hákon had rather unconventional interests. I was scared about what I might find.’
    ‘The police think that my father may have been killed for the ring,’ said Ingileif.
    ‘By whom?’ said Erna. ‘Not by Hákon, surely?’
    ‘That’s what they think.’ Ingileif swallowed. ‘That’s what I think.’
    Erna looked shocked. Shock turned to anger. ‘I know that my ex-husband is eccentric. I know that all sorts of strange stories are told about him in the village. But I am absolutely sure he didn’t kill your father. Despite all his fascination with the devil, he wouldn’t kill anyone. Ever. And …’
    A tear appeared Erna’s eye.
    ‘And?’
    ‘And your father was the only true friend Hákon ever had. Sometimes I think, well I know , that Hákon was fonder of him than of me. He was quite broken up by your father’s death. It almost destroyed him.’ She sniffed and dabbed her eye with her finger. ‘He started behaving even more strangely, neglecting his parish duties, listening to Tómas’s dreadful music. He became impossible to live with after that. Impossible.’
    Ingileif realized she would get no further on the subject of Hákon. She would leave grilling Erna to the police. She still thought Hákon had killed her father, but she was convinced that Erna didn’t, and she didn’t feel the need to argue with her.
    ‘But what has all this got to do with Tómas?’ Erna asked.
    ‘The police think he was there with Hákon and my father. The sheep farmers who Hákon went to for help saw him. Or at least they saw a boy, who the police think was Tómas.’ Ingileif didn’t want to confuse the issue with talk of hidden people.
    ‘Oh, that really is too absurd,’ said Erna. ‘Do they think Tómas killed Dr Ásgrímur? But he was only twelve then!’
    ‘Thirteen,’ said Ingileif. ‘And yes they do think he was there. He might have witnessed what happened at the very least.’
    ‘That’s ridiculous,’ said Erna. ‘It must have