Where the Shadows Lie (Fire and Ice)

speaking to his chief. It would take a little getting used to, but he liked it.
    ‘Be sure to include Magnús in the interviews,’ the Commissioner said.
    Baldur’s face remained impassive, but Magnus could tell that he was seething inside. And Magnus couldn’t blame him. This was probably one of Baldur’s biggest cases of the year, and he would not appreciate doing it under the eyes of a foreigner. Magnus might have more experience of homicides than Baldur, but he was at least ten years younger and a rank junior. The combination must have been especially irritating.
    ‘Certainly,’ he said. ‘I’ll get Árni to look after you. He’ll drive you back to Headquarters and get you settled in. And by all means come and chat to me about Steve Jubb later on.’
    ‘Thank you, Inspector,’ Magnus said, before he could stop himself.
    Baldur’s eyes flicked towards Magnus, acknowledging the evidence of this faux pas that Magnus wasn’t a real Icelander after all. He called over a detective to escort Magnus, and then left with the Commissioner back to Reykjavík.
    ‘Hi, how are you doing?’ said the detective in fluent American-accented English. ‘My name’s Árni. Árni Holm. You know, like the Terminator.’
    He was tall, painfully thin, with short dark hair and an Adam’s apple that bobbed furiously as he spoke. He had a wide friendly grin.
    ‘ Komdu saell ,’ said Magnus. ‘I appreciate you speaking my language, but I really need to practise my Icelandic.’
    ‘All right,’ said Árni, in Icelandic. He looked disappointed not to be showing off his English skills.
    ‘Although I have no idea what “the Terminator” is in Icelandic.’
    ‘ Tortímandinn ,’ said Árni. ‘Some people call me that.’ Magnus couldn’t resist a smile. Árni was on the weedy side of wiry. ‘OK, not many, I admit,’ said Árni.
    ‘Your English is very good.’
    ‘I studied Criminology in the States,’ Árni replied proudly.
    ‘Oh. Where?’
    ‘Kunzelberg College, Indiana. It’s a small school, but it has a very good reputation. You might not have heard of it.’
    ‘Uh, I can’t say I have,’ said Magnus. ‘So where to next? I’d like to join Baldur for the interview of this Steve Jubb.’

CHAPTER FOUR
    T HE FIRST THING Magnus noticed was that Steve Jubb wasn’t American. He had some kind of British accent, from Yorkshire, it transpired; Jubb was a truck driver from a town called Wetherby in that county. He was unmarried, living alone. His passport confirmed he was fifty-one.
    Magnus and Árni were watching the interview on a computer screen down the hall. All the interview rooms in Reykjavík police headquarters were installed with tape recorders and closed-circuit television.
    There were four men in the interview room: Baldur, another detective, a young Icelandic interpreter and a big, broad-shouldered man with a beer belly. He was wearing a denim shirt open over a white T-shirt, black jeans and a baseball cap, under which peeked thin greying hair. A neat little grey beard on his chin. Magnus could just make out the green and red swirls of a tattoo on his forearm. Steve Jubb.
    Baldur was a good interviewer, relaxed and confident and more approachable than he had been with Magnus earlier. He even smiled occasionally, an upward twitch of the corners of his lips. He was using the traditional cop’s technique, taking Jubb backwards and forwards through his story. Trying to get him to slip up on the details. But it meant Magnus was able to catch up on what Jubb had done that evening.
    The interview was slow and stilted; everything had to be translated back and forth by the interpreter. Árni explained that this wasn’t just because Baldur didn’t speak good English – it was a requirement if anything said in the interview was to be admitted in court.
    Jubb had plenty to explain, but he explained it well, at least at first.
    His story was that he had met Agnar on a holiday to Iceland the previous year and had arranged to look him up on this trip. He had hired a car, the blue Toyota Yaris, and driven out to Lake Thingvellir. Agnar and he had chatted for a little over an hour and then Jubb had driven straight back to the hotel. The receptionist remembered his return. Since her shift ended at eleven, his timing was corroborated. Jubb hadn’t seen anything or anyone suspicious. Agnar had been friendly and talkative. They had discussed places in Iceland that Jubb should visit.
    Jubb confirmed that he had