The Mistake Read online

  ‘Thorgeir’s daughter listened to the disk and brought it to me. It messed her up pretty good as you can imagine. It’s not pretty listening but it leaves us in no doubt whatsoever who was responsible for your daughter’s death. We’re not sure what Adolfína’s role was in it all but there was no way she could have got her hands on this recording without being party to it somehow. She may have even made it without his knowledge. Bella was drugged and kept hidden away somewhere for several days. We’re looking for the place as we speak.

  ‘Strange thing happened though. During all the commotion caused by Thorgeir’s suicide, Gunnar Atli managed to escape. It’s not exactly difficult to get out of Kleppspítali because it’s not a prison, but he was supposed to be under constant supervision.

  ‘Hopefully he hasn’t got too far though and is still okay. He’s not dressed for this sort of weather and he’s got nowhere to go that we know of. He’s not wanted for any crime anymore so it’d be nice to let him know he’s off the hook.’

  ‘There’s no doubt it was those two?’

  Kjartan seemed unable or unwilling to meet Grímur’s gaze as he picked up his bags and put them in the back of the car.

  ‘None whatsoever. Gunnar Atli had nothing to do with it. Just like he said all along.’

  ‘Just in the wrong place at the wrong time?’ Kjartan asked as he searched through one of his bags for something.

  Whatever it was that he was looking for it seemed to be eluding him. He continued his search as Grímur kept talking to him.

  ‘Seems he never really recovered from that crash he was involved in all those years ago, it really messed his head up. Losing someone close to you that way is just too much for some people to handle. Everyone has a breaking point and I guess he just reached his. You know something else strange? Bella looked a lot like that girlfriend of his who died. Maybe that’s why the two of them became friends. They say it works that way sometimes, you’ll latch onto someone simply because they remind you of somebody else. Sounds a little crazy, I know, but it’s been known to happen.’

  ‘You’re right, it does sound crazy.’

  Kjartan stopped looking through his bags and closed the car door. He leant against the car and sighed softly. He still wouldn’t look at Grímur preferring instead to stare at the ground.

  ‘He never seemed quite right in the head after that but something like that’s bound to shake you up a bit. Anyway, I’m looking forward to apologising to him. He’s been through a rough patch but hopefully he’ll be able to put it all behind him now. And you, you need to go home and look after your family. You’re better off leaving the police work to the police. That’s what we’re here for.’

  ‘Sure. So you think you’ll find him soon?’

  ‘Yeah, he’s probably just scared out of his mind somewhere about what’s going to happen to him. But as it turns out, nothing’s going to happen to him. Isn’t that the way?’

  Kjartan finally looked up and met Grímur’s gaze. Whatever it was that’d had Kjartan preoccupied a matter of seconds ago seemingly gone in an instant.

  ‘I guess so.’

  ‘After everything that guy’s been through it would be a real shame if anything were to happen to him now.’

  ‘Sure would.’

  ‘But I’m sure he’s fine, just holed up somewhere waiting for everything to blow over. That’s what I’d be doing.’

  ‘That’s probably what he’s doing then. Just like you said, waiting for everything to blow over. I should get going, my wife will be wondering where I am.’

  ‘Of course, that’s a good idea. I spoke to her last night actually.’

  ‘Why did you call Helga?’

  Kjartan went through his pockets looking for his keys which didn’t seem to be anywhere.

  ‘I didn’t call her, she called me. She said you hadn’t been answering your phone and she was wondering if I knew where you were. Of course I told her I hadn’t seen you but she seemed upset, a little bit upset maybe. She said the last time the two of you talked you seemed angry and she was worried you might do something stupid. Her words, not mine. I told her not to worry so much and that I didn’t think you were the kind to do anything stupid. You’re not are you?’

  ‘What?’

  ‘The kind that would do something stupid?’

  ‘Of course not.’

  He finally located his key ring and pulled it from one of his pockets. He seemed relieved to finally have them in his hands.

  ‘That’s what I thought.’

  ‘You know how women are, they worry about things too much. It comes naturally to them. Occasionally I’ve been a bit hot-headed in the past but not anymore. I’m sure we’ve all done things we’re not terribly proud of but you put them behind you and you move on.’

  ‘I guess that’s what we do.’

  ‘We all learn to live with our mistakes.’

  ‘What was that?’

  ‘I said, we all learn to live with our mistakes.’

  ‘That’s what I thought you said.’

  ~

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  About the Author

  Grant Nicol is a happy guy because he lives in Reykjavík now. He loves the cold and the rain and the snow. The colder it gets the happier he gets. If one day he actually freezes to death he’ll be really happy. When he’s not enjoying the cold he is also the author of On a Small Island. It’s set in Reykjavík too and available on Kindle.

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  About Number Thirteen Press

  Pulp

  Crime

  Novellas

  Number Thirteen Press is building a list of 13 quality crime novellas and short novels, to be published consecutively on the 13th of each month, from November 2014 to November 2015.

  For all the latest info and to sign up for the newsletter, or for details about all 13 releases, go to www.numberthirteenpress.com

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  Number Thirteen Press

  #1 Of Blondes and Bullets – Michael Young

  #2 Down Among the Dead – Steve Finbow

  #3 The Mistake – Grant Nicol

  www.numberthirteenpress.com

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  Coming Soon

  Number Thirteen Press #4:

  When You Run With Wolves

  Robert White

  13th February, 2015

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