Tainted Blood - By Arnaldur Indridason Page 0,26

a wanker uses an ashtray?" he said. Erlendur noticed tiny beads of sweat forming on Sigurdur Óli's brow.

"That's what we're trying to find out," Erlendur said. "Have you been in touch with Holberg?"

"Did he suffer?"

"No."

"The jerk."

"Do you remember Grétar?" Erlendur asked. "He was with you and Holberg in Keflavík."

"Gréar?"

"Do you remember him?"

"What are you asking about him for?" Ellidi said. "What about him?"

"I understand Grétar went missing many years ago," Erlendur said. "Do you know anything about his disappearance?"

"What should I know about it?" Ellidi said. "What makes you think I know anything about it?"

"What were the three of you – you, Grétar and Holberg – doing in Keflavík ..."

"Grétar was nuts," Ellidi said, interrupting Erlendur.

"What were you doing in Kefíavik when ..."

"... he raped that pussy?" Ellidi cut in.

"What did you say?" Erlendur asked.

"Is that what you came here for? To ask about that pussy from Keflavík?"

"So you remember it?"

"What's that got to do with it?"

"I never said ..."

"Holberg liked talking about it. Boasted. Got away with it. He did her twice, did you know that?" Ellidi said this bluntly and looked at them in turn.

"Are you talking about the rape in Keflavík?"

"What colour panties are you wearing, sweetie?" Ellidi turned on Sigurdur Óli, staring at him again. Erlendur looked at his colleague, whose eyes remained fixed on Ellidi.

"You watch your bloody mouth," Erlendur said.

"He asked her. Holberg. Asked about her panties. He was even madder than me." Ellidi giggled. "And they send me to the nick!"

"Who did he ask about the panties?"

"The chick from Keflavík."

"Did he tell you about it?"

"All the details," Ellidi said. "He was always talking about it. Anyway, what are you asking about Keflavík for? What's Keflavík got to do with it? And why are you asking about Grítar now? I don't get it."

"Just our boring routine work," Erlendur said.

"Right, so what do I get out of it?"

"You've got everything you want. We're sitting alone here with you and your handcuffs are off. We have to listen to your filth. There's nothing else we can do for you. Either you answer the question now or we leave."

He couldn't resist the temptation. Reaching across the table he grabbed Ellidi's face in his strong hands and turned him towards him.

"Didn't your father ever tell you it's rude to stare?" he said. Sigurdur Óli looked at Erlendur.

"I can handle him. It's okay," he said.

Erlendur released his grip on Ellidi's face.

"How did you know Holberg?" he asked. Ellidi rubbed his jaw. He knew he'd just scored a minor victory. And he wasn't stopping there.

"Don't think I don't remember you," he said to Erlendur. "Don't think I don't know who you are. Don't think I don't know Eva."

Erlendur stared at the prisoner, thunderstruck. This wasn't the first time he'd heard this kind of thing from criminals, but he was never any less ill-prepared for it. He didn't know exactly who Eva Lind associated with but some of them were convicts, drug dealers, burglars, prostitutes, heavies. It was a long list. She'd been in trouble with the law herself. Once she was arrested after a tip-off from a parent for selling drugs at a school. She could easily know a man like Ellidi. A man like Ellidi could easily know her.

"How did you know Holberg?" Erlendur repeated.

"Eva's all right," Ellidi said. Erlendur could read countless meanings into his words.

"If you mention her again, we're gone," he said. "And then you won't have anyone to play with."

"Cigarettes, a telly in the cell, no fucking slavery and no more fucking solitary. Is that asking too much? Can't two supercops set that up? And it'd be nice to get a tart in here once a month or so. His chick for example," he said, pointing at Sigurdur Óli

Erlendur stood up and Sigurdur Óli slowly rose to his feet. Ellidi started to laugh. A hoarse laugh that seethed inside him, progressed to a loud gurgling and culminated in him coughing up some yellow phlegm which he spat on the floor. They turned away from him and walked towards the door.

"He talked to me a lot about that rape in Keflavík!" he shouted after them. "Told me all about her. How that pussy squealed like a stuck pig and what he whispered in her ear while he waited to get it back up. Do you want to hear what that was? Do you want to hear what he said to her?! Fucking wankers! Do you want to hear what it was?!"

Erlendur and Sigurdur Óli stopped. They