The Day is Dark Read Online Free PDF Page A

would be safe for me to make this trip. What if the video was shot at the camp?’
    ‘I wouldn’t read too much into it,’ said Bragi, patting her shoulder. ‘This could have been anything, and shot anywhere. Even at a fitness centre.’
    ‘I doubt many people wear woolly socks at the gym,’ said Thóra. ‘And what kind of exercise do you call that?’
    ‘God only knows,’ said Bragi. ‘From what I know, all sorts of things go on at those places. I have a divorce case that all started at a fitness centre. The husband became obsessed with his body and completely forgot about his wife and children. It wouldn’t surprise me if this loser put up with that treatment in the hope of increasing his muscle quantity.’
    ‘Muscle mass,’ corrected Thóra, without thinking.
    ‘That’s what I mean,’ said Bragi. He looked Thóra in the eye. ‘I’m getting mixed up with all these digressions. The main point of all this is that for us it opens a door to the banks. Up until now they’ve had their own lawyers, or looked to the big firms. This could be the start of some excellent business opportunities for us. Not to mention the changes that you’re longing for so much.’
    Thóra nodded thoughtfully. Naturally, this could be of advantage to the firm and the bank could possibly become a great source of income for them in the future, but she thought it more probable that the bank had simply opted out of the Greenland trip and that this would be a one-off. When it came to other cases that could be handled at a normal pace, there would be no reason for the bank to seek their assistance. On the other hand, clouds had been gathering over the nation’s economy, and even though Thóra didn’t follow the financial sector that closely she hadn’t missed hearing about the attacks of foreign hedge funds on the Icelandic króna and the dubious position of various large Icelandic enterprises. Concepts no one had understood, much less used, a month ago were now on everyone’s lips, most noticeably terms like ‘short selling’ and ‘cross-ownership’. Thóra suspected that her eight-year-old daughter could explain these concepts now. This trend also suggested strongly that more hardship lay ahead, which often meant increased work for lawyers, particularly in debt collection. No matter how dismal she found collecting, it was more than likely that they would happily accept such cases if the economy froze. Chances were that this video was just some nonsense from the Internet, completely irrelevant to the employees of Berg Technology. ‘I’ll think about it,’ said Thóra. ‘It’s best if I look into this a little further, and if this video turns out to be showing what we both think it might, then this is definitely out of my sphere. We’d need to call the police.’
    ‘The Greenlandic police?’ said Bragi. ‘You might as well ask your neighbourhood sports’ association to undertake research on fundraising.’
    ‘What do you mean?’ Thóra exclaimed. ‘Is something wrong with them?’ She interrupted herself. ‘And anyway, what would you know about the police, or anything else in Greenland? You’ve never even been there.’
    ‘No, maybe not, but everyone knows the situation there is absolutely dreadful. The police aren’t immune to it, no more than anyone.’
    ‘Dreadful’ was a word Thóra’s mother used frequently when she was fretting over something, and Thóra couldn’t help but smile. ‘In any case the police here in Iceland need to be informed about this. Then they can put themselves in touch with their colleagues over in that dreadful Greenland.’
    Suddenly Bragi’s eyes widened. ‘Listen,’ he said heartily, ‘you should take Bella with you! She’ll look after you, and besides, she’s completely expendable for that short amount of time. There are a lot of different traditions and customs in Greenland and I’m sure it will be good to have her along under those circumstances.’
    Bella was more