by Paty Jager
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The inspector parked at the Harpa. “You coming in?” he asked Hawke.
“Yeah. I want to be there when you tell Einar about his son.” Hawke stepped out of the vehicle. The bus that had taken them to the mud pools stood beside the building. “Did you instruct the others not to say a word about what we’d found?”
Sigga nodded. “But you know how people are. I would bet at least a third of them couldn’t wait to get back and say they found a body.”
“But did any of them know who we found?” Hawke wanted to see the conference coordinator’s reaction. He doubted the man had killed his son, but if there had been a grievance between his son and someone, it was sure to come out.
“The only person who was close enough to see would have been Kanika, but the face was unrecognizable so I doubt she would know.” Sigga strode into the building alongside Hawke.
The inspector was two strides ahead of them. He walked up the stairs rather than taking the elevator and went straight to the room that had a handwritten sign that said “Base of Operations.”
Once inside the door, they all stopped. Hawke had only met Einar once, briefly. It was when he had visited a U.S. SAR conference Hawke had attended.
Böðvarsson pointed to a man in the back of the room drinking from a mug and listening to the Icelander, Páll, who had been on the trip.
From the look on the coordinator’s face, he appeared interested but not upset. He turned to the three of them. His eyes widened a moment before he held out a hand to Böðvarsson. “Ari, from what Páll has told me, I doubt you will have any witnesses to the body the excursion found.”
“Can we go someplace else and talk?” Böðvarsson asked.
Einar’s eyes narrowed. “Why?”
“I would like to keep this as quiet as possible.” The inspector put a hand on the conference coordinator’s arm and led him to a door at the back of the room.
Hawke and Sigga followed. The room was set up for a class, but was empty today.
“I don’t understand. What has the body in the mud pool have to do with this conference, other than Hawke’s class finding it?” Einar faced all three of them.
“The body was Nonni,” Böðvarsson said it softly.
Einar stared at the three of them. His gaze lingering on Sigga. His mouth opened, then shut, then he rubbed a hand across his eyes. “No. You have to be mistaken. He wasn’t police or SAR material, but he wasn’t that clumsy.” The man took a step toward Hawke. “He wanted to help you because he thought it would be a research opportunity. He wanted to be a writer of crime fiction.”
“Can you think of anyone who would want to hurt your son?” Hawke asked. He was antsy to start talking to people. They didn’t have a lot of time to get to the bottom of this murder.
“Hurt him? This was murder?” Disbelief widened the man’s eyes.
“We won’t know for sure until the autopsy is performed, but Halla doesn’t think it was an accident.” Böðvarsson motioned to a chair.
Einar shook his head. “Nonni got along with everyone. You can ask his friends. The people here.” He ran his hands over his face. “How do I tell his mother? And Ásta? They were talking about getting married.”
“For now, we need to keep the fact it wasn’t an accident quiet and bring in officers to take down information of the whereabouts of everyone involved with the conference; workers and attendees.” Hawke held Böðvarsson’s gaze. He knew he was overstepping giving orders when he had no jurisdiction in this country, but he felt responsible for what happened to Nonni. “Just have the officers ask everyone when was the last time they saw Nonni, and if they’d had a conversation, what it was about.”
“Want me to call your co-chair to come take over while you go home to your wife?” Sigga asked.
Einar nodded his head. “Yes. Please call Börkur. Tell him he’s in charge for the rest of the conference. I don’t think I can.” The man bit his bottom lip. “Sigga, will you walk with me out to my car?”
When the woman started toward the main door, he stopped her. “I want to go out through the back doors. I don’t want to talk to anyone.”
She nodded and they disappeared.
Böðvarsson was on the phone requesting as many officers as could be spared to the Harpa.
Hawke walked to the table in the front of the room. “I’d like to question the people who were in the bus and then Nonni’s friends.”
The inspector nodded. “I’ll have Sigga round up the people who took your class. Who are the friends?”
“I only know their first names. Ásta, Katrín, and Bragi. Those are the three he was with last night when we discussed what he would do today.”
“I’ll find out their last names.” The inspector shook his head. “We have very few homicides in Iceland. I’ll be the first to say, while we know how to handle it, it’s helpful to have you assisting.”
“I’m assisting because I feel responsible for the young man’s death. He wouldn’t have been out there alone, if I hadn’t sent him.” Hawke could rationalize all he wanted that the young man had offered to be tracked and at the time, he’d had no problem sending someone out in country they knew, to be tracked. Now in hindsight, he wished he’d sent two people, but that would have made the tracking too easy.
“From what I understand Nonni offered. You didn’t know he would come to harm.” Böðvarsson walked to the door. “I’ll go find Sigga.”
Hawke nodded and pulled a notebook and pen out of his pack. He took off his coat and hung it over the back of the chair. What he wouldn’t give for a strong cup of coffee.
Chapter Four
Sigga had rounded up all twenty-nine of the people who had been on the bus, including the bus driver. Hawke had to admit she was thorough.
The room was large. As each person came in, he advised them to sit up in the last row by the door. He didn’t want the others to hear what he asked each person or their answers.
Sigga arrived with two large cups of steaming liquid. “Thought you might like some coffee.”
“Thanks. I was wishing I had a cup when I started writing down my questions.” He glanced up at the people fidgeting and whispering amongst themselves. “Are you sitting in with me or questioning other people?”
“I thought I’d give you my statement then go help with the volunteers.” She sat across the table from him.
He nodded. “Did you see Nonni this morning?”
She shook her head. “The last time I saw him was last night when you were talking with him. I left after finishing my drink.”
Hawke wrote that down. “And can you think of anyone who would want the young man dead?”
“I’ve been thinking about that ever since we discovered it was him. Honestly, he was likeable, happy to please, and made friends. I can’t think of any reason a person would want to kill him.”
He tapped his pen on the pad. “Do you think he came across someone crazy who killed him for no reason?”
Sigga studied the table in front of her for several seconds. “That’s a possibility, but if the person walked back to the parking lot straight away and didn’t leave any tracks that looked like they were confused or uncertain, I think that scenario can be ruled out.”
Hawke let out a frustrated sigh. “Yeah. I thought the same thing. But figured I should run it by someone who lives here.” He glanced at the group at the back of the room. “Send one of them over. Good luck with your questioning.”
She nodded and stopped briefly at the back of the room before walking out the door.
Reggie Carlton walked up to the table. “Figured I might as well start this off.”
Hawke motioned to the chair across from him. “When was the last time you saw Nonni?”
The man’s eyes widened. “Is that who you found? Bollocks! How is Einar taking it?”
“As you might imagine. When was the last time you saw the young man?” Hawke wasn’t going to get distracted.
“Yesterday
. When he checked me in, right behind you.” Carlton studied him. “Is that what he was talking about, helping you? Is he who we were tracking?”
“I’ll ask the questions. How well did you know him?”
The man leaned back, staring at Hawke. “This has to frost your arse knowing he volunteered to be tracked and him ending up the way he did.”
“How well did you know him?” Hawke stared back.
“This is my third trip to this conference. Nonni has been at every one of them. He helped, like yesterday, registering the speakers and instructors. He also did some troubleshooting of tech problems and kept family members busy.”
“Family members? Of who?” Hawke wasn’t sure what the man meant.
“Some of the attendees bring their families, turn the whole thing into a family holiday. Nonni usually guided sightseeing trips during the day for the family members while their spouse or parent was in classes.” Carlton motioned to the group behind him. “Several of the group in here brought families two years ago.”
“Did you ever hear how the sightseeing went?” They had gone astray of his line of questioning with the first person he questioned. But it never hurt to learn everything he could.
“Everyone always had a good time from what I’d heard.”
“Ever hear anyone saying anything bad about him?” Hawke watched the man closely. He didn’t flinch.
“Never.”
“Who did you sit beside on the bus?” Hawke asked.
“Shiro Tanaka.”
“Thank you. You can send someone else down.”
Carlton nodded and stood.
“Don’t tell anyone who the victim was.”
“I take that to mean you are considering this a murder even if the questions hadn’t already told me that.” Carlton smirked.
“Until the autopsy says something different.”
The man pivoted and walked to the back of the room. He pointed with a thumb over his shoulder and a person stood.
Carlton exited. A woman walked down the aisle and up to the table.
Hawke interviewed six more participants. None had seen Nonni or knew who he was. It was their first time at the conference, like Hawke, and they knew very little other than the trip on the bus, the tracking, and finding the body.
Chelsea Pearce sat across from him.
“Is this your first time to this conference?” Hawke asked.
“Yes. My boss came two years ago and said this would be good for me to attend.” She looked annoyed. “Will this take much longer? I want to get rested for the climbing trip tomorrow.”
“A person has died. Did you meet Nonni, the young man who was registering speakers and instructors?” Hawke studied the woman who seemed to care more about missing a class than helping find a killer.
She smiled. “The good-looking guy at the smaller table?”
“Yes, that guy.”
“I stopped by and chatted with him for a few minutes before someone walked up to the table. And I saw him this morning when I was eating breakfast at the hotel.”
“Which hotel?”
“The Hotel Marina.”
“Did you talk to him?”
“No. He was sitting in a corner with a young woman. They looked like they were deep in conversation.” She glanced over her shoulder. “Can I go now?”
“Can you describe the woman to me?” Hawke needed to know who it was and if Nonni had mentioned where he was going to her.
“She was his age, maybe a little younger. Dark hair, Asian features. Pretty.” She stood. “I really need to go.”
“Who did you sit with on the bus?”
“Sigga.”
He waved for her to go. “Send someone down.”
Five more knew nothing that helped him.
Mayta, the Australian pilot, strolled up to the table. “Bet you didn’t think you’d be runnin a murder investigation when you signed up for this conference.”
He shook his head. “I’m not running the investigation. I’m helping. When we talked before, I had the impression this is your first time at the conference?”
“Yep, it is.”
“Did you happen to meet the victim, Nonni?” Hawke went on to reveal how the young man had been helping register people the day before.
“Oh, the dag who called you over to the other line yesterday?”
“Dag?” Hawke questioned.
“Nerd, geek. He looked out of place here.” She smiled.
“I see. He was the person we were following.” Hawke studied the woman. Her eyes widened briefly before she leaned back in the chair.
“Then I guess he wasn’t such a dag.”
“Did you see him any time other than when you registered?” Hawke was still trying to figure out the woman. She seemed tough like Dani, but she hadn’t shown the compassion he’d witnessed in his friend.
“No.”
“Who did you sit with on the bus?”
“Leonard, from the U.S. He was too chatty. I sat with someone else on the way back. Didn’t get her name.” Mayta grinned. “We didn’t talk.”
“Thanks, send the next person.” Hawke jotted down what little the woman told him and watched as the next person walk toward him.
Eight more people had nothing to tell him other than who they sat by on the bus.
Kanika Tumaini, the woman from Africa, walked up to the table.
“Have a seat, Ms. Tumaini.”
“Kanika, please,” she said, sitting and studying him.
“I’m surprised you weren’t one of the first to come talk to me, since you wanted to get back here so badly to go to other workshops.”
She didn’t bat an eye. “It wasn’t the workshops so much as the cold. We do not have this biting wind and sleet in Kenya. At least not in the lowlands. I wanted to get where I was warm and dry. The bus and sitting in here, my toes are finally warming up.”
He leaned back and glanced at her hiking boots under the table. “Don’t you have on wool socks?” The boots looked adequate for keeping her feet warm and dry in the small amount of weather they’d endured.
“No, I did not think there would be this cold of weather.”
He dismissed her feet and asked the same questions he’d asked all the others.
“No, I do not believe I spoke to the man. I sat with Mari on the way to the parking lot. I don’t know who the person was I sat with on the way back.”
She didn’t look at him when she commented on the ride back. He figured she was too cold to remember much about the ride other than trying to warm up.
“Is this your first time to this conference?” he asked.
She hesitated, staring him in the eyes. “Yes.”
“Thank you.”
The woman walked slowly to the back of the room. He wondered at her ability to work a search and rescue as anyone other than a person at the base of operations. If just following the trail, they’d walked for only a mile, had made her that tired and cold, she shouldn’t go out on any other outdoor workshops.
Five more people had no answers for him. They hadn’t talked to or seen Nonni when they registered or any time before the workshop started and setting out in the bus.
Shiro Tanaka walked up to the table. “Mr. Hawke, I was looking forward to your workshop. I am so sad it has ended in such a way.”
“Thank you, Mr. Tanaka.” Hawke motioned for the wiry man in his fifties to take a seat. “Have you been to this conference before?”
“Yes, I have come the last two times.” He nodded his head.
“Are you acquainted with Reggie Carlton?”
“Yes, he is a good friend. We both brought our families with us last time.” Tanaka’s smile spread from one ear to the other. “My family much enjoyed the activities. My daughter, she come with me again, she like it so well.”
“What’s her name?” Hawke wanted to have a word with the young woman.
“Riku. Would you like me to bring her for you to meet?”
“When I’m fi
nished, I would like to visit with her. What is your phone number?”
The man recited his cell phone number.
“Thank you. Since you have been here before you must have known Nonni, the coordinator’s son?”
“Known? He is taking my daughter and others to a restaurant tonight.” He smiled, nodding his head.
Hawke wasn’t sure how to break the news to the man other than just blurt it out. “I’m sorry, but Nonni won’t be taking anyone anywhere. He was the body we found.”
The man’s hand covered his mouth and his eyes grew round. “No! Not Nonni. He was good boy. Everyone like him.”
“Someone didn’t like him.”
The man’s expression shifted from disbelief to thoughtful. “He was killed, not an accident?”
“At the moment we are treating it as a homicide. Can you think of anyone who had a grudge against him?” Hawke didn’t want it to turn out that someone taking in the conference did the young man in, but it was strange that if someone from here had wanted Nonni dead, why did they wait until now? Especially, when there were law enforcement people from all over the world here who would be digging into the crime.
Tanaka shook his head. “It must have been someone crazy he came across. I never hear anyone say anything bad about him. He made the conference bearable for family members.”
“Who were you sitting with on the bus?” While he had Carlton marked down, it didn’t hurt to cross check.
“Reggie. We were talking about how much fun our families had last conference.” The man wiped a hand across his eyes. “This is most distressing.”
“I’ll give you a call when I have time to talk to your daughter.”
The man stood. “I am sure she will want to help you in any way. She did meet some of his friends the last time we were here.”
More good news. “Thank you.”
Tanaka seemed to have a little less spring in his step. It was clear the young man he’d found in the mud pool had made an impact on many people who had been at this conference before.
Chapter Five