Why Did You Lie? by Yrsa Sigurðardóttir, Katherine Manners, Hodder, Stoughton Page B

point where the shadowy figure was in the middle of the window. It was impossible to tell whether it was a man or a woman, but he was fairly sure the person was wearing a dark-coloured anorak with the large hood pulled up. He stared at the frozen image with a vague sense of misgiving that he couldn’t explain. Perhaps it had something to do with the way the figure moved, head lowered to its chest, as if something ominous awaited it beyond the decking.
    Tumi stirred and rolled over on his side. Nói just managed to grab the laptop before it slipped onto the floor. ‘What are you doing on my computer?’ his son mumbled huskily from the depths of his pillow.
    ‘Good afternoon. So you’re actually awake.’ Nói closed the webpage, snapped the computer shut and left the question unanswered. He didn’t want to bother Tumi with his no doubt groundless worries. Some things were not for kids. ‘Your mum’s on the warpath downstairs. Time to drag yourself out of bed and lend a hand.’
    ‘I’m still tired,’ groaned the boy.
    ‘You’re always tired.’
    ‘What’s the rush? We’ve only just got home. Can’t it wait for a bit? It’s not as if the cases are blocking the way into the house.’ Although Tumi showed no signs of leaping out of bed, he was at least sitting up. His tousled hair was blonder than usual and under the heavy fringe you could see his mother’s large blue eyes and his father’s strong square jaw.
    ‘You may not have to go to school till after the weekend but your mother and I have got to go to work in the morning.’ Suddenly Nói was filled with the same urge as Vala had described – to obliterate every trace of the American couple, for their son’s sake. Tumi would be alone at home tomorrow and Nói didn’t want any hint of their presence left in the house. ‘On your feet.’ He slapped his thighs and stood up. ‘Jump in the shower, then come straight down.’ A voice inside his head whispered to him to tell the boy to leave the bathroom door open but he couldn’t bring himself to say it out loud – it was too ridiculous. He made do with smiling at Tumi, then left the room.
    ‘Shit, I really don’t feel like going to work tomorrow.’ Nói pulled off the rubber gloves, which were damp inside. He couldn’t wait to wash off the unpleasant odour. He blew out a breath, proudly surveying the results of his hard work. The kitchen was looking pretty good. Admittedly there were marks here and there on the stainless steel, but he was too knackered to let it bother him.
    ‘Well, I’m looking forward to it. I can’t wait to have a proper workout.’ Vala collapsed onto a chair. ‘I’m tired of not being tired, if you see what I mean.’
    ‘No.’ He had given up hope of ever developing the same passion for physical exercise as his wife. He made the effort to stay in reasonable shape for her sake, but nothing more.
    ‘Drop by after work and I’ll show you what I mean. I promise you’ll be stiff for the rest of the week.’
    ‘Sounds tempting, but no thanks.’ His hands shone as he rinsed off the washing-up liquid; he would smell like a pine tree but it was better than the foul stink of rubber. The sudden memory of the figure on the decking wiped the smile off his face.
    ‘Don’t think I’m going to let you off. If you don’t come tomorrow, it’ll have to be the day after.’ Vala stretched and her shoulder joint clicked. ‘You’ll recover from your jetlag sooner if you’re physically tired.’
    Nói had planned to go to sleep physically tired that night, but not from the gym. ‘I promise.’ But even the thought of sex with Vala wasn’t enough to distract him from the nagging feeling that there was something amiss at the holiday chalet. ‘By the way, have the keys to the chalet turned up?’ He tried to sound casual.
    Vala shook her head and dropped her arms. ‘They’re here somewhere. We may have cleaned the whole house but we still haven’t done a proper search. I spent