“Sure.”Dávvet shrugged his enormous shoulders.“I’d much rather speak to you than that inspector detective or whatever he was.He didn’t have a clue.”Dávvet grunted.“I was wondering when one of you would get around to asking the right questions.”
Their conversation was conducted in English so Jiro could understand.Even now, it still surprised him that almost everyone in Sweden could speak fluent English.
Aurora ignored his first comment, probably not wanting to admit there was dissent in the ranks, or how much of an idiot Dalström really was.Instead asking, “We’re trying to set up a timeline for when Mr.Nashimori was last seen by anyone.Did you or any of your staff see him sitting either with his son or alone at a table near the back of the hut straight after lunch?”Aurora lifted her head from her notepad to stare intently at the reindeer herder.
“I was only in the hut for a short time after I brought everyone back from the sleigh rides.My waiting staff are very competent; they don’t need me hovering over them.I left almost straight afterward to look after the dogs.Feed them, put them back in their kennels, that kind of thing.”
Aurora nodded, indicating he should continue.
“But after I got the phone call from your Inspector Viskten, I went back to the hut to do exactly as you suggested.The staff were just finishing up for the day, and I asked if anyone remembered seeing the Japanese man and his son.Tory—she works behind the bar—said she thought she remembered him.”Dávvet tilted his head in Jiro’s direction.“Probably because she has a peculiar fondness for good-looking Asian men, and was checking you out.”He spoke directly to Jiro this time.“No harm in that,” he added, when Jiro sat back in his chair, dumbfounded.That’d not been what he’d been expecting to hear.
“No, no harm in that,” Aurora replied, shooting Jiro a quelling glance.“But does she remember his father?”
“Yes, she definitely saw the pair of them.Right at the back, they were.She even pointed out the table they were sitting at.The older one wasn’t bad looking either, she said, if you were into older men.”Again, Jiro tried to hide his shock.He hadn’t thought of his father as anything more than old for a long time.At least since his mother had died, anyway.The idea of his father with another woman was unacceptable, and the idea that he might be attracted to a woman, or be attractive to them was just not on his radar.Jiro couldn’t see past the man his father had become, couldn’t see past his resentment to even acknowledge that he and his brother probably got their good looks from his father.The idea was anathema to him.
“Tory is one of my best,” Dávvet continued.“She’s quick, efficient, keeps the place tidy and is a good observer.She keeps an eye on all the patrons.She can often tell me if someone has had too much to drink even before I notice.”
“Okay, that’s good to know.What about afterward?Once the good-looking son had left.Did she remember the father sitting by himself?”she prompted, with a wry smile in Jiro’s direction.
“Yes, she did,” Dávvet said slowly, and Jiro’s heart did a double-tap.This was good.This was something solid he could grasp onto.Like Aurora said, now they could start a proper timeline.He was about to ask if Tory could pinpoint what time that was exactly, when Dávvet threw a hand-grenade into the conversation.“But he wasn’t alone for very long.”
“What?”Jiro’s heart did another double tap, but this time it was accompanied by a sliver of ice running through his veins.Who would’ve gone to talk to his father?It wasn’t inconceivable that someone had seen him sitting alone and felt sorry for him.But it was highly unusual that Kenichi would’ve welcomed company; in fact, he would have actively discouraged it.Wouldn’t he?
“Do you know if this person was one of the cruise passengers?”he asked, his words tumbling out in a rush.
“As far as we could tell, he was, yeah.On the days when we have busloads of tourists booked in from a cruise, we are full to capacity and so we shut to the general public.Tory seemed to think he was also wearing one of those cruise-issue jackets.You know, the dark blue ones they give to all the passengers.”
Jiro nodded to Aurora to show that he did know the jackets.When he’d entered his cabin way back on the first day of the cruise, he’d seen the well-padded waterproof coat folded neatly on the bed, the ship’s logo front and center on an embroidered patch on the left-hand side.It was part of the company’s duty of care to all its passengers to make sure they were appropriately clothed for the cold weather.The captain recommended all passengers wear the jacket whenever they disembarked the ship—it was probably another way the staff got to keep track of their charges while on a tour, or as people wandered around town looking for souvenirs—as well as on the outer decks of the ship.It was marketed as a freebie, a welcome gift if you like, but Jiro was sure it was included in the astronomical price tag of the cruise itself.And it was probably a great promotion tool as well.He’d chosen to stick to his Patagonia puffer he’d bought especially for the trip.
“Do you know what this other man looked like?”Jiro prompted, jumping in before Aurora could speak, and she shot him an irritated glance.“Or do you know whether my father left the hut with him?”
“Nah, I didn’t get that far.Johan and his two sons from the neighboring property arrived, asking all sorts of questions, and so I needed to organize a search pattern.Tory could probably give you more details.She’ll be back at work at nine tomorrow.”
“This is great, thank you so much,” Aurora said thoughtfully, her reply puzzling Jiro.Why wasn’t she pressing the issue?They couldn’t wait until tomorrow to talk to her; she might have been the last person who’d seen his father alive.
“We need to talk to this woman,” Jiro said, leaning across the table to look Aurora directly in the eye.This wasn’t good enough.Tory’s observations of another man raised more questions than it answered, and they couldn’t just leave it there.“She might remember something else about the guy.”Jiro wanted to condemn Dávvet as well and ask him why he hadn’t volunteered this information to the detective inspector earlier.But then he remembered how the cop had just waltzed in and taken over.Dávvet hadn’t had the opportunity at first, and then Dalström had acted like such a know-it-all, the reindeer herder probably took offense and decided, fuck him.
“Hmm.”Aurora made a noncommittal humming sound that could’ve meant anything.
“Do you have Tory’s home address?”Jiro asked impatiently, his eyes not leaving the big man’s face.
“Like I said, you can come back and talk to her tomorrow,” Dávvet offered, pursing his lips, which made his beard bristle slightly.
“Thank you, we might do that,” Aurora conceded, dipping her head to study her notebook.What?Why was she not pushing to find out this woman’s last name?Her home address?It wasn’t too late.They could speak to her tonight.But Aurora changed the topic, saying instead, “I also had a quick question about the fencing around your property.Do you have any?”
“Nope, not really,” Dávvet replied.“Everyone around here knows where their boundary lines begin and end; there’s no need for expensive fencing.And our reindeer are allowed to roam freely across all lands to forage for feed, so there’s no need to keep them in.Or out.Why?”
“I was just wondering how easy it would be for someone to access your property if they didn’t come in by the road.”Jiro saw Dávvet’s eyes narrow at Aurora’s question.“Perhaps in a vehicle.Or maybe a snowmobile,” she continued.
“You think someone took the old man?Why would they do that?”Dávvet cut straight to the chase.
“That’s not what I’m saying.”Aurora held up her hand, palm facing outward.“We simply need to follow all avenues; that’s all.”
“No car could gain entry to my property across country.Not even a 4WD, and not on any of my back access roads—the snow is too deep at the moment.If a snowmobile came close to any of my buildings, I’d know about it.My dogs would warn me if there were any strangers around.”The big man sounded so confident, Jiro found it hard not to believe him.But how would his dogs know the difference between a busload of tourists and someone who wasn’t meant to be here?
“How close would they have to come before your dogs sounded a warning?”Aurora asked, her tone implying that she believed his dogs could tell the difference.
“A good couple hundred meters,” he replied, tilting his head slightly to one side as he considered the question.
