‘Hmm,’ Anton hummed, indicating that he was thinking seriously about it. ‘But then we can’t control the explosion,’ he added, and Gunnar stared at him with blank eyes. He clearly didn’t have any better ideas.

‘We could Google it?’ he suggested, and Anton had to agree that this was their best strategy. There had to be videos on the internet that would show them how to make real explosions – and not just in Minecraft. It was just a question of coming up with the right search terms.

‘Yeah. Good idea,’ he said, getting to his feet.

‘Let’s go upstairs and look it up on your computer. But first we need to take a look at Big Boob Babes on Pornhub,’ Gunnar said.

Anton laughed.

‘Not now. I’m going to the cinema with Júlía.’

‘Shit, you’re so pussy-whipped,’ Gunnar said.

Anton punched his shoulder.

‘Shut the fuck up,’ he said with a grin.

He knew that Gunnar was jealous and that he would give anything for the opportunity to go to the movies with Júlía.

15

They were offering a ridiculous amount of money for her to check things out for them. For that price, they could have employed an army of private investigators to find out far more easily what was happening to all the aluminium. She was well aware, however, what the term consulting, as the man had put it, meant for a company like this. They intended her to become involved. For the same reason, she would be paid by a sub-contractor to a sub-contractor to the big drinks company – making the trail harder for any interested party to follow.

She accepted the offer instantly. She snatched at it as if it were a lifeline thrown to a drowning man, because she could feel her interest spark as she thought how she would get to grips with this. Behind such a situation there had to be a tangle of threads, and at the back of such a tangle there was always a big bank; and if anyone could see past the surface of the banking business, it was her. That was exactly why she was right here, sitting out a sentence for financial crimes. It wasn’t because she had made mistakes. Just the opposite: she had done extremely well. She had actually admitted to a few minor misdemeanours so as to distract the prosecutor from other, much larger ones. Her former partners from the bank were sitting out much longer sentences at the white-collar prison at Kvíabryggja, whereas she seemed to have landed on her feet, like a cat. Taking into consideration her unsuccessful suicide attempt, it looked as if she might have a few extra lives as well.

An unusual aroma was coming from the kitchen. Agla frowned in surprise; she was expecting the mince Vigdís usually cooked when it was her turn.

‘I swapped with Vigdís,’ announced the new girl, Elísa, as Agla made her appearance in the kitchen. ‘I just felt like cooking for everyone.’