Meltwater (Fire and Ice)

hardened. He leaned forward and looked both Magnus and Baldur in the eye, each in turn. ‘Ásta never mentioned anything about this woman and the Bishop to me. Is
that clear? That’s all I have to say.’
    ‘I believe him,’ said Magnus as he and Baldur stood outside the church.
    ‘You what?’ Baldur exclaimed. ‘That guy’s lying. He’s lying through his teeth. It was a good move to press him on the confidentiality question. He’s lying
because he thinks he has to, but he’s still lying. And I’m going to bust him and any other damned priest who tries to cover this up.’
    Magnus didn’t argue. He agreed with Baldur that the pastor was hiding something; he just didn’t think it was to do with Soffía’s journal.
    ‘You know, he could even have done it himself,’ Baldur said. ‘Ásta comes to talk to him about how shocked she is to read that their Bishop was a pervert. He realizes she
is going to spill the beans and so he decides to shut her up right away.’
    ‘You’re not serious?’ said Magnus.
    ‘Maybe,’ said Baldur. ‘I’m certainly going to bear the possibility in mind.’
    A uniformed constable approached them. ‘Got something from one of the neighbours.’
    ‘Tell me,’ said Baldur.
    ‘She lives in Ásta’s building on the ground floor. She saw a man sitting in a car outside one of the other blocks when she came home last night. He was just staring at the
pastor’s block. She went to take the dog out half an hour later, and he was still staring. She thought it was slightly odd.’
    ‘What time was this?’
    ‘About eight-fifteen when she first spotted him, eight-forty-five when she took the dog out.’
    ‘How long was she out with the dog?’ Magnus asked.
    ‘Just ten minutes. She didn’t notice him get out of the car, or the car drive off.’
    ‘Did she see Ásta go into the church?’
    ‘No.’
    ‘Did you get a description?’ Baldur asked.
    ‘Very vague. She couldn’t really see him. He was wearing a woolly hat. I showed her the artist’s impression of the man who attacked you, but she couldn’t say one way or
the other.’
    ‘What about the vehicle?’
    ‘Silver. A car. She has no clue about cars.’
    ‘But not a black Suzuki Vitara?’
    ‘Definitely not.’
    ‘Thanks, Villi,’ said Baldur. He turned to Magnus. ‘Perhaps it’s not the same guy who has been after Erika?’
    ‘Or perhaps he has a new car,’ Magnus said. Baldur’s pastor theory was looking less likely too, he thought.
    Baldur’s phone rang. It was Árni, Magnus could tell. Baldur wrote down an address.
    ‘Soffía?’ he asked after Baldur had hung up.
    ‘No record of any female named Soffía committing suicide in 1994. But they did get a call from a woman named Berglind in Kópavogur who saw the news about Ásta. She
says she gave Ásta something before she died. She wouldn’t say what it was over the phone.’
    ‘That’s the address?’
    ‘Yes. And it was clear from her journal that Soffía lived in Kópavogur.’
    ‘Let’s go, then.’

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
    K ÓPAVOGUR WAS A suburb to the south of central Reykjavík. Berglind lived on a quiet road in a single-storey
detached house with a small garden. It almost looked American: it reminded Magnus of a 1960s ranch house in a middle-class suburb like Medford, where Ollie lived. Berglind herself was a blonde
woman of about sixty. The house was tidy and very clean. It had once held a family, but it now seemed empty.
    She had coffee ready and poured Magnus and Baldur a cup.
    ‘Thank you for coming,’ she said, the words tumbling out. ‘I was stunned to hear about Ásta. She was a wonderful girl. Her mother will be devastated. She’s a good
friend of mine and she just lives down the road, but I haven’t had the courage to go and see her yet. You see . . .’
    ‘Yes?’ said Magnus.
    Berglind sighed. ‘I didn’t really want to make it public, but I feel I should now, given what’s happened to Ásta.’
    ‘Are you talking about this?’ said Baldur. He showed her the journal in a clear evidence bag.
    Berglind nodded. ‘Yes. Yes, I am.’
    ‘Was Soffía your daughter?’ Baldur asked. His voice was low, and although Baldur didn’t really do sympathy, he was pretty close.
    ‘Yes, she was. She died in 2002. She was only twenty-six. It wasn’t until just before last Christmas that I found this. She had hidden it in a closet in her bedroom. I found it under
some of her old school notes in a box. I should have