Meltwater (Fire and Ice)

thrown them out years ago, but I couldn’t bear to.’
    ‘Two thousand and two?’ said Baldur. ‘I thought she died in 1994?’
    ‘Oh, no. You read the last page of her journal, then?’
    Baldur nodded.
    ‘She did try to kill herself. Sleeping pills. But I discovered her before it was too late and took her to hospital where they pumped her stomach. She was eighteen at the time, working for
the Bishop in the school holidays.’
    Berglind shook her head. ‘I had no idea why she did what she did until I read the diary. She just suddenly changed. Dropped out of school. Went travelling to America. Got a job in Los
Angeles. She never told me what it was, but I found out after she died.’
    A tear ran down the woman’s face.
    ‘How did she die?’ Magnus asked, but he knew the answer.
    ‘Drug overdose. I flew over there. Saw where she had been living. What she had been doing.’
    ‘Is that her?’ Magnus asked. There was a photograph of a shy girl of about seventeen with glasses. But she was pretty. Magnus was sure that in a porn movie or on Hollywood Boulevard
she could be made to look sexy. He decided not to ask her mom any more about her job. ‘And you think her experiences with the Bishop prompted all this?’
    ‘I know it did,’ said Berglind, her voice cold.
    ‘Why did you give the journal to Ásta?’
    ‘I wasn’t sure what to do with it,’ Berglind said. ‘I wanted to publicize it, but because of what eventually became of Soffía I was wary of going to the press, or
the Church, or the police. I didn’t want the authorities to drag Soffía’s name through the dirt. I saw what had happened to those two poor girls who did speak out.’
    Baldur nodded. ‘I understand.’
    ‘So I talked to Ásta’s mother, who is one of my best friends. She told me about Freeflow and said that Ásta and Viktor knew a lot about it. I trusted Ásta; I
wasn’t sure about Viktor. So I went to her with it. She thought if we put it up on Freeflow’s website no one in Iceland could ever take it down.’
    ‘What was her reaction to the diary?’
    ‘She was shocked. Badly shocked. Ásta was only about eleven when Soffía left home, but she knew her; Soffía used to babysit her. Ásta was really determined that
the journal should be made public.’
    ‘Didn’t she think it would harm the Church’s reputation?’
    ‘She knew it would,’ said Berglind. ‘But she said it was the Christian thing to do. She was adamant.’
    Good for her, thought Magnus. ‘When did you last see her?’
    ‘I spoke to her on Monday on the phone. She said that Freeflow were in Iceland in secret, and that she liked what she saw of them. But she thought it would still be best to give them the
journal anonymously – apparently they prefer not to know who the source is. So she was scanning it all into her computer and was going to send it by e-mail or CD or something.’
    She paused. Shook her head sadly. ‘And then she was murdered. Do you think there is a connection? I would feel awful if there was. I would never be able to face Ásta’s mother
again.’
    ‘There may well be a connection,’ Baldur said. ‘This is very important information you have given us, Berglind.’
    ‘But don’t blame yourself,’ said Magnus. ‘It wasn’t you who murdered Ásta.’
    ‘Or who assaulted your daughter,’ said Baldur.
    Outside Berglind’s house, Baldur took a deep breath. ‘Time to tell Thorkell. And the Commissioner.
    ‘That will be fun. Can you really believe that the Church is trying to cover this up?’
    ‘It’s a possibility,’ said Baldur. ‘I say it’s a strong possibility. Don’t you?’
    ‘What are you planning to do? Bust the current Bishop?’
    ‘I might ask him some questions.’
    Magnus blew air through his cheeks. ‘I think I’ll leave that to you,’ he said.
    Back at Thórsgata, Project Meltwater was making good progress. The video was finished, both in its three-minute edited and its sixteen-minute unedited versions. The
websites and their back-ups were ready. The ISP in Sweden had confirmed that they had received the fifteen thousand euros and were willing to host Freeflow’s sites. Alan had been in touch
with Samantha Wilton and she had agreed to appear at a press conference at a club in London on Sunday at nine o’clock. Invitations were ready to go out, once it was confirmed that Erika was
actually in the air on her way to the UK. The Guardian wasn’t happy about a press conference on Sunday,