Meltwater (Fire and Ice)

be easy to get into these machines,’ Ossi said. ‘Keep your eyes open for passwords when you search the house.’
    Magnus left him to it, and instructed Vigdís and Árni to interview Zivah and then Dúddi in one of the other rooms.
    ‘Franz Freitag?’ Magnus addressed the Swiss student. ‘Come with me, please.’ He led the student and Rannveig back upstairs. Viktor began to follow them.
    ‘Sorry,’ Magnus said. ‘You can’t join us.’
    ‘But I’m his lawyer.’
    ‘No, you are Erika Zinn’s lawyer. Perhaps Freeflow’s lawyer. But you are not Mr Freitag’s lawyer.’
    ‘Come on! There can’t possibly be a conflict.’
    Franz had stopped on the stairs and was watching the discussion with interest. They were speaking in English.
    ‘There certainly can,’ said Magnus. ‘Your client was nearly killed yesterday. This man spent some time unaccompanied on the volcano at the time she was attacked.’
    ‘Are you saying he’s a suspect?’
    ‘Not yet. But he might become one. In which case he shouldn’t have you acting for him. Right, Rannveig?’
    Rannveig nodded. ‘Don’t worry, I’ll ensure we keep to our agreement. But there could be a clear conflict between your client’s interests and the
witness’s.’
    Viktor looked nonplussed. ‘Then he should have his own representation.’
    ‘If he wishes,’ said Magnus. ‘That will, of course, take a while to set up.’
    Viktor’s frown deepened. Magnus knew Viktor and Erika wanted the police out of the house as soon as possible so that they could get on with whatever they were there to do.
    ‘I tell you what, let’s ask him,’ Magnus said. ‘Do you want us to find you a lawyer, Franz?’
    Franz glanced at Viktor and then turned back to Magnus. ‘You said I might be a suspect. I’m not a suspect, right?’
    ‘It all depends what you tell us,’ Magnus said.
    Franz took a deep breath. ‘I don’t need a lawyer, actually. Once I tell you what happened I’m sure you’ll realize I’m not involved.’
    ‘Let’s go then,’ said Magnus.
    The bedroom felt less cramped with only three people rather than four. Magnus examined Franz’s red Swiss passport with its little white cross in the top right-hand corner. François
André Freitag, born Genève, 23 October 1985. The photograph must have been taken when Franz was eighteen, but he didn’t seem to have aged much in the last six years, except
perhaps put on some weight. His round pale face was more that of a kid than a young man.
    ‘Tell me how you got to know Freeflow?’ Magnus began.
    ‘When I was at high school I had gotten interested in Darfur,’ Franz said. ‘It was a cause I got really fired up about. I still am, actually. Like I can’t believe that
the world can watch while hundreds of thousands of people sit in camps in the desert waiting to die of hunger or cholera or be raped by gangsters.’
    ‘I can see that,’ said Magnus.
    ‘So, when Freeflow came out with the leak about the British, French and Americans agreeing not to intervene, I was really angry. And I took some notice where the leak came from. I began to
follow what Freeflow were doing; I thought it was pretty cool. Eventually I got in touch with them to see if I could help. I’ve done a few things for Dieter over the last year or so: cleaning
up some of the links on the site, making sure the formats are consistent, proofing the content.’
    ‘Do you know him well?’
    ‘Reasonably well – but only online. This is the first time I’ve met him offline. I think he trusts me now, which is why I am here. A couple of days ago, he asked me to come to
Iceland. It was short notice, but I thought it was a great opportunity for me.’
    ‘What about the others? Erika? Nico?’
    ‘I’ve read about Erika, of course, but never met her until yesterday. Same with Nico.’
    ‘What about work?’
    ‘There’s not much of that around,’ Franz said. ‘I graduated from university last summer. Since then I’ve been waiting tables and doing some work for a
video-production company in Zurich. Music videos, mostly. Cheap ones.’
    ‘You speak pretty good English,’ Magnus said. ‘Where did you learn it?’
    ‘University. I spent a year at Ohio State in Columbus. I had a blast.’
    ‘Glad to hear it,’ said Magnus. ‘And what do you do for Freeflow?’
    ‘I’m what you might call a general-purpose hacker,’ Franz said. ‘I’m no genius like Dieter, but I know my way around computers and I can pull