Meltwater (Fire and Ice)

all-nighters if
necessary.’
    ‘And have you had any disputes with Freeflow over anything?’
    ‘No,’ said Franz, puzzled. ‘What kind of disputes?’
    Magnus let it drop. ‘OK, can you tell me exactly what you did up by the volcano yesterday?’
    Franz went through the drive up the glacier to Fimmvörduháls, and how he followed the others up towards the rim. He said that he dawdled at the foot of the bank of cooling lava
because he was fascinated by it. When he got up to the rim, he was a bit of a distance away from the others. As soon as it started to snow he went right back down to the jeep. On the way he bumped
into the two snowmobilers.
    ‘Did you talk to them?’
    ‘Yeah,’ said Franz. ‘Didn’t say much, just how cool the volcano was.’
    ‘Can you describe them?’
    ‘Sure. They were both in their thirties, I would say. One was an Icelander, the other was French. The Icelander was, like, medium height, round glasses. The French guy was older, a bit
taller, with a bit of a gut, you know? Dark hair, I think, but he was wearing a hat. Wore a bright red ski jacket.’
    ‘Did you see where they had come from, where they were going to?’
    Franz shook his head. ‘They were kind of going around the volcano, I think. I don’t really remember.’
    ‘Would you recognize them again?’
    ‘I think so. Probably the French guy. Not sure about the Icelander. It was hard to see much of his face in those conditions.’
    ‘How do you know he was French?’ Magnus asked.
    ‘We spoke in French. I mean I started off in English, but he wasn’t very good at it and I could tell he had a French accent. The Icelander spoke French too.’
    ‘And you?’ Magnus was aware that French and German were spoken in Switzerland, but he wasn’t sure whether everyone spoke both.
    ‘My father is Swiss German, but my mother was a French speaker. François is a French name, of course, but I call myself Franz.’
    ‘I see.’ The French weren’t on the list of Freeflow’s victims. ‘Is there any chance that this man could have been an Italian speaking French?’
    ‘No, his accent was perfect. And he looked French, if you see what I mean.’
    Magnus had no sense of what a Frenchman on a volcano would look like as opposed to an Italian, but he believed Franz did, or at least thought he did. In fact, Franz was turning into quite a
credible and helpful witness.
    He had an idea.
    ‘Rannveig, I wonder if you could see how the search is getting on?’
    The assistant prosecutor didn’t miss a beat. ‘Of course,’ she said. ‘You seem to be doing fine here.’
    After she had left, Magnus stared hard at Franz. ‘We only have your word about where you were on the mountain. Until we locate the snowmobilers we can’t corroborate your
story.’
    Franz frowned. ‘You don’t really think I killed Nico? I mean, Erika saw the guy who did it, didn’t she? And it wasn’t me.’
    ‘That’s right. But you could have spoken to the people who did. Like your so-called Frenchman, for example.’
    Franz thought for a moment. ‘All I can do is tell you the truth. I have to rely on you to figure out that it is the truth.’
    Dead right, thought Magnus. But he needed to up the pressure a bit. ‘Until we’ve confirmed your story we might have to take you into custody.’
    ‘Is that why you got rid of the lawyer?’ Franz said. ‘To threaten me?’
    ‘Not exactly,’ said Magnus. ‘We need to know what Freeflow is working on right now.’
    ‘I won’t tell you that,’ said Franz. ‘It would be betraying the others.’
    ‘They wouldn’t know it came from you,’ said Magnus. ‘I can guarantee that.’
    ‘And why should I trust your guarantee?’ said Franz.
    ‘Let me tell you how things work in Iceland,’ Magnus said. ‘People who are arrested on a murder charge don’t get bail here. If I were to arrest you in the next couple of
minutes, you’d go to the prison at Litla Hraun where they would throw you into solitary confinement. We’d keep you there for three weeks, and then, if a judge says so, we’d keep
you for another three weeks, and another.’
    ‘But I know I’m innocent,’ said Franz.
    ‘In which case you’ll be let out eventually. Although sometimes I wonder about Iceland’s record with foreigners. It’s just so much easier to blame them for
crimes.’
    ‘So you are threatening me.’
    ‘You got it.’
    Franz’s expression was unchanged. But Magnus could see he was thinking it over.
    ‘Is