Meltwater (Fire and Ice)

her own leak carefully. It would make a big impact, in Iceland certainly, if not globally, and in Ásta’s own world. And once the
scanned pages from Soffía’s journal were up there on the Freeflow website, no one could take them down.
    Eighty more pages to scan. Ásta sighed and began looking for a spare red cartridge.
    Magnus got into the rhythm as he powered up and down the open-air swimming pool at Laugardalur. He had twenty minutes before closing time at nine o’clock but it was still
light. A thin layer of mist hovered over the geothermally heated pool. Even though he had barely slept the night before, he needed to swim to unwind.
    The interview with Franz had been helpful. Vigdís had called a journalist contact of hers at RÚV and given her the tip about Israel. Erika’s reactions on the evening news had
more or less confirmed that Franz had been right. Of course it didn’t mean that the Israelis were definitely behind the attack, but the police were trying to track down every Israeli in the
country. There couldn’t be that many of them.
    There were more Italians. That angle couldn’t be ignored.
    However, what they really needed was to find the snowmobilers. The couple in the other jeep by the volcano had come forward, but they hadn’t seen anything. They lived in Reykjavík,
the husband was retired and the wife had recently lost her job at a store in the Kringlan Mall. They had never heard of Freeflow. As for the snowmobilers, the Hvolsvöllur police were out
asking about them, but no one had seen anything. The murder was all over the news, but no sign of them.
    The snowmobilers were definitely at the top of the list of suspects for Nico’s murder.
    Refreshed, Magnus jumped out of the pool – no time for a hot tub – showered, changed and drove home. He parked on Njálsgata outside the small cream-coloured house with its
lime-green corrugated metal roof where he lived, and pulled out his key. It was getting dark: the lights illuminating the spire of the Hallgrímskirkja at the top of the hill had just been
switched on.
    He heard light footsteps just behind him. Felt a hand on his ass. A squeeze.
    He turned in surprise.
    Before he could say anything, familiar lips met his. A familiar kiss.
    ‘Ingileif!’
    ‘Hi.’ She smiled. Her blond bangs hung over her eyes; he searched out and found the little nick above her left eyebrow. ‘Are you pleased to see me?’
    ‘Yes, of course I am.’
    ‘Good, in that case let me in.’
    Magnus unlocked the door. ‘So what are you doing here? Why didn’t you call? I didn’t know you were coming back to Iceland.’
    Ingileif put a finger on his lips. ‘Too many questions, Mr Detective.’ She laughed, taking his hand and leading him up the stairs to his room. ‘We’ve got some catching up
to do.’
    They lay naked on the bed, Ingileif snuggled into Magnus’s chest where she felt most comfortable. Where he felt most comfortable. Where she ought to be.
    ‘So how’s Hamburg?’ Magnus asked.
    ‘It’s great. I really like it. There’s a lot going on there. And the gallery is doing really well.’
    ‘But what about the credit crunch?’
    ‘Doesn’t seem to apply in Germany. Or rather it did, but they seem to be getting out of it already. They still love Scandinavian design. And the Icelandic stuff gives them something
more exotic to put with their blond wood and white walls.’
    ‘That’s good,’ said Magnus. Of course he didn’t mean it. What he had really wanted her to say was that Germany was a disaster and she wanted to leave at the first
opportunity.
    She hauled herself up on to an elbow and kissed him quickly. ‘Sorry,’ she said.
    Magnus was about to ask her what she was sorry about, but of course she knew what he was thinking, how disappointed he was.
    ‘What is all that stuff on your wall?’
    She was staring at the yellow Post-its, the photographs and the notes.
    ‘That’s my father’s murder,’ Magnus said sheepishly.
    ‘Magnús, that is seriously weird. I shouldn’t have left you alone like that.’
    ‘It helps, I think.’
    ‘Does it help? Or does it just feed your obsession?’
    ‘Hey, you were the one who kept on telling me to face up to my past.’
    ‘Weirdo, weirdo, weirdo,’ she giggled.
    Magnus untangled himself from Ingileif and sat up, looking at the wall. ‘Ollie’s coming over from the States tomorrow,’ he said. ‘I want to talk about all this with him.
Get him to let me investigate it