Meltwater (Fire and Ice)

volcano had attracted a higher number than usual.
    And of course once they had been identified, the Israelis and Italians needed to be interviewed. Priorities needed to be set: tourists rather than permanent citizens; males under fifty; Israelis
first, then Italians. If the Israelis were travelling under false passports, the police were stuffed: they couldn’t interview every foreigner in the country.
    Magnus gave Árni a break from calling hotels and asked him to investigate the Heathrow café receipt, and to contact car-hire companies to check who had rented a black Suzuki Vitara
on or in the week before the day of the murder.
    ‘Hey, Vigdís,’ Magnus said. ‘I thought you were supposed to be in Paris? I hope you haven’t cancelled.’
    ‘Just postponed it for a day.’
    ‘I told you not to.’
    ‘Davíd’s got some kind of business meeting in Paris tomorrow, that’s why we’re meeting there. It’ll be OK if I don’t see him till the evening. And
we’ll have Friday and the whole weekend together.’
    ‘All right, but you get on that flight tomorrow, do you hear?’
    ‘Yes sir!’ But Vigdís grinned.
    Árni was hovering. ‘Magnús?’
    ‘Yes, Árni?’
    ‘I’ve had a thought. It might be a bit far-fetched . . .’
    ‘Yes?’ Magnus had a theory that far-fetched ideas were always to be encouraged – difficult cases were sometimes solved by fresh thinking – but he hesitated to encourage
Árni.
    ‘What about these fraternities?’ Árni said in a whisper.
    ‘What about them?’
    ‘Well, there’s a secret society I read about at Harvard or somewhere that George Bush is a member of. The Crossed Skulls, I think it’s called.’
    ‘The Skull and Bones,’ said Magnus. ‘And it’s Yale.’
    ‘Yeah. Well, maybe Freeflow posted their secret initiation ceremony or something and they are angry about it.’
    ‘They might be angry. But angry enough to go to Iceland to kill someone?’
    ‘Maybe the CIA are involved. Maybe the head of the CIA is in this crossbones club as well. Maybe there’s something secret about George Bush. We don’t know.’
    ‘No, Árni, we don’t know. Tell you what. Take five minutes to look at the Freeflow website and check out whether it has busted the Skull and Bones society. If it has
we’ll talk some more. If not, forget it and get on to the Heathrow café.’
    ‘You’re not a member of it, are you, Magnus?’
    ‘No, Árni, I’m not. I went to Brown not Yale. And I wasn’t a member of any fraternity; they wouldn’t have had me.’
    Back in the real world, Magnus picked up the phone and called Rannveig, asking her to meet him at the house on Thórsgata.
    ‘That wasn’t part of the deal,’ she said.
    ‘We’re making a new deal,’ said Magnus.
    Magnus arrived first and approached the cop sitting in his car watching the yellow house. ‘Seen anything?’
    ‘A bunch of journalists were here earlier this morning. They seem to have given up now.’
    ‘Anyone else?’
    ‘There’s a guy over there reading a newspaper. On that bench.’
    About fifty yards down the road there was indeed a man sitting on a bench facing the house reading what looked like the International Herald Tribune .
    ‘Bit cold to be sitting outside reading a newspaper, wouldn’t you say?’ said Magnus.
    ‘I would say,’ said the cop. ‘He’s been there about an hour. I wasn’t sure whether to speak to him: I thought I’d wait for you.’
    ‘OK – I’ll have a word with him later. Keep your eyes peeled.’
    Rannveig’s car pulled up and Magnus greeted her before ringing the doorbell. The door was answered by the Israeli student, Zivah.
    ‘Hi,’ said Magnus. ‘Can I speak to Erika?’
    ‘I’ll see.’ They were left waiting for a couple of minutes before Erika arrived at the door.
    ‘We had a deal. We’re busy working. If you tramp around the house we will be seriously disrupted. So will you leave, or shall I call Viktor?’
    ‘I understand that. I just want to speak to you. But we had better do it inside the house. You shouldn’t take risks outside.’
    ‘What about?’
    ‘Israel.’
    She hesitated. ‘All right, come in. But make it quick. Just wait a moment.’
    Erika turned and yelled into the living area. ‘OK, everyone. Turn your monitors off. There’s a cop coming in – I don’t want him to see what you’re working
on.’
    Magnus and Rannveig followed Erika to the kitchen table. Magnus pushed aside a plate dusted with toast crumbs.
    ‘How do