Meltwater (Fire and Ice)

all lived in London. He lost money, quit his job before he was fired and joined a hedge fund, still in
London. Then the crash came in 2008 and he lost money again. He was out of there. I insisted we go back to Milan – I knew he would never cut it in London. And he spent a year looking for a
job.’
    She took a drag of her cigarette. ‘Then one day he said he was going to see an old friend of his from college, Giovanni Panunzi. Now, Giovanni works for Roberto Tretto, the minister
involved in the Gruppo Cavour scandal. Right after that meeting Nico took a sudden interest in Freeflow. He claimed he had suddenly discovered a passion for freedom of information. I went along
with this for a little bit, but when he began to spend more and more time on Freeflow I called him on it. Said he was doing stuff for Tretto. He denied it. I just let it drop.’
    She glared at Magnus. ‘That was before I knew about Erika.’
    ‘When did you discover about Nico and Erika?’ Magnus asked.
    ‘When she came to stay with us in Milan. It was only for a couple of days: she had just spent a week in jail in Rome. They were very distant with each other, very formal. Nico is never
distant with anyone, and I knew he was enthusiastic about Erika and what she was doing, or at least he claimed to be. There was only one conclusion. They were having an affair.’
    ‘And did you confront him on this?’
    ‘Only after he said he was coming to Reykjavík this week. I told him that I would tell Erika he was a plant. He denied there was anything going on between them, and then begged me
not to tell her. He said it might put his life at risk.’
    ‘Did you tell her?’ Baldur asked.
    ‘No,’ said Teresa. She swallowed. ‘No, I believed him. And although I was angry with him, I love him. Love him. I will always love him.’ She stared at Magnus
defiantly.
    ‘Why didn’t you tell us this when you heard he had been killed?’ Magnus asked.
    ‘He wouldn’t have wanted me to,’ Teresa said. ‘He had grown fond of the image of being an idealistic champion of the truth. You know, I think once he got involved he
genuinely did believe in what Freeflow are doing. He would hate people to think of him as someone who sold out to corrupt politicians.’
    ‘But he did,’ said Baldur.
    Teresa nodded. ‘He did.’
    ‘Do you have proof of this?’
    ‘No concrete proof,’ said Teresa. ‘But it’s all on his computer at home, I bet.’
    ‘Will you give us or the Italian authorities permission to analyse your husband’s computer?’ Magnus asked. He wasn’t sure whether they needed it, but in a multiple
jurisdiction situation the more boxes that could be ticked the better.
    Teresa nodded.
    ‘Please say “yes” if you agree,’ said Magnus. ‘For the record.’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘Thank you. If it was someone connected with Tretto who killed Nico, do you have any idea why?’ Magnus asked.
    ‘No,’ Teresa said. ‘Perhaps they are afraid of more revelations.’
    ‘But why kill Nico?’ Magnus asked. ‘If he was on their side?’
    ‘I don’t know!’ Teresa shouted. ‘I’ve told you all I know. Now you have to figure out the rest. That is your job.’
    She had a point.
    Magnus took a deep breath and glanced at Baldur, who nodded. ‘That’s all for now, Teresa. Thank you.’
    ‘Can I have my passport back?’ she asked.
    ‘We’ll keep it for a bit,’ said Baldur.
    ‘But I’m not still a suspect,’ said Teresa. ‘After what I’ve told you.’
    ‘You are an important witness at the very least,’ said Baldur. ‘A very important witness.’

CHAPTER TWENTY
    ‘N ICE,’ SAID MAGNUS . Baldur and he were returning to their desks. ‘Did you know she was hiding something,
or was it just a guess?’
    ‘An educated guess,’ said Baldur. ‘There was too much noise. She was hiding something.’
    ‘So, Nico was a plant,’ said Magnus. ‘I never considered that. But it makes sense as a way to disrupt Freeflow from the inside.’
    ‘But if Nico was working for this man Tretto, why kill him?’ said Baldur.
    ‘That’s the question. Perhaps they never meant to kill Nico, just Erika. Or Nico might have gone native and decided to tell Freeflow what he was up to. We still have a lot to find
out.’
    ‘And don’t forget the wife,’ said Baldur. ‘She couldn’t prove that she wasn’t involved.’
    ‘No, you are right,’ said Magnus. ‘And we can’t be sure that it wasn’t the Israelis either.’ What had seemed a