Meltwater (Fire and Ice)

church. It took the pastor a couple of minutes before he spotted it. ‘A candlestick.’ He pointed to one on a small table on one side of the
entrance. It was made of brass and was about eighteen inches high. Its partner on the other side had gone, although the candle was lying in its place. The pastor reached out his hand to pick it
up.
    ‘Don’t!’ said Magnus sharply. ‘This is a crime scene. Tidying up is not allowed.’
    ‘Yes,’ said the pastor. ‘Yes, of course. I’m sorry.’ He shook his head and took a deep breath. ‘I liked Ásta. She was a good woman. A really good
woman.’ He glanced at the figure still lying there in front of the altar. A photographer was snapping away, and Edda and one of her colleagues were crouched down near the body in their white
forensic overalls, tweezers at the ready. The pathologist hadn’t arrived yet.
    ‘Yes, she was,’ said Magnus. ‘We’ll get the candlestick photographed. Thank you, Egill. We’ll be back with more questions later.’
    The pastor left with one last glance at Ásta’s body.
    ‘All right,’ said Baldur. ‘It looks as if she was murdered between shortly after nine and twelve-thirty last night. She probably came into the church to pray. Someone sneaked
up behind her and whacked her over the head with a candlestick, taking it away with him. Why, we don’t know yet, but I would not be at all surprised if it had something to do with
Freeflow.’
    ‘Did you think the pastor was telling us the whole truth?’ asked Magnus. ‘About what Ásta discussed with him?’
    ‘No, I didn’t,’ said Baldur. ‘It didn’t quite feel right, did it? We should try him again, later on today. Maybe when we have some more information.’
    ‘You know she called me yesterday?’ Magnus said. ‘On my cell phone. I missed it and when I called her back she said it was nothing.’ He sighed. ‘It clearly
wasn’t.’
    ‘Shouldn’t have missed it,’ said Baldur.
    It was a statement of fact. If Magnus had picked up the call and given Ásta the chance to say what she wanted to say when she wanted to say it, maybe she would still be alive. Maybe.
    ‘How do you want to do this?’ Magnus asked.
    ‘I’ll lead this investigation,’ Baldur said. ‘But we’ll work jointly. I’m sure we’ll find a link to Freeflow. Maybe you should get over there and see if
you can find out what that is?’
    ‘OK. Will you do the press conference at nine-thirty?’
    ‘Yes, I’ll handle that,’ said Baldur. ‘And I’ll brief Thorkell. We could use some more officers here. Maybe I can borrow a couple of detectives from
Narcotics.’
    Magnus recognized Gudmundur, the officer inside the patrol car parked opposite the yellow house on Thórsgata. ‘I thought you had a buddy out here with
you?’
    ‘He’s gone for a stroll in Lokastígur round the back,’ said the constable.
    ‘Good idea. Seen anything?’
    ‘Nothing this morning.’
    ‘Did you hear about Ásta, the priest?’
    ‘Yes, I did, over the radio. You just come from there?’
    Magnus nodded. ‘You were here yesterday, weren’t you?’
    ‘I was.’ The constable pulled out a notebook. ‘She arrived 9:12. Left the house with Franz at about 9:46. Returned with him with grocery bags at 10:32. Came outside on the
street at 12:10. Walked a short distance from the house and made a quick phone call.’
    That would be her call to Magnus.
    ‘When did she leave?’
    ‘Nineteen-twenty-six.’
    ‘Anyone follow her?’
    ‘No.’
    ‘Are you sure?’
    The constable thought about it. ‘Not absolutely sure. If another car had driven up the road half a minute after she left, I wouldn’t have made the connection. But I didn’t see
anyone hanging around watching, and neither did my partner. We have been checking.’
    Full marks for honesty.
    ‘What about other people coming and going?’
    The constable checked his notes. ‘Dúddi arrived 10:14. Viktor arrived 20:06. Left 20:53. Pizza delivery 21:28. Dúddi left 23:37.’
    ‘Nothing else? No one sneak out in the middle of the night?’
    ‘Not that we saw.’
    ‘Thanks.’ Árni joined them. ‘OK, I’ll talk to Erika and Franz,’ Magnus said to him. ‘You take the others.’
    Zivah answered the door. Magnus could tell from the expression on her face they hadn’t heard.
    There were five of them there: Erika, Dieter, Zivah, Franz and Dúddi. They seemed to be working hard. Computers on, coffee cups and cans of Red Bull strewn everywhere; the smell