Meltwater (Fire and Ice)

had grown
stronger. It was a mixture of socks, sweat and electrical equipment.
    Magnus stood in the centre of the room.
    ‘I’ve got some news,’ he said. They all turned to look at him; Franz and Dieter took off the headphones they were wearing. ‘Bad news. Ásta was murdered this
morning.’
    There was a cry from Zivah. Erika looked shocked, Dúddi and Franz stunned, Dieter impassive.
    ‘We found her this morning in the church near her home in Grafarholt. It’s a suburb to the east of Reykjavík. She had been hit over the head, probably when she was praying
some time last night, we think between nine and midnight. Now, as I’m sure you can understand, Árni and I will need to ask you yet more questions.’
    There were a couple of grunts of assent.
    ‘I’ll start with Erika, and Árni with Dúddi,’ Magnus said. ‘Erika, let’s sit at the kitchen table.’
    They moved over there, Erika in a daze.
    ‘I can’t believe it,’ she said. ‘Did you see her?’
    ‘I saw her dead body,’ Magnus said. ‘I’ve just come from there.’
    ‘And you don’t know who did it?’
    Magnus shook his head. ‘We don’t even know if her death is connected to Freeflow, but that seems a good working assumption.’
    ‘Yes,’ said Erika. She looked very pale. ‘I’m sorry, I can’t quite take it in. I’ve seen death before, in Africa. That was worse in a way, much worse, but at
least then you knew who the bad guys were.’
    ‘And now we don’t?’
    ‘Now we don’t,’ said Erika. ‘I didn’t know her well, but I liked Ásta. She believed in things, you know? Not just God and Jesus. But truth. Honesty.
Transparency.’
    ‘The kind of things you believe in?’
    ‘Yes,’ said Erika. ‘She was a good kid.’ She took a deep breath. ‘OK. What do you want to know?’
    ‘First of all, where were you between, say, seven and one a.m. last night?’
    Erika smiled feebly. ‘A couple of days ago I would have been offended that you suspected me. Now, I’m getting used to it.’
    Magnus shrugged and gave her a quick smile of encouragement.
    ‘All right. I was here all evening, and I mean here, downstairs. I went to bed about one-thirty.’
    ‘Working?’
    ‘That’s right.’
    ‘What about the others?’
    ‘The same. We ordered pizza in about nine-thirty, I’d say. Again. Actually, I just ate a salad out of the refrigerator. Dúddi left to go home about eleven. Zivah probably went
to bed about then. Franz went to bed some time before me, Dieter was still working when I finished.’
    ‘And no one left the house at any time during the evening?’
    ‘Apart from Ásta. She left about seven, maybe? Viktor dropped in for half an hour at about eight.’
    So, it didn’t look as if anyone had sneaked out of the house past the patrol car.
    ‘What can you tell me about the connections between Ásta and the other members of the Freeflow team?’
    ‘I don’t know,’ said Erika. ‘Everyone seemed to like her. I was doubtful about her usefulness at first, but she was good to have around. She added a layer of calm and
sanity to the place. And she dealt with a lot of the domestic arrangements so the rest of us could concentrate on the video production.’
    ‘Did anyone know her before she showed up here?’
    ‘No. Apart from Viktor, of course. I think he’s her uncle. She became interested in Freeflow when she saw me on TV here in November. She had talked to Viktor about us and I am pretty
sure he was the one who got in touch with her when he knew we were coming to Iceland.’
    ‘What about Nico?’
    ‘Who knows about Nico?’ Erika said bitterly.
    Magnus raised his eyebrows.
    ‘I don’t think Nico had met her until he arrived here on Sunday to set things up. I know he had shown her the Gaza video before I arrived Monday.’
    ‘Do you think there is any way she might have discovered his links to Tretto?’
    Erika shrugged. ‘Not that I know of. But she could have done, I suppose. I’m not sure how.’
    ‘Did she have any arguments with any of the team at Freeflow?’
    ‘No, not that I noticed.’
    ‘Anyone she was particularly close to?’
    ‘No. Apart from Viktor, of course. As I said, everyone here seemed to like her . . .’
    Magnus could tell an idea had struck Erika. ‘Yes?’ He gave her an encouraging smile.
    She frowned. ‘It may be nothing, but the first time I met her, when she was driving me in from the airport, she said something about how she might have a leak for