autopsy to find out what caused his death. I have no idea who handles such things in these parts but I expect there are facilities for it in one of the hospitals on the west coast. I’m sure it would take a long time. I could go back in and examine the man in a bit more detail, but I doubt I would come any closer to an answer. I’m not worried about infection, since it’s below zero in there.’
‘No one is going back in there before the police arrive.’ Matthew was resolute on this point. He could see that the doctor was itching to go back into the freezer, since he was unlikely ever again to be witness to such a thing. The other two men had returned to the lounge, although Matthew had had to insist that they get out of the kitchen. They were so interested in the corpse that he was afraid they would sneak back in to take photos. It was extremely unfortunate that this should come to light when so many people were in the camp, to put it mildly. ‘In fact we should get out of here, but I really don’t know where we’d go, so we’ll just have to stay until either the police or the helicopter arrive.’
‘Where are you planning to go to call the police?’ asked Finnbogi. ‘To that woman’s place, in the village?’
‘Is there any other choice?’ said Matthew. ‘We’ll just have to hope she lets us in. It would be best to go there immediately, but, well…’
‘Are you thinking of the alcohol we’ve been drinking?’ The doctor sounded surprised. ‘It wasn’t so much that it would matter under these circumstances.’
Finnbogi’s interruption got on Matthew’s nerves. He was weary of all this and dreamed of going home to his shower. ‘No, I’m thinking more about not leaving the others behind. I don’t know what Alvar and his friend Eyjolfur could get up to, and I really don’t like the idea of leaving the women behind.’
‘It’s good that they can’t hear you,’ joked the doctor. ‘I imagine that Bella thinks she can look after herself, at least.’
‘Well, the drillers were hardly weaklings, judging by the photos, but they’re still gone.’ Matthew pointed behind the doctor in the direction of the kitchen. ‘And our frozen friend appears to have been quite hefty, judging by the size of the body beneath the plastic. Anyway, we can’t go tonight, since we need to take Thora with us. The woman seemed to trust her and I’m not sure that she would open the door to just us. I suppose Thora could come with us now, but I don’t know how Fri?rikka would react if she were left behind with only Bella to lean on. I can’t bear any more tears this evening.’
‘Same here. How would she have reacted if it
Matthew sighed at the thought. ‘It’s almost enough to make you hope she stays lost.’
Barely had he said this when the floodlights came on again outside.
Chapter 19
Thora was extremely relieved that Fri?rikka was asleep when the intense light lit up the meeting room where they lay on the floor. She slipped carefully out from under the duvet and tiptoed to the one window on which the lights appeared to fall directly. Bella had closed the curtains at Fri?rikka’s request, and now Thora lifted one corner and looked out. Outside was a man. She was so startled that she dropped the curtain and stepped back from the window. She knew he hadn’t seen her because he was turned away, looking towards the cafeteria. Still, Thora was alarmed and could not shake off the feeling that he had seen her. She made a desperate attempt to remember whether the front door had been locked but couldn’t recall at all which of them had shut it behind the men when they left. She looked at her companions, who were sleeping quietly, and wondered whether she should wake them. The answer was easy enough as far as Fri?rikka was concerned, but Bella would probably remain calm and could even chase the man away. ‘Bella, Bella.’ Thora whispered her secretary’s name as she shook her shoulder, first gently but then more forcefully. ‘Wake up! There’s someone outside.’ Bella only opened one eye, but she managed to give Thora a look that conveyed her intense displeasure at being woken. ‘Get up. But be careful not to wake Fri?rikka,’ Thora said, still whispering.
The lights outside went off, and Bella appeared galvanized into movement. She raised herself on one elbow and got to her feet. They both looked ridiculous. Bella was wearing flannel pyjamas, while Thora was wearing an evening dress made from quite a soft material, which had made her think it might work very well as a nightgown. ‘Who’s out there?’ asked Bella hoarsely. She went to the window and peeked out. ‘I don’t see anyone.’ Now that the floodlights were off, it was more difficult to see into the darkness from the well-lit room. Bella pulled the curtain a bit higher to get a better view, but then turned around quickly. ‘I saw him. He’s on his way out to the kitchen,’ she said, short of breath.
Thora was completely taken aback. Under normal circumstances she could have called Matthew and warned him, but there was no mobile phone signal here. ‘Shouldn’t we let them know?’ She tried to remember whether the office building had a back door, but couldn’t. ‘We could go out through the back window and run over without him noticing us.’
Bella arched an eyebrow. ‘Are you
‘What if they’re asleep and this is the man in the clip?’ Thora shuffled her feet on the cold floor in agitation. ‘What clip? What exactly do you mean by “clip”?’ Bella was starting to raise her voice a bit too much and Fri?rikka shifted on the floor at their feet.
In the excitement Thora had forgotten that the others in the group had no idea there was a video showing the lower half of a man as he lay on the floor, apparently being decapitated or beaten, with blood flying everywhere. ‘Nothing,’ she replied hurriedly. ‘Doesn’t matter. We just need to let them know so that the man doesn’t catch them off-guard.’
‘Then it’s best that you go,’ muttered Bella. ‘One of us needs to stay with Fri?rikka anyway. We can’t leave her behind alone.’
Thora couldn’t waste time arguing with Bella. ‘Then I’ll go, but you have to promise to watch me through the window.’ She narrowed her eyes at her secretary. ‘You’re not to take your eyes off me, or go out for a smoke.’
Bella agreed, and Thora hurried to the vestibule and pulled a coverall over her dress. She didn’t have time to choose carefully and the one she ended up with was too large. Then she put on snow boots that were also too big, but at least this meant they were quicker to pull on than her walking shoes. She called back to Bella to let her know she was on her way out, and although she received no reply she had to move quickly. She would never fit through the window in this get-up, so she decided to use the door and hope for the best. If it came to the worst and the man attacked her, she would scream with all her might. She pushed aside the thought that this was a ridiculous plan – no one could come to her assistance in time – and opened the door.
It was freezing outside, but for the first time since arriving in Greenland she didn’t think about the cold; the strip of land between the office building and the cafeteria occupied her thoughts entirely. The man was nowhere to be seen. Thora’s heart hammered in her chest. She had not expected this. She had assumed that the man was on his way over and would now have his back turned towards her so that she could sneak unseen between the houses. She tried to spot any new tracks but more or less all of the snow seemed to be tramped down on the way over to the cafeteria, making it impossible to discern which of the tracks belonged to the intruder. All she could do was keep going and hope he wasn’t lying in wait for her. She walked faster, heading straight for the entrance instead of going behind the building as she had originally intended. Since the intruder was nowhere to be seen it was just as likely that he was there. The large, awkward coverall made it difficult for her and the back cuffs of the legs dragged through the snow, meaning she didn’t go as quietly as she’d intended. Intent on the rustling noise the coverall was making, she didn’t notice the tracks that turned off from the path towards the rubbish bin and got a terrible shock when she walked past the large steel box: in its shadow stood the man. Thora gasped.
He was wearing an animal-skin jacket and furry white trousers that looked to Thora to be made from a polar bear pelt. The man could have been very well-built or quite puny; his clothes were so bulky that it was impossible to tell. His eyes were deep brown, almost black. Yet he was not cruel-looking, his face giving more of an impression of sorrow than evil. Thora stood frozen, in an agony of indecision. Her original plan to scream for help was forgotten and fear was scrambling her common sense, so all she could think of to do was wish him good evening. As soon as she had said the words she could not recall what language she’d said them in. She’d probably