‘They don’t know for sure. They need to compare this virus with what they found recently in the grave of a woman who died of Spanish Flu in Alaska. She died around the same time as the settlers in Greenland, but was buried under a layer of permafrost. No sample of the virus has been found before, because the bodies of the victims decomposed in the ground. It is very unusual for a corpse to remain frozen for decades, as has happened here.’ Finnbogi watched as the other doctor lightly tapped Alvar’s inside arm. ‘But the timing of the epidemic fits in perfectly with the period when the original inhabitants of the area died, and the symptoms match the description of the drillers’ deaths. It’s likely that the doctor or his guide infected the villagers when he made his survey trip there during that winter so long ago. In the isolation that characterized a place like this, and in fact still does, fertile ground is created for infectious diseases in the event that they are brought in. In addition, the Spanish Flu was a deadly epidemic and could very well have decimated such a small and isolated settlement. Especially because the community’s survival was based on hunting. When people become ill or are disabled, they can’t provide for themselves. Some of the villagers died from the disease, others from starvation, so the story goes. Spanish Flu, unlike most other types of flu, affected the young and healthy rather than the elderly and little children.’
‘I find it absolutely extraordinary’ – Eyjolfur was still pressing cotton wool to his puncture wound – ‘that such an old disease can flare up again. As if we don’t have enough new epidemics.’
‘No one’s saying it has “flared up”.’ Finnbogi looked askance at the other two doctors, but they were not even trying to follow the discussion. ‘Although Bjarki and Dori were infected, they came into a completely different type of contact with the man than we did. You might not all have seen the hole in the man’s chest, but something happened when it was drilled through. The men got bodily fluids on them and even breathed them in.’
‘But doesn’t the man who cut up their bodies need to be examined as well?’ asked Eyjolfur. ‘The same thing must have happened to him, since he was probably covered in blood droplets, or something even more disgusting.’
‘Not everyone becomes infected, but the man will certainly have to undergo the same sort of examination as us. If it’s the young man who came with us in the helicopter, he’s not ill, any more than we are. Those who were infected became ill very quickly, so he should be safe. The infected were at death’s door after twenty-four hours, which may be one of the things that pointed the investigators towards this particular disease. The drillers didn’t lie on their sickbeds for long.’
‘And we were made to sit with him in the helicopter?’ Fri?rikka’s voice had risen to a shrill high C again. ‘We breathed the same air as him for almost an hour, didn’t we? Who knows, maybe we were infected then, which is why we haven’t become ill yet!’
‘We shouldn’t worry unnecessarily. We’re still asymptomatic, and we’ll probably remain that way,’ said Finnbogi determinedly. ‘I think we should talk about something more interesting and constructive; we’re not going to change anything with foolish speculation.’
The group fell silent and remained that way as it tried to come up with another topic of conversation. ‘Why do you think that guy killed Oddny Hildur? Is he completely mental, or do you think he raped her or something?’ Eyjolfur got top marks for changing the subject, but a fail for the subject matter.
‘She wasn’t raped.’ Fri?rikka was nearly foaming at the mouth.
Eyjolfur turned to her, just as angry. ‘I wasn’t talking to you. What would you know about it?’
‘Women aren’t raped through their clothes. Her body was fully dressed, in case you managed to miss it.’ Fri?rikka was beginning to shout.
The Danish doctor turned round and raised his eyebrows, and Thora cut them both off brusquely. She couldn’t bear to think of the group being broken up and each of them shut in a separate room. Although the company wasn’t at its most entertaining right then, time did pass faster when something was happening besides them all staring out at the ice-bound bay below the town, no matter how beautiful it was. ‘Settle down. We don’t know Naruana killed Oddny Hildur. Maybe it was someone completely different. Stop yelling at each other and try to discuss something constructive instead.’
Thora’s words calmed Fri?rikka and Eyjolfur down a bit but they still couldn’t think of anything else to talk about. ‘Who could have killed her if not one of the villagers? One of the employees at the camp?’ asked Alvar. He had stood up and was now watching the final blood test, which was being carried out on Bella.
‘It was someone from the village.’ Fri?rikka made this assertion like a stubborn child. ‘Anything else is out of the question. None of us would have wanted to do her harm, even if she did complain to the boss.’
Eyjolfur ignored her. ‘Maybe it was an outsider, but not someone from the village. Tourists who wandered into the area. A hiker, one of those fresh air freaks.’
‘Excuse me, but I doubt this woman was killed by a “fresh air freak”.’ Thora couldn’t help but smile at his description.
‘Why not? The weather was bad and visibility was poor; maybe he thought she was a polar bear. She was wearing Arnar’s furry boots and hat.’ Eyjolfur appeared determined to convince himself of his own hypothesis.
‘Yes, that could be it,’ blurted out Fri?rikka, in agreement with Eyjolfur for the first time. ‘The murderer will probably never be found, but that’s a possible explanation. She could very well have looked like some kind of animal.’
‘That explains it.’ Eyjolfur surveyed the group smugly.
‘No, come on, stop that.’ Alvar clearly didn’t appreciate the silence, or perhaps he thought it his duty to defend hikers. ‘She was attacked from behind, and people don’t try to sneak up on polar bears from behind. Nor are fresh air freaks, as you call them, prone to wandering about in a whiteout. They dig themselves down into the snow and wait for the storm to subside. They’d be even less inclined to start attacking polar bears under such circumstances.’
‘Does anyone know why she was dressed like that?’ Thora hadn’t had time to ponder this point.
‘The weather was good that day and stayed that way into the early evening. Wouldn’t she have been wrapped up well enough when she went over to the office? Maybe she needed something a little more protective. Arnar would hardly have made a big deal out of her borrowing some of his clothing.’ Eyjolfur looked sad. ‘Just think – if only she hadn’t been wearing someone else’s clothes she would never have been mistaken for a polar bear. Those were the only garments on site that would have made her look like an animal.’
Thora bit her tongue, wondering if his dramatics were going to extend to singing a sad song in Oddny Hildur’s memory. She allowed Alvar and Eyjolfur to continue debating the merits of the polar bear theory while she tried to get her thoughts in order. ‘Isn’t it more logical to assume that whoever came at Oddny Hildur from behind during the snowstorm actually thought she was Arnar?’ Fri?rikka, Alvar and Eyjolfur stopped arguing and looked in surprise at Thora.
‘What do you mean?’ said Eyjolfur stupidly, but then quickly added: ‘You mean the man intended to kill Arnar?’
‘Yes. Isn’t that more likely than your theory about the polar bear? Arnar wasn’t short of enemies, and his popularity hardly increased when management were informed about the harassment.’
Alvar was quick to agree to this.
Eyjolfur frowned. ‘I don’t know. He wasn’t so awful that people would have thought about killing him.’ He looked awkwardly at Fri?rikka in the hope of support. ‘Right? It wasn’t like that, was it?’
Fri?rikka looked from him to her lap. ‘No. Definitely not.’ She abruptly fell silent. It was as if all the air had gone out of her.
Thora moved over next to Matthew and waited for him to finish speaking to the Danish doctor, who was packing up his things. ‘Do you still have the phone number for Oqqapia, Naruana’s partner? I need to have a word with her.’ Matthew found the slip of paper with the number on it, and Thora stuck it in her pocket. While doing so she felt to make sure she had her mobile phone. Once she was certain she did, she asked the doctor whether she could go to the ladies’.
A young police officer followed her out into the corridor and informed her along the way that the toilet would need to be disinfected thoroughly after they left. Thora thanked him for the information and shut the door behind her. She dialled the number and prayed silently that the woman was home. She was relieved when she heard her voice. ‘Hi, Oqqapia, this is Thora from Iceland. I visited you a short time ago with my friend, whose name is Matthew.’
Oqqapia said she remembered her well. It sounded to Thora as if she were completely sober. She seemed to be in a state of shock as she told Thora the whole story of how Naruana had been arrested, and said that a group
