Yrsa Sigurdardóttir - The Day Is Dark

‘Yes, maybe.’ Friðrikka sounded sceptical. ‘You know, I read somewhere that in the old days the Greenlanders never had any actual religion. In place of faith they lived with fear.’ Friðrikka’s breathing was regular, as if she were drifting off and speaking almost in her sleep. ‘That’s how I feel. I’m not religious but I feel a persistent fear of something, though I don’t know what.’

Thóra said nothing. She lay with her eyes closed, looking at the illuminated pink inside of her eyelid. She was too tired to try to contradict her, and in a way she knew exactly how Friðrikka felt.

‘I believe this man has been dead for a long time.’ Finnbogi sat with his hands on the kitchen table, having just put down a saltcellar he’d been rolling back and forth in the palm of his hand. ‘Of course I didn’t examine him carefully, but despite having seen him only from the shoulders up, I think it is out of the question that this man died recently.’

Matthew nodded. ‘Do you have some idea of how he might have died?’

The doctor smiled grimly. ‘I can’t say, since I only saw him for a minute or two. There were no visible injuries to his head, and he doesn’t appear to have suffocated – if he had, he would have been blue around the mouth. Nor did I see any evidence of frostbite on his nose or ears, which would certainly be present if he had died of hypothermia. However, this excludes only three things. People can die of many other causes, and it will require an 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 Eyjólfur 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 Thóra with us. The woman seemed to trust her and I’m not sure that she would open the door to just us. I suppose Thóra could come with us now, but I don’t know how Friðrikka 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 had been her friend?’

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.

Thóra was extremely relieved that Friðrikka 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 Friðrikka’s request, and now Thóra 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, Thóra 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 Friðrikka was concerned, but Bella would probably remain calm and could even chase the man away. ‘Bella, Bella.’ Thóra 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 Thóra a look that conveyed her intense displeasure at being woken. ‘Get up. But be careful not to wake Friðrikka,’ Thóra 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 Thóra 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.

Thóra 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 mental ?’

‘What if they’re asleep and this is the man in the clip?’ Thóra 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 Friðrikka shifted on the floor at their feet.

In the excitement Thóra 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 Friðrikka anyway. We can’t leave her behind alone.’

Thóra 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.’