Yrsa Sigurdardóttir - The Day Is Dark

‘Sounds good.’ Matthew sat up. ‘Can I shower?’

‘Sorry. I think I’ve used up all the hot water on the east coast of Greenland. Maybe in the whole country.’ Thóra stood up. Her entire body and soul were feeling much more refreshed. ‘We won’t be long, and then you can hop in the shower afterwards.’ She knew he’d been craving a bath for days. ‘We’ll be really quick. I promise.’

The food wasn’t all that good, but Matthew and Thóra were so hungry that they gulped it down as if they hadn’t seen anything edible for days. The dining room had been empty so they’d thrown themselves on the mercy of the bartender, who had his hands full serving drinks to Alvar, Bella and Eyjólfur. The young man very helpfully offered to check whether there was anything to eat in the kitchen. He returned with five pots of yoghurt, a banana, a loaf of bread and some slices of ham. He apologised that there were no leftovers remaining from supper, but Thóra thought this was fair enough under the circumstances.

After Thóra had scraped the last bit of yoghurt from her second pot and only the end crust was left of the bread, she suddenly found she was craving alcohol. ‘Let’s go over to the bar, I need a drink.’

‘What about my shower?’ Matthew was still finishing his third bowl of yoghurt. ‘I have to wash. I’m starting to disgust myself.’ He looked towards the bar where their three colleagues were sitting. ‘You go ahead while I go up and shower. I’ll come back down when I’m finished. You’ll be one glass ahead of me but I’ll catch up.’ He put down his teaspoon and stood up. ‘I’ll be in much better shape once I’m clean.’

Thóra went over and sat next to Eyjólfur. Bella was between him and Alvar, and Thóra was glad not to be too close to the latter. He looked like he was brooding, and was downing beer at impressive speed. ‘You’re looking very lovely,’ said Eyjólfur, glancing appreciatively at Thóra’s legs as she lifted herself onto the high stool. ‘I’d forgotten there was other clothing besides trousers.’

Thóra did not appreciate his drawing attention to her outfit. She ordered a glass of white wine. ‘Aren’t you all tired?’ she asked. ‘I can’t remember ever having felt so exhausted.’

‘Then you haven’t lived much,’ muttered Alvar, without looking at her. He was staring straight ahead at the bottles of alcohol on the shelves behind the bar, apparently hypnotized by the gleam of the glass. ‘Was that meant to be an insult?’ said Eyjólfur. He nudged Thóra with his elbow. ‘Aren’t you going to fight back?’

‘Oh, I can’t be bothered.’ Thóra had no interest in bickering with a foul-tempered drunk in some bar in Greenland. ‘Do you recall whether Oddný Hildur had two dental crowns in her lower jaw?’

‘Are you kidding?’ Eyjólfur put down his glass. He could see Thóra’s question had been sincere. ‘No, but I didn’t really ever have a close look at her teeth.’

‘Would you be able to tell?’ Bella interrupted, yawning. ‘I mean, you can often see someone’s top teeth, but not always the bottom ones.’

Of course, thought Thóra, dental implants were more noticeable when people smiled and revealed the gums above them. In fact she remembered having been at a club in Ibiza when she was younger, where the UV lighting used on the dance floor had made it advisable for people with porcelain crowns to smile as little as possible. ‘You never went with her to a club or anything like that?’

Eyjólfur laughed. ‘Me at a club with Oddný Hildur? Christ, no. I never saw her outside of work.’ His smile vanished. ‘What sort of question is that, anyway? Did they find some teeth?’

‘No, no. I’m just curious.’ The white wine was ice-cold and was going down very easily. It was a shame there wasn’t any decent food to have with it. ‘Where are Friðrikka and Finnbogi?’ She wanted to drop the subject of the teeth with him, but also to find out whether she would get a chance to ask Friðrikka about them. She’d have to be more subtle than she’d been just now, though, so Friðrikka wouldn’t read anything into the question.

‘The doctor was going to go to bed, but Friðrikka went for a walk.’ Alvar emptied a nearly half-full glass in one go and ordered another beer. Thóra was willing to bet that it was his fifth or sixth in a row. He was talking up a storm, compared to how quiet he was normally.

‘A walk?’ asked Thóra in surprise. ‘It’s the middle of the night. Is it even possible to take walks here? And why hasn’t she come back?’

Eyjólfur leaned round on the bar to look Alvar in the face. ‘You spoke to her – what time did she leave?’

Alvar seemed upset at having to take part in the conversation just when the bartender had poured him a brand new beer. ‘Not that long ago. Half an hour, an hour. She just wanted to have a stroll in the area around the hotel. There’s a full moon and the sky is clear, so she’s hardly in any danger.’ He spoke in a rush, gulping at his beer as soon as he’d finished. Half the liquid in the glass disappeared into him.

‘Aren’t you on the rescue squad?’ said Bella scornfully. ‘I wouldn’t call you if I got lost.’

‘And I wouldn’t search for you if you did.’ Alvar slammed the glass down on the bar. It looked like he really wanted to storm off in a huff, but that would have meant leaving the bar. So he just sat there stiffly. Bella was unconcerned. ‘Maybe she came back without us noticing.’ She drew a finger down her damp glass, leaving a broad streak on its slippery surface.

‘Maybe.’ Eyjólfur seemed sceptical. ‘God, I’m dying to get online. There’s no wireless or DSL connection in the rooms but the girl in reception pointed me to a computer with an Internet connection in the lobby. This is the longest I’ve been offline since the Internet was invented, I think.’

‘Were you even born then?’ Thóra sipped her wine. She was looking forward to Matthew’s return; the conversation at the bar could only improve once he joined in. She carried on before Eyjólfur could defend himself. ‘Did you definitely make a copy of the entire computer system?’

‘Yes, and the contents of most of the PCs. It’ll be almost like sitting in the office building at the camp except that you’ll have a view of something other than snow while you go over the data.’ Eyjólfur looked up at the ceiling. ‘I can’t wait to get home. Shouldn’t we just ignore this travel ban and take the next plane out of here? The cops are still at the site, so who’s going to stop us? It’s not as if we’ve done anything wrong.’

‘It isn’t the most popular airport in the world. I’m sure the police have let their colleagues there know that we aren’t allowed to leave the country.’ Thóra smiled at him. ‘Otherwise I’d be there like a shot too.’

The bartender suddenly stopped washing glasses in the sink behind the raised bar and looked towards reception. The four guests fell silent and turned to follow his gaze. They heard a door shut and a moment later Friðrikka appeared in the doorway, her cheeks flushed from the cold. She walked over to them and as she drew nearer they felt a cold draught. ‘I thought you’d all be asleep.’

‘And we thought you were lost.’ Eyjólfur lifted his glass and toasted her. ‘I see that the search parties are just as motivated as they were when Oddný Hildur disappeared.’

Friðrikka pulled off her gloves and stuck them in her jacket pocket. ‘When were you going to start the search, tomorrow morning?’ she said. ‘Or tomorrow night, even?’

‘People are hardly considered lost after half an hour or an hour.’ Alvar drew out each word. It seemed all that beer was starting to have an effect. ‘We would probably have gone to look for you before going to bed.’ Thóra saw from Friðrikka’s expression that this conversation was heading for trouble and she tapped on Eyjólfur’s back, since he had turned around on his stool so as not to miss anything. ‘Where is that computer?’