Arnaldur Indridason - Hypothermia

ALSO BY

Arnaldur Indriason in English translation

Fiction

Tainted Blood

(first published with the title Jar City)

Silence of the Grave

Voices

The Draining Lake

Arctic Chill

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Version 1.0

Epub ISBN 9781409086222

www.randomhouse.co.uk

Published by Harvill Secker 2009

First published in Iceland as Harskafi by Forlagi in 2007

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Copyright Arnaldur Indriason 2007

English translation Victoria Cribb 2009

Arnaldur Indriason has asserted his right under the Copyright,

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Table of Contents

Mara hardly registered what was happening during the funeral. She sat numbly in the front pew, holding Baldvins hand, barely conscious of her surroundings or the service. The vicars address, the presence of the mourners and the singing of the little church choir all blurred into a single refrain of grief. The vicar had come round to see them beforehand to make notes, so Mara already knew the contents of her address. It focused for the most part on Maras mother Leonras academic career, the courage she had shown in fighting the dreaded illness, the wide circle of friends she had collected during her life, and Mara herself, her only daughter, who had to some extent followed in her mothers footsteps. The vicar touched on Leonras eminence in her field and the care she took to cultivate her friendships, as witnessed by the attendance on that miserable autumn day. Most of the mourners were fellow academics. Leonra had sometimes mentioned to Mara how rewarding it was to belong to the intelligentsia. There was an arrogance implicit in her words that Mara had chosen to ignore.

She remembered the autumn colours in the cemetery and the frozen puddles on the gravel path leading to the grave, the crackling sound as the thin film of ice broke under the feet of the pall-bearers. She remembered the chilly breeze and making the sign of the cross over her mothers coffin. Mara had pictured herself in this situation countless times before, ever since it became clear that the disease would kill her mother, and now here she was. She stared at the coffin in the grave and recited a brief mental prayer before making the sign of the cross with her outstretched hand. Then she lingered motionless at the graveside until Baldvin led her away.

She remembered people coming up to her at the reception afterwards to pay their respects. Some offered their assistance, asking if there was anything they could do for her.

Maras mind did not return to the lake until all was quiet again and she was left alone with her thoughts, late that night. It did not occur to her until then, when it was all over and she was thinking back over that gruelling day, that no one from her fathers family had turned up to the funeral.

The emergency line received a call from a mobile phone shortly after midnight. An agitated female voice cried:

Shes... Maras killed herself... I... its horrible... horrible!

Whats your name, please?

Ka Karen.

Where are you calling from? the emergency operator asked.

Im at... its... her holiday cottage...

Where? Where is it?

... At Lake Thingvallavatn. At... at her holiday cottage. Please hurry... I... Ill be here...

Karen thought she would never find the cottage. It had been a long time, nearly four years, since her last visit. Mara had given her detailed directions just to be on the safe side, but they had more or less gone in one ear and out the other because Karen had assumed she would remember the way.

It was past eight in the evening and pitch dark by the time she left Reykjavk. She drove over Mosfellsheidi moor where there was little traffic, just the odd pair of headlights passing by on their way to town. Only one other car was travelling east and she hung on its red rear lights, grateful for the company. She didnt like driving alone in the dark and would have set off earlier if she hadnt been held up. She worked in the public-relations department of a large bank and it had seemed as if the meetings and phone calls would never let up.

Karen was aware of the mountain Grmannsfell to her right, although she couldnt see it, and Sklafell to her left. Next she drove past the turning to Vindshld where she had once spent a two-week summer holiday as a child. She followed the red tail lights at a comfortable speed until they drove down through the Kerlingarhraun lava field, and there their ways parted. The red lights accelerated and disappeared into the darkness. She wondered if they were heading for the pass at Uxahryggir and north over the Kaldidalur mountain road. She had often taken that route herself. It was a beautiful drive down the Lundarreykjadalur valley to Borgarfjrdur fjord. The memory of a lovely summers day once spent at Lake Sandkluftavatn came back to her.

Karen herself turned right and drove on into the blackness of the Thingvellir national park. She had difficulty identifying the landmarks in the gloom. Should she have turned off sooner? Was this the right turning down to the lake? Or was it the next? Had she come too far?

Twice she went wrong and had to turn round. It was a Thursday evening and most of the cottages were empty. She had brought along a supply of food and reading material, and Mara had told her that they had recently installed a television in the cottage. But Karens main intention was to try to sleep, to get some rest. The bank was like a madhouse after the recent abortive takeover. She had reached the point where she could no longer make any sense of the infighting between the different factions among the major shareholders. Press releases were issued at two-hourly intervals and, to make matters worse, it transpired that a severance payment of a hundred million krnur had been promised to one of the banks partners, someone whom a particular faction wanted to fire. The board had succeeded in stirring up public outrage, and it was Karens job to smooth things over. It had been like this for weeks now and she was at the end of her tether by the time it occurred to her to escape from town. Mara had often offered to lend her the cottage for a few days, so Karen decided to give her a call. Of course, Mara had said at once.