Blackout Read Online Free

Maybe she would have done a few years ago, but that time had passed.

    She took a seat in the meeting room. Ívar sat at the end with his notebook, from which he was never far away, and a sheaf of papers – press releases that would find their way to one of the journalists or to the bin.
    ‘Ísrún, did you come up with any material from the summer festival?’
    Did she detect a note of condescension there? Did the easy stuff always come her way? Or was she just being unnecessarily suspicious?
    ‘Not yet. I’ll have it done today and it’ll be ready for this evening. Two minutes?’
    ‘Ninety seconds, tops.’
    Her colleagues had slowly gathered at the table and the morning news meeting had formally begun.
    ‘Did anyone notice the air pollution this morning?’ Kormákur asked, leaning back in his chair and gnawing at his pencil. He was known as Kommi, mainly because everyone was aware how much he disliked the nickname.
    ‘Yeah. It’s ash from the eruption blowing this way, stuff that built up during the eruption itself, or so I’m told,’ Ívar said.
    ‘I thought the eruption was all over,’ Kormákur said, and then grinned. ‘We can probably squeeze one more story out of it.’
    ‘Ísrún, can you check it out? Do something with a bit of menaceto it, maybe. The eruption returns to Reykjavík – that sort of thing?’ Ívar smiled.
    Condescending fool , she thought, glaring at her notebook.
    ‘But let’s have a look at the serious stuff,’ he said.
    Exactly , Ísrún thought, raising her eyebrows with irritation.
    ‘I hear someone found a body up north, not far from Sauðárkrókur, next to a building site. Nothing’s confirmed yet. That’s definitely our lead, unless there’s another eruption.’
    Kormákur nodded. ‘I’ll get onto it right away.’
    It didn’t look like it was going to be a slow news day after all … for some.

3
    It was still a surprise to Ari Thór Arason that he had stayed with the Siglufjörður police as long as he had. Almost two years had passed since he had moved north after graduating from police college, having already abandoned a theology degree.
    That first winter in the north had been hell and the weight of snow had been relentless and suffocating. But when the warm, bright days emerged from the frozen darkness, his spirits had lifted and he saw his new home with fresh eyes. And he now had a second winter behind him. Although he still found the isolation of the winter darkness oppressive, he was getting used to it, even enjoying the sight of a fresh fall of snow on the colourful buildings that hugged the coast, and the icy grandeur of the mountains that enveloped the village. Yet it was a relief when the sun finally showed up after its winter sojourn behind the mountains. As they edged their way into June, there had already been a few warm days – a little later than down south, but that was only to be expected. Even the sun appeared to forget the northernmost village in Iceland from time to time.
    Tómas, Siglufjörður’s police inspector, had called that morning and asked Ari Thór to come in earlier than scheduled. Although his shift didn’t start until midday, he was on his way to the station by nine. Tómas hadn’t said much on the phone, but Ari Thór had been sure he could hear real concern in his voice. The truth was that Tómas was never particularly cheerful these days. It had been a blow when his wife decided to Reykjavík to study. Nobody, except maybe Tómas, seriously expected that she would ever come back to Siglufjörður. They were still together, on paper, at least, whichwas more than could be said for Ari Thór and his former girlfriend Kristín.
    Their relationship had unquestionably fizzled out, although Ari Thór harboured hopes that he’d be able to breathe new life into it again. Four years had passed since they had first met, back when he had been studying theology and Kristín was still a medical student. There had been an instant