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fairest of verses
and find this the path I must take.
But I see that with springtime and freedom I slumber forsake.
As light casts new warmth upon lowland and hillside,
over lakes all a-shimmer the cloud-armies go.
I think about you and give thanks that
all things in creation are so.
But you see that the springtime and freedom no slumber bestow.
    The choir sang all three verses and received enthusiastic applause at the end. Birkir looked at his companions; all were smiling and clapping. Not Arngrímur, though. He stood frozen, his face turned away from the others. As the applause died down, he glanced quickly over his shoulder before continuing toward the Icelandic embassy building. Birkir caught up to him.
    “Is the embassy open today?” he asked.
    Arngrímur cleared his throat twice. Finally he said, “No, we decided to keep the office closed until you’re done with your work. Like I said before, the staff is working in the available Felleshus rooms. They can access our computer system from there, and phone calls are routed there. Consular services are open as usual in the Felleshus, and any visitors are directed there.”
    They reached the entrance to the Icelandic building and stopped to wait for the others. Birkir thought that Arngrímur’s voice had seemed unsteady.
    “Please enter,” Arngrímur said, opening the door and showing them in. “A German police team was here yesterday to carry out the initial investigation on the scene, after which the bodywas taken away. We requested that they do the autopsy here in Berlin. Other than that, everything here is exactly as it was when I arrived yesterday morning.”
    Arngrímur’s voice had regained its previous strength, and he added, “Commissar Tobias Fischer will arrive momentarily to deliver a preliminary report.”
    Birkir gazed out the window opposite the entrance. It overlooked a small open space between the building and the copper wall, loosely paved with black lava flagstones.
    Seeing that this had caught Birkir’s attention, Arngrímur said, “There’s red lighting under the paving you can switch on so this looks like a fresh lava flow. When we have time, I’ll show you around the whole building and explain the architecture.”
    They left their luggage by the front desk in the entrance hall and climbed the stairs up to the second floor.
    “The ambassador’s party was held here in the conference room,” Arngrímur said, pointing at an open door. “He also had a brief meeting with part of the group in his office on the top floor,” he added.
    “Who attended that meeting?” Birkir asked.
    “The ambassador will have to answer that when he comes,” Arngrímur said. “He was a bit vague about it during our discussions yesterday.”
    “You weren’t here at the embassy Sunday?”
    “No, I was in Stuttgart all weekend and didn’t get back to Berlin until late Sunday evening. There was a serious traffic accident Friday involving an Icelandic family—a couple with two children. The mother was killed, and the others were injured and are in the hospital. It’s a horrible case. I went there to provide support until Icelandic relatives arrived to help.”
    “So you had a difficult weekend?”
    “Yes, and it’s not over yet. But this is all part of the job. Some days are more difficult than others. We don’t complain.”
    “I see,” Birkir said. He looked into the conference room, where the smell from leftover food was beginning to overpower the suggestion of stale alcohol lingering in the air.
    “This is where the visitors had dinner,” Arngrímur said. “I hope you’ll give me permission to have the room cleaned soon.”
    “We’ll do our best,” Birkir replied.
    They walked up to the next floor, and Arngrímur showed them the staff kitchenette.
    Arngrímur said, “They got all the tableware and glasses from here. The liquor, on the other hand, was brought up from a storage room in the basement, and it seems like there wasn’t much other