He was about to resume his search, when he glimpsed a glitter of metal half buried in the snow at the foot of the drill. He reached down and picked it up, startled to find himself holding Bannikov’s hip-flask. He inspected it carefully. It was dented, which it certainly had not been when in Bannikov’s care. He unscrewed the top and sniffed at the contents. Whisky. His thick gloves made him clumsy, and the flask slipped out of his fingers. Swearing under his breath, he stopped to retrieve it – and then froze when he saw that the liquid that seeped from the flask was bright orange. It was, without doubt, the cadmium compound they used for lubricating the drill-bit.
Paxton was horrified. Is that what had given the contents of the hip-flask the bite that each of them had experienced once and would never try again? If so, it was a dangerous thing for Bannikov to do, because cadmium was a serious poison – even if its taste and smell could be masked by whisky. He recalled the last time the Russian had produced his flask – just before his disappearance, when he had gone with Morris to inspect the drill-house for a last look for Tanya.
Paxton was still staring at it when there was an agonized scream, full of fear and pain. Hall! He raced outside to see Julie running from the opposite direction. She grabbed Paxton’s arm and gazed around her.
“Did you hear that?” she gasped. “It sounded like Hall.”
“It was Hall,” said Paxton. “Where is he?”
“I went to turn off the gas in the kitchen,” said Julie. “We left it on when we rushed outside to look for Senko. I didn’t want a burned camp to add to our problems, so I went to see to it.”
“Hall would never let you leave him alone,” said Paxton, snatching his arm away. “You saw how terrified he was. He’d have gone with you.”
“Well, he didn’t,” said Julie angrily. “He stayed here, looking through the cans for the clues you seem so sure we’ll find.”
“I’ve got all the clues I need,” said Paxton harshly. “It was you.”
“Me?” asked Julie, startled. “What was me?”
Paxton pointed to a spray of tiny red spots that stained the cuff of her coat. “You’ve just done something dreadful to Hall. You’ve got a knife – I’ve seen it. Hall would never’ve allowed you to leave him alone while you went to the kitchen. You killed him. Where’s his body?”
“This is nonsense,” said Julie, starting to laugh uncertainly. “You’ve gone mad! The stress has finally got to you and you’re losing your reason.”
“No,” said Paxton. “You killed Bannikov and Morris by poisoning them – there was cadmium in Bannikov’s flask, and he doubtless offered a nip to Morris when they walked together to have one final look for Tanya in the drill-house.”
Julie shook his head. “You’re insane. How d’you imagine I could dispose of six bodies? And I was with you when Senko disappeared. How am I supposed to have killed him, when I was with you?”
Paxton gave a humourless smile. “Tanya’s been helping you.”
A soft footfall in the snow made Paxton spin around quickly. Tanya stood behind him, wearing her heavy outdoor gear. She was holding the plastic sample container filled with Lake Vostok water, cradling it carefully in both hands. Paxton gazed at her, wondering where she had been hiding when they had searched everywhere.
“You caught us,” she said ruefully. “Not that it matters, since you’re the last one.”
“You killed them,” said Paxton slowly. “You killed Senko with the can of milk he was looking for. I saw it on top of the pile, so he should’ve found it immediately, yet he spent some time rummaging for it. You’d moved it.”
Julie and Tanya exchanged a glance that told him he was right. He continued.
“You hit him over the head with it – a strand of his hat caught in the rim. I was looking out of the window at the time, so Julie pulled that trick with the popping stove to distract me.”
Julie nodded. “We had to take you one by one or you’d have been able to overpower us. After Tanya brained Senko, I stabbed Hall.”
“But you managed Morris and Bannikov at the same time.”
“Morris was a stroke of luck,” said Tanya. “He took a swig from Bannikov’s flask to give him courage when they went into the drill-house. The compound’s got no taste or smell, so they only knew it was poisoned when it was too late.”
“Senko heard Morris moaning,” recalled Paxton. “Julie told us it was her.”
“Bannikov died quickly,” elaborated Tanya. “But Morris drank less and took longer. We tried to quieten him, but Senko heard anyway.”
“Senko’s death was carefully arranged, though,” Paxton went on. “Julie claimed there was no milk, so he’d fetch some. But there was plenty of milk. Hall opened a new can yesterday.”
Julie nodded. “If any of you’d had the sense to look in the can that Hall knew was virtually full, I’d have been caught in a lie.”
“And Wilkes was strangled,” said Paxton. “I found his necktie, twisted like it had been used as a garrotte.”
“He was easy,” said Julie. “He came alone to the drill-house, and I distracted him while Tanya slipped up behind.”
“But why?” asked Paxton, bewildered. “I thought we were friends.”
“We were,” said Julie. “And a more congenial and pleasant team we couldn’t have hoped for. But whoever analyzes that sample from Vostok will have a reputation for life. Why should we share? Hall was always boasting about how much money Americans have for science, and Bannikov and Senko have the backing of their government. Tanya and I wouldn’t have stood a chance.”
“But we will now,” said Tanya. She glanced down at the container she held. “And we were lucky we did put our plan into action, given that you lot only managed to retrieve this one bottle. There isn’t enough here for eight people to share.”
“You killed five people just to promote your careers?” asked Paxton, aghast.
Julie nodded, unabashed. “There’s a lot at stake here. Whoever publishes first will be famous.”
“There may even be a Nobel Prize,” suggested Tanya hopefully.
“But how can you expect to get away with this?” asked Paxton, horrified. “When the plane comes, you’ll have to explain why all your colleagues are dead.”
“That won’t be a problem,” said Julie smugly.
“Hall’s radio messages,” said Paxton, suddenly understanding why she had been so keen for McMurdo to be informed about the ludicrous notion that something from the lake was responsible for the disappearances. “You’ll claim he went insane and killed everyone.”
“Leaving only two frightened survivors,” confirmed Julie. “Our only way out of here is on a plane sent from McMurdo, so we had to invent a story they’d believe. People go crazy on these remote polar bases all the time – why not here, with the added stress of being on the verge of a great scientific discovery? Anyone who knows Hall won’t be surprised that he convinced himself some monster was on the loose. He watched too many videos altogether.”
“How did you guess I was Julie’s accomplice?” asked Tanya curiously.
Paxton sighed tiredly. “Because as soon as I knew Julie was the culprit, I also knew she couldn’t have done it alone. You were the first to go, so it had to be you – using your disappearance to frighten the rest of us until you were ready to kill your first victim. I also found a scrap of wood with some of your hairs attached – caught when you struggled into your hiding place before anyone could see that you hadn’t disappeared at all.”
“And where was my hiding place? You searched the whole camp and didn’t find me.”
“The drill-house roof. You climbed up the drill and slipped between loose planks, which was why you were able to lock the door from the inside.”