Yrsa Sigurdardottir - Last Rituals

Thora picked up the napkin and examined the symbol. It consisted of four lines forming a box, like tic-tac-toe. The ends of the lines outside the box had been struck through and inside it was a circle.

Thora returned the napkin to Matthew. "Unfortunately I know nothing about magic symbols. I had a runic necklace once but I can't remember what it was supposed to represent."

"We need to talk to someone who knows about these things. Who knows, the police may not have investigated the symbol properly. Perhaps its meaning could help solve the case." Matthew ripped the napkin into four pieces. "The murderer must have had something in mind, anyway, to go to all that trouble. Most people think only about getting as far away as soon as possible after committing a murder."

"Maybe the murderer's a psychopath," Thora suggested. "It's hardly a sign of a healthy mind to carve runes on a body and pluck out the eyes." She shuddered. "Or he was stoned out of his mind. Which could in fact apply to that poor guy who's in custody at the moment."

Matthew shrugged. "Maybe." He took a sip of coffee. "And maybe not. Actually we need to visit him in prison as soon as we can."

"I'll contact his lawyer," Thora said. "He should be able to arrange an interview, and he'll realize the benefits of helping us. It's in our mutual interest. If we manage to find the murderer that the police overlooked, we've cleared his client as well. I've also sent the police a formal request to see the investigation documents. This is very common and as far as I know the family is generally given them without any delay except for unusually sensitive cases."

Matthew took another piece of bread and looked at the clock. "How do you fancy coming to Harald's apartment? I've got the keys and the police have already returned some of what they took when they searched the premises. We could maybe look at that and see if there's anything to gain from it."

Thora thought it was a good idea. She texted her son and asked him to fetch his sister from day care straight after school. Thora felt better knowing that Soley was back home and sometimes asked her son to fetch her early. Although she tried not to take advantage of Gylfi, he generally responded well to her requests. Thora was just closing her phone when Gylfi's reply came in. She opened the message and read it. "ok when are u coming home?" Thora texted straight back that it would be about six o'clock, and wondered if she was simply imagining how interested Gylfi had suddenly become in when she got home. Maybe he just wanted to play his computer games in peace, but it didn't escape her attention how often he asked these days.

Before she put her mobile away Thora rang the office to let them know she would not be back soon. No one answered and the answering machine kicked in after the fifth ring. Thora announced her absence and hung up. One of Bella's main jobs was answering the telephone, but on the rare occasions that Thora needed to call the office she only received an answer half the time. She sighed, knowing it was pointless to discuss this with her sad excuse for a secretary yet again. "Okay, I'm ready," she told Matthew, who had used the time to finish his remaining food. Thora drank the rest of her coffee before standing up and putting on her coat.

Before they left the cafe they went to the counter and Matthew paid the bill. He emphasized that all this was at the expense of the Guntliebs, but Thora was uncertain whether this was to make sure she wouldn't think it was at his invitation and therefore a date or whether he said it from a simple obligation to provide information. She nodded casually and thanked him.

They went out into the cold to the parking garage where they had left the rental car. Harald's flat was on Bergstadastraeti, not so far from Hverfisgata. Thora had become very familiar with the central Thingholt district after she had started working on Skolavordustigur and could direct Matthew without any problemsalthough there were not many streets, it could be confusing for strangers to find their way along the narrow one-way lanes. They parked outside a dignified white concrete building on Bergstadastraeti where Matthew said Harald's flat was. It was one of the more desirable properties in the district, clearly well maintained, and Thora could not begin to imagine the price. At least this explained the astronomical rent that she had noticed on Harald's tenancy agreement.

"Have you been here before?" asked Thora as they walked up to the side entrance. The front door facing the street led to another apartment on the ground floor, where Matthew said the owners lived.

"Yes, a couple of times in fact," Matthew replied. "But this is only the second time I've been here on my own business, so to speak. The other times I came with the police. They needed a witness when they took away some papers and other items for the investigation, and again when they returned them. I'm sure we'll check the flat much more thoroughly than the police did. They were determined that Hugi was the murderer, so their investigation of the apartment was more of a formality."

"Is the flat as strange as the person who occupied it?"

"No, it's very ordinary," said Matthew, inserting one of the two keys into the lock on the outside door. The keys hung from a ring with an Icelandic flag on it and Thora inferred that he had bought it specifically for these keys in one of the tourist shops. She couldn't really imagine Harald in such a store, surrounded by traditional woolen sweaters and stuffed puffins. "After you," said Matthew as he opened the door.

Before Thora could get one foot inside a young woman came around the corner and called out to them in fairly good English. "Excuse me," she said, fastening her cardigan against the cold. "Are you acting for Harald's family?"

Judging from the way she was dressed, Thora assumed she must have come out of the other flat. Matthew held out his hand to the woman and said in English: "Yes, we met when I got the keys from you. Matthew."

"Yes, I thought so," the woman said, shaking Matthew's hand with a smile. She was elegant, slender, with her hair and face well cared for, clearly well-off. When she smiled Thora realized she may not have been as young as she looked at first, because deep wrinkles formed around her mouth and eyes. She held out her hand to Thora. "Hello, my name's Gudrun," she said, adding: "My husband and I were Harald's landlords."

Thora gave her name and returned the woman's smile. "We were just going to have a look around. I don't know how long we'll be."

"Oh, that's fine," the woman hurried to say. "I only came to ask if there was any news about when the flat will be vacated." She smiled again, this time apologetically. "We've had a few inquiries, you understand."

In fact Thora didn't understand, because as far as she knew the Guntliebs were still paying the rent, and it must have been a good arrangement to rent out a flat in that part of town without any of the inconvenience that tenants cause. She turned to Matthew, hoping he might provide an answer.

"Unfortunately it won't be just yet," he answered curtly. "The agreement is still in effect, as I understood the last time we discussed this."

The woman was quick to apologize. "Oh, yes, please don't get me wrongof course it is. We'd just like to know when the family plans to end it. This is an expensive property and it's always nice to find tenants who can pay the price we ask." She gave Thora an awkward look. "You see, we've had an offer from an investment company which is difficult to refuse. They need the flat in two months, but it kind of depends on what your plans are. You know what I mean."