Yrsa Sigurdardottir - Last Rituals

"Actually, you're right," said Matthew. "They checked if there was any link. I think they thought Harald's research was either madness or some kind of mumbo jumbo. They came here, saw what was hanging on the walls, and took Harald for some kind of weirdo. To them, these precious antiques are just plain disgusting, which isn't so different from your reaction." Matthew waited, but when Thora made no response he went on. "The presence of drugs in his blood didn't help. In the eyes of the police he was a crazy sadistic junkie who was last seen in the company of the same sort of crowd. His companion had no alibi and was stoned out of his mind for good measure. It's not such an unreasonable conclusion to draw but I'm not satisfied with it at all. Too many questions are left unanswered."

"In other words you think Harald's studies of witchcraft and sorcery are linked with the murder?" asked Thora, hoping that he would say no. If they were irrelevant to the investigation, she could put more than half the papers to one side immediately.

"Well, I'm by no means certain," said Matthew. "But I've begun to have a strong suspicion that they are. Look at this, for example." He flicked through the pile of papers in his lap and handed Thora a printout of an e-mail from Harald.

Thora read it. The heading showed that it had been sent by Harald to a certain malcolm@gruniv.uk and was written in English, dated eight days before the murder.

Hi Mal,

Well, take a seat, buddy. FOUND IT, THANK YOU VERY MUCH. Call me Your Lordship from now on. I knew it, I knew it, I knew itnot that I want to accuse you of skepticism. Honest.

Just a few tiny details leftsome fucking idiot's trying to back out. Soget ready for the newstotally brilliant, I'm thinking of celebrating, if you know what I mean. I'll be in touch, you old wanker.

H

When Thora had finished reading it she looked at Matthew. "Do you think it's a clue?"

"Maybe," said Matthew. "Maybe not."

"The police must have contacted this Malcolm. They would hardly have made do with just printing it out."

"Maybe." Matthew shrugged. "Maybe not."

"Well, at least we can contact him to learn what Harald found."

"And whether he knows anything about the fucking idiot Harald mentioned."

Thora put down the e-mail. "Where's his computer? He must have had a computer." She pointed to a mouse pad on the desk.

"The police still have it," replied Matthew. "Presumably they'll return it with Harald's other effects."

"Maybe we'll find more e-mails," Thora said hopefully.

"And maybe not," responded Matthew, smiling. He stood and reached up to a bookshelf above the desk. "Here, take this home to read. It's a good introduction to Harald's mental world." He handed her a paperback of The Witches' Hammer .

Thora took the book and looked up at Matthew, in surprise. "This is a new book. Is it really still in print?"

He nodded. "It isbut I don't think many people buy it except out of curiosity these days. When you read it, though, bear in mind that it wasn't always that way."

Thora put the book in her bag. She stood up and stretched. "Is it okay to use the bathroom?"

Matthew smiled again. "Maybe. Maybe not." He hurried to add: "Yes, I think that should be all right. If the police burst in to investigate it further, I'll hold them off until you've finished."

"How sweet of you." Thora went out into the corridor and walked over to the bathroom. She got sidetracked, though, because the walls were adorned with more pictures and antique relics that aroused her curiosity. Actually, they aroused more horror than curiosity. But there was no denying that they were quite fascinating. It was similar to how people slow down when they drive past the scene of an accident. The pictures must have been from the grandfather's collection because the theme was the same as in the living room and the bedroom: death and the Devil.

Unlike the other rooms, there was little in the bathroom to suggest the former tenant's interests. The few movables inside were arranged very systematically in doorless cupboardsall in a matching style. Thora looked at herself in the impeccably polished mirror above the sink and ran her fingers through her hair to freshen up her appearance a little. She noticed a toothbrush in one of the cupboards. It did not seem to have been used. Then she took a more critical look around. There must have been another bathroom in the apartment that Harald usedthis one was far too perfect. No question.

When Thora went back to the study she lingered in the doorway and said: "There must be another bathroom in the apartment."

Matthew looked up, startled. "What do you mean?"

"The bathroom off the hallway is virtually unused. There's no way Harald would have used dental floss that matched the color scheme."

Matthew grinned. "Top marks. Now don't go claiming you don't know how to investigate." He pointed to the part of the flat they had been through before. "There's a door in the bedroom. The bathroom's in there."

Thora turned round. She remembered the door, which she had thought led to a closet. She thought about getting back to the papers but decided that she wanted to find out what the bathroom looked like first. A smile came to her face when she looked inside the door. There was a shower compartment instead of a bathtub, but in other respects it was just like any other bathroom in a normal household. All kinds of hygiene products were strewn around the sink, none of them matching anything else. Thora popped her head inside the shower compartment. On a shelf attached to the wall were two bottles of shampoo, one upside down, a razor, a used bar of soap, and a tube of toothpaste. A bottle hung from the shower control labeled "Shower Power." This all looked more familiar and she felt a slight relief.

But what pleased her most was the magazine rack beside the toilet: if this wasn't typical of people who lived alone, she didn't know what was. Curious to find out what sort of magazines Harald read, she browsed through the rack. It was quite a mixture: several car magazines, one historical journal, two copies of Der Spiegel, a tattoo magazine that Thora quickly flicked past, and one edition of Bunte . Thora looked at it in surprise. Bunte was a typical women's magazine, carrying the same kind of celebrity stories as Hello! The idea of Harald reading something like this would never have crossed her mind. Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes smiled at her from the cover under the headline "Tom Cruise wird Papa"Tom Cruise to Be a Dad!" The Hollywood couple's pregnancy held as much interest for Thora as an article on cultivating cucumbers, so she returned the magazine to its place.

"I knew it," said Thora triumphantly when she returned to the study.

"I knew it too," Matthew answered. "I just didn't know you knew."

Thora was about to cap this retort when her mobile rang. She fished it out of her handbag.

"Mom," said Soley's little voice. "When will you be back?"

Thora looked at her watch. It was later than she had realized. "Very soon, darling. Is everything okay?"

Silence, then: "Oh, yes. I'm just bored. Gylfi won't talk to me anymore. It's no fun being alone with him. He's in there jumping on his bed and howling, and he won't let me in."

Although Thora could not quite picture the scene, Gylfi was clearly not babysitting properly. "Listen, darling," she said gently. "I'll be home soon. Tell your brother to stop playing around and to come out and look after you."

They exchanged good-byes and Thora put her phone back in her handbag. Inside it, she noticed the note she had written with questions for Matthew about the documents in the file. She took it out and unfolded it. "I'd like to ask you a few things about the documents that were in the file."