Yrsa Sigurdardottir - Last Rituals

Thora and Matthew exchanged a look. The spending that Dori described was peanuts compared with the amount that had disappeared. "Do you know of any large investment Harald made just before the murder?"

Dori looked up. From his expression it was plain that he was telling the truth. "No, no idea. He never mentioned anything like that. Actually, I hardly saw him the week beforehe was busy and I was trying to catch up on my course work."

"You don't know what he was up to, or why he didn't meet you on those days?" Thora interjected.

"No. I phoned him a few times and he just wasn't in the mood to do anything. I don't know why."

"So you hadn't seen him for several days when he was murdered?" asked Matthew.

"Nojust talked to him on the phone."

"Didn't that strike you as odd? Or was he in the habit of locking himself away for days on end?" Matthew persisted.

Dori thought about it. "I didn't wonder about it then, but now that you mention it, it was a bit unusual. It hadn't happened before, anyway, I don't think it had. I asked him what was going on, but he said he just needed a bit of time by himself. But he was cheerful and all that."

"Didn't you develop a grudge against him over that time?" asked Thora. It must have been strange for him to lose his best friend for several days with no explanation, considering how much time they spent together.

"No, not like that. I had plenty to do for my classes anyway. And I took shifts and stuff like that. So I had lots of other things to think about."

"You work at the hospital in Fossvogur, don't you?" Thora asked. Dori nodded. "How do you manage to work there, study medicine, and do all that partying?"

Dori shrugged. "It isn't a full-time job, no way. I do the occasional relief shift, that's all. I work there over summer vacations, and if there's a crisis in the winter, I cover if someone's sick or can't come in. As far as my courses go, I'm just incredibly organized about studying. I've always found learning easy."

"What do you do at the hospital?" asked Matthew.

"This and that. I work as an assistant in surgeryclean the instruments after operations, clear up, that sort of thing. Nothing important."

Matthew gave him a meaningful look. "Clear up what? I'm just curious to ask, I know very little about hospitals."

"Just stuff," Dori replied, reaching for his cigarettes again. "Garbage and things."

"Aha!" Matthew cried. "What's the name of your superior, or someone we could ask about this workin particular about the night Harald was murdered?"

Dori picked at one of the studded straps on his left wrist and clearly did not know how to reply. "Gunnur Helgadottir," he eventually muttered in a sullen voice. "She's the senior surgical nurse."

"I have a question," said Thora as she scribbled down the name. "Who did Harald's tongue job? It was you, wasn't it?"

Dori was about to light a cigarette but stopped, startled. "Why? What difference does that make?"

"I want to know. Harald has photos on his computer showing the operation and it was done in someone's house. Presumably someone he knew. The operation isn't the issueI just want to know."

Hesitantly, Dori looked at each of them in turn. Thora thought he was probably weighing whether the operation required professional qualifications or was illegal. After biting his lower lip for a while he finally said: "No. I didn't do it."

"May I see your upper arm?" Thora asked, smiling as she remembered what Hugi had said about Dori's regrets over the tattoo he had there.

"Why?" replied Dori, leaning back in the sofa to put more distance between them.

"We just want to," said Matthew, moving to the edge of his chair. He had no idea where Thora was taking this. "Be a good boy and roll up your sleeves for the nice lady."

Dori went red as a beet. Matthew moved even farther forward on the edge of his seat, and Dori edged farther back in the sofa. Suddenly he lost his nerve. Glowering, he rolled up his sleeves. "Here," he snapped, and held out his arms. Thora leaned forward and smiled. "'Crap'?" she read, looking at his right arm just above the wrist.

"So?" Dori said, rolling his sleeves down again.

"Interesting," Thora said. "The person who performed the operation on Harald had exactly the same tattoo." She grinned at Dori as she pointed at his right arm. "So, what's the story?"

"Nothing," Dori said slowly. He ran his fingers through his hair, then squeezed his eyes shut. "Okay, I did it. We were at Hugi's place. Harald had been pestering me for ages to do it for him and in the end I gave in. I borrowed the instruments from the hospital and stole some anesthetic. Nobody missed it. Hugi helped me. It was pretty disgusting. But it looked cool."

It sure did, Thora thought. "I wouldn't imagine the hospital would be very pleased to hear that you were stealing drugswould they?"

"Of course not. That's why I don't want word to get around," replied Dori. "It's not something most people would understand, and I don't want to get called a freak."

Matthew shook his head, then suddenly changed tack. "I'd like to ask you about one thing that may sound rather strangeor perhaps not; you've presumably been around a bit." After a quick pause in which he caught Dori's gaze with his own, he continued. "Were you ever aware that Harald practiced sex using asphyxiation to increase the pleasure?"

Dori's face went bright red again. "I don't want to discuss that," he retorted.

"Why not?" Matthew asked. "Who knows, it may have led to Harald's death."

Dori's knees bounced up and down as he tapped his feet on the shiny veneered floor. "He didn't die like that," he said in a half whisper.

Thora spoke. "How would you know that?"

The beat of Dori's feet grew faster. He remained silent. Neither Thora nor Matthew said anythingthey just stared at the young man and waited. In the end he gave in, took a deep breath, and spoke. "Fuck knows what this has to do with anything, but yes, I knew Harald did that a bit."

"And you know this from whom?" Matthew asked sharply.

Dori's feet stopped tapping. "He told me. He suggested I try it." He said no more, his eyes flicking from Matthew to Thora.

"And did you?" she asked.

"No," he answered firmly, and Thora believed him. "I might do some crazy things but that's the craziest shit I've ever seen."

"Seen?" Matthew repeated.

Dori's blush grew even deeper. "Not exactly seenI didn't mean that. Been involved with is more like it." He looked down at the floor. "It was this autumn. I'd passed out on the sofa here after a party and I woke up in the night to this awful gasping noise." He looked up at Matthew. "I don't know how I was lucky enough to come roundnormally I'm right out of it when I'm in that statebut anyway, I woke up and went to check it out and saw Harald who was literally in his death throes." Thora thought she noticed the young man shudder at the recollection. "I undid a belt that was tied really tight around his neck. It wasn't easy, because he'd tied one end to the radiator in his room. Then I managed to bring him around with CPRonly just."

"Are you sure he wasn't trying to commit suicide?" Thora asked.

Glancing at her, Dori shook his head. "No, it wasn't a suicide attempt. Believe me. I'd rather not go into details about the state I found him in." Now it was Thora's turn to blush, which seemed to cheer Dori up when he noticed. He went on, emboldened. "Then I talked it over with Harald and he freely admitted what he'd been up to. He even suggested that I try ithe said it was far-out. But he'd been in danger and was fully aware of the fact. He was scared to death."

"So you don't think he gave up the habit after that shock?" asked Matthew.

"I bet he didn't," Dori answered. "Though I don't know for surehe was scared shitless."