Yrsa Sigurdardottir - Last Rituals

"That's not enough," Thora said. She couldn't be bothered to ask why he had not told the police about this. According to their testimonies, they all stayed more or less together.

"The teaspoon," Halldor said quietly. "She was supposed to get rid of the teaspoon but didn't. She can't have been so stupid as to put it in the drawer where the police claim they found itI can't believe that. Marta Mist disposed of the knife and that's gone. But now all of a sudden the teaspoon materializes. I don't think that fits."

"Why would she sneak it back in there? That doesn't exactly sound logical."

"She wanted to get me into trouble. She never held the spoon with her bare hands like I did. She was wearing mittens. She's mad at me for dumping her. I don't know." Halldor rocked in his chair. "She was acting a bit strange that night. When we found the body she was the only one who didn't howl and scream. She kept her cool. She just looked at it without saying a word while the rest of us completely freaked out. Not a word until she reminded me of the contract. She was going to set me up. Just ask the others if you don't believe me." He leaned forward and grabbed Thora's arm across the table. "She knew about the windowmaybe she climbed out of it earlier that evening, how should I know? She was mad at Harald for not talking to her the previous weekhe didn't talk to any of us, but that's beside the point. Maybe she got mad or something; she had a date with him and he stood her up. Whatever. Believe me, I've thought about this a lot and I know what I'm saying. Check it outtalk to her for my sake, if nothing else."

Thora freed her arm. "People react to shock in different waysmaybe she's the type that goes into a trance. I don't want to talk to her. Leave that to the police."

"If you don't believe she's crazy, ask around at the university. She did some project with Harald and fucked it up completely. Ask them." He fixed his eyes on her imploringly.

"What project, and what went wrong with it?" Thora asked slowly.

"Something to do with collecting and documenting all the contemporary accounts of Brynjolfur Sveinsson from different archives. She got this idea into her head that some documents had been stolen. It caused a hell of a scene. Then it turned out to be crap. She's such a nutter, I couldn't see it until now. Talk to the universityif nothing else."

"Who supervised this project?" Thora asked, and regretted her question immediately. She was sounding as though she was starting to accept this theory of his, which couldn't have any foundation.

"I don't knowit must have been that Thorbjorn guythey know at the university. Go and ask. Please, I promise you won't regret it."

She stood up. "See you later, baker boy. I'll find you a lawyer if you want."

He shook his head and stared into his lap. "I thought you'd understandyou wanted to help Hugi and I thought I could get you to help me too."

All at once, Thora began to pity him. Her maternal instinct kicked in. Or was it her grandmotherly instinct? "Who said I wasn't going to help you?" she said. "Let's see what I can find out. I wouldn't touch your defense with a ten-foot pole, but I'll be in court. I wouldn't miss the trial for all the tea in China."

He looked up with a faint smile. Thora knocked on the door and the police let her out. It was drawing to a close. She could tell.

Thora sat drumming on the edge of her desk with a pencil. Matthew watched her in silence. "I hear the Rolling Stones are looking for a drummer. Your newfound grandmother status should qualify you immediately," he said.

Thora stopped tapping and put the pencil down. "Very funny. That sure helps me think."

"Think? Why do you need to think now?" The day before, Thora had told Matthew about Halldor's desperate attempt to turn the focus on Briet, and he had scoffed at the theory. Thora found it far-fetched, too, but after lying awake all night tossing and turning she was not so certain. Matthew continued: "It seems to be falling into place apart from a few loose ends. Believe me, when the police investigate Halldor the money will turn up; the manuscript, too, if it exists."

He looked out the window. "Let's go to a restaurant and have a late breakfast." Matthew had just arrived at Thora's office after oversleeping.

"We can't. It's the catering union's anniversary today," Thora lied. "They don't open until noon." Matthew groaned. "You'll survivethere are some biscuits in the kitchen," she said. She reached for the phone and called Bella. "Bella, could you bring in the packet of biscuits that's by the coffee machine?" Sensing the "no" that hung in the air she quickly added: "It's for Matthew, not me. Thanks." She turned to Matthew. "Don't you think there are grounds for checking what he said about Briet? There may be something to it."

Matthew leaned his head back and stared at the ceiling before answering. "You realize that Halldor's cornered, of course?" Thora nodded. "Nothing we've seen or heard suggests Briet's implicated apart from being a little crazy and taking part in strange rituals involving baked body parts."

"Maybe we've simply overlooked something," said Thora without much conviction.

"Such as?" Matthew asked. "Unfortunately, Thora, it looks like Hugi killed Harald after all and then his friend took over. All that remains to be established is whether they were working together and pocketed the money. There are overwhelming odds that they told Harald a pack of lies about the manuscript and pretended to know where to find it. You must admit Halldor was in a key position to invent a story when he helped Harald with his translations. They could have pretended to arrange the deal and then swiped the money. When the time came to hand over the manuscript they had to take measures to keep Harald quiet. Halldor's explanation for the T-shirt has to be made up."

"But" At that moment Bella stormed in with the biscuits, without knocking. She had arranged them neatly on a plate and poured a cup of coffee. One cup of coffee. Thora had a hunch that if the biscuits had been for her, Bella would have lobbed the unopened packet from the doorway, aiming straight for her head.

"Thank you very much," Matthew said, taking the refreshments. "Some people don't understand the importance of breakfast." He nodded toward Thora and winked at Bella. Bella frowned at Thora, then gave Matthew a wide smile and walked out.

"You winked at her," Thora said, astonished.

Matthew winked twice at Thora. "Two for you. Happy?" He put a biscuit in his mouth with a dramatic gesture.

Thora rolled her eyes. "Watch it, she's unattached and I might just tell her what hotel you're staying at." Her mobile rang.

"Hello, is that Thora Gudmundsdottir?" asked a woman's voice that Thora vaguely recognized.

"Yes, hello."

"This is Gudrun, Harald's landlady."

"Ah, yes, hello." Thora scribbled down her name and who she was and showed it to Matthew. She added a double question mark to indicate that the purpose of the call was unclear.

"I don't know if I'm phoning the right person but I had your card andanyway, I found a box belonging to Harald here this weekend, with all sorts of things in it." She fell silent.

"Yes, I know what was found," Thora said to spare the woman from describing the baked body parts.

"You do?" The relief in her voice was tangible. "I was terribly shocked as you can imagine, but I just now realized that I took a piece of paper with me when I ran out of the laundry room."

"Which you still have?" Thora felt she had to help the woman stay focused.

"Yes, right. I took it with me when I went to phone the police and just found it in the kitchen by the telephone."

"Did this piece of paper belong to Harald?"