eyes?'
No one said anything until Marta Mist spoke up. 'I've never read of any spell where eyes are neededapart from the eyes of animals.'
'What about the rest of you? Do you know about any such spells?' asked Matthew.
None of them spoke, but they all shook their heads. 'Nope,' Brjann said eventually.
'What about fingers?' Thora asked quickly. 'Have you read aboutor performeda spell that needs a finger?'
'No.' Dori's voice was firm and he swept his hair from his eyes in order to press his point home by looking Thora and Matthew in the eye. 'We want to make it perfectly clear that we haven't been doing spells that use human body parts. I don't know what you're insinuating, but it's ridiculous. We didn't kill Haraldyou can rule that out for a start. The cops have our alibis and had them checked out.' Dori leaned forward and took a cigarette from one of the packets on the table. He lit it, took a deep drag, and exhaled slowly.
'So Hugi killed him, then?' Thora asked. 'Are you saying that?'
'No, I didn't say that at all. You ought to listen more carefully,' Dori said heatedly. He leaned forward as if about to say more, but Marta Mist put her arm out and pushed him back against the sofa.
Then she spoke, much calmer than Halldor. 'I don't know where your logic is coming from, but just because we didn't kill Harald doesn't automatically mean that Hugi did. Dori was just pointing out that we didn't kill Harald.
'Hugi didn't kill him. He's not like that,' Dori muttered gruffly. He pushed Marta Mist's arm away and reached across the table to tap the ash from his cigarette.
'What about you? Are you like that? If I remember correctly, you didn't have as good an alibi as your friends.' Matthew stared at Dori and waited for a response.
And it came. Dori's voice deepened in anger and as soon as he started speaking he shifted to the edge of the sofaas close to Matthew as he could get without falling off. 'Harald was my friend. My good friend. We looked out for each other, did stuff for each other. I would never have killed him. Never. You're even wider off the mark than the cops, and you don't know what the fuck you're going on about.' To punctuate his words he stabbed his burning cigarette at Matthew.
'What did you do for him, anyway? Apart from translating for him?' interrupted Thora.
Dori took his eyes off Matthew and glared just as vehemently at Thora. He opened his mouth as if about to say something, then stopped. After taking a last puff and stubbing out his cigarette, he moved back to his place on the sofa.
Brjann, the history student, assumed the role of peacemaker. 'Er, I don't understand exactly what you're driving atof course someone killed Harald and if it wasn't Hugi, who was it? But you'll save yourselves a lot of time and effort if you just accept we're telling the truth. None of us killed Harald. We had no reason tohe was fun, always doing crazy things, really generous, and a good friend and companion to us all. Our society's nothing without him, for example. Not to mention the fact that none of us could have killed himwe weren't anywhere nearby and plenty of witnesses can confirm that.'
Andri, who was working on a master's degree in chemistry, backed him up. His eyes were glassy and Thora had a faint suspicion that he was high. Perhaps his interest in chemistry went beyond the realms of academia. 'It's completely true. Harald was unique; none of us would ever have wanted to get rid of him. He could be sarcastic and acted weird sometimes, but he was always really decent when it came down to it.'
'How lovely,' Matthew said witheringly. 'But I'd like to know one thing. You were all at the party apart from Halldor. Do you remember Hugi and Harald going into the bathroom together and coming out with bloodstains on their clothes?'
All the students shook their heads, except Halldor. 'No one was thinking about clothes in there.' Andri shrugged. 'That may well have happened but I for one don't remember it.' The other three nodded in agreement.
They sat and said nothing for a while. Several cigarettes were stubbed out and more were lit. Matthew broke the silence. 'So you don't know who killed Harald?'
In unison, the group said firmly: 'No.'
'And you've never used body parts, like a finger for example, in your black magic?' he went on.
With less synchronization: 'No.'
'And you don't recognize this magic symbol?' Matthew threw a drawing of the magic symbol that had been carved into Harald's chest onto the table.
In unison again: 'No.'
'That would be more convincing if you looked at the paper,' Matthew said sarcastically. None had done more than barely glance at the drawing.
'The cops showed us that symbol. We know perfectly well what you're talking about,' drawled Marta Mist. She laid her hand casually on Dori's thigh.
'Fair enoughI understand. But can you tell us what happened to all the money Harald transferred to Iceland shortly before he died?' asked Matthew.
'No, we don't know anything about that. We were Harald's friends, not his accountants.'
'Did he buy anything, or talk about buying something?' Thora asked, directing her words at Briet, whom she thought most likely to tell the truth.
'He was always buying things,' Briet said, darting her eyes toward Marta Mist and Dori. Noticing the former's hand on the latter's thigh, she turned back to Thora and added: 'If not for himself, then for Dori. They were so close.' She smiled maliciously.
Thora noticed a blush fill Dori's cheeks. 'What did he buy for you, and why?' she asked.
Dori rocked awkwardly on the sofa. 'It wasn't like that. Sometimes he gave me this or that in exchange for the help I gave him.'
Thora refused to let him off the hook. 'Like what?'
Dori blushed even more. 'Just stuff.' He flicked his hair back over his eyes.
Matthew slapped his thigh againmore determined now than before. 'Well, folks. I have an idea. Marta Mist, Briet, Brjann, and Andriyou don't know anything, so you claim, and there doesn't seem much to be had out of you. How about you going home to study, or to class, or whatever it is you're so busy withand Thora and I can have a quiet chat with Dori?' He addressed Halldor. 'Isn't that best? It might be less awkward.'
'As if!' Marta Mist shrieked. 'Dori doesn't know any more than the rest of us.' She turned to Dori. 'You don't have to stay. Let's all leave.'
Dori said nothing at first, then brushed her hand from his thigh and shrugged. 'Okay.'
'Okay? Okay what? Are you coming with us?' Marta Mist asked irritably.
'No,' replied Dori. 'I want to get this over with. I'm staying.'
Marta Mist's expression darkened, but she restrained herself and feigned indifference. She bent over Dori and whispered something to him before standing up. He nodded vacantly. Thora watched as Marta Mist planted a soft kiss on Dori's head and Briet pretended not to notice. Andri and Brjann busily put out their cigarettes and got to their feet. There was no mistaking their relief.
CHAPTER 22
Matthew showed the students to the door. Meanwhile, Thora and Dori sat in the modern living room with the horrors of the past all around them. Thora felt sorry for the young man, who obviously wished he was somewhere else. In a way the circumstances reminded her of her own sona young man locked in a mysterious inner struggle.
'You know we're just looking for the truth, don't you? We're not wondering about anything stupid you may have been up to,' she said to break the silence and lighten the oppressive atmosphere. 'Really, we agree with you on the basics of the casethat Hugi is innocent, or at least facing more serious charges than he deserves.'
