Last Rituals

strangled him.'

'In itself that's quite enough,' said Thora. 'But why? Because he wanted to buy the manuscript of The Witches' Hammer from you? Did you have it?'

Gunnar nodded. 'I found it in the cave. Twenty years ago. I was on sabbatical, absorbed in the Irish monks. I got permission from the farmer to excavate there in the hope of finding relics of human habitation to prove whether the caves had been dug by them. They hadn't been studied before. Mine was the first shovel to break the earth there, although a few other caves in the area had been investigated much earlier. Cattle were kept in them until the middle of the last century, so they were largely unexplored. But instead of finding relics of presettlement habitation I found a little chest which was completely hidden in a hole beside the altar. It contained that manuscript and a few other works. A handwritten Bible in Danish, a hymnal, and two beautiful books on the natural sciences in Norwegian.' He looked deep into Thora's eyes. 'I couldn't resist. I rushed off to hide the chest in my car before the farmer caught me, and I never told a soul about it. Gradually it dawned on me what treasures I had in my possession: the lost bounty from Skalholt. Two of the books were marked with Brynjolfur Sveinsson's initialsLL. But it was not until Harald turned up that I received an explanation for what this bizarre edition of The Witches' Hammer was doing there.'

'But how did he figure it out?' Thora asked, adding: 'You don't have to tell me if you don't want to.'

Gunnar ignored the latter remark and answered her. 'Beginner's luck,' he said. 'Actually, I wouldn't call it luck, but rather misfortune. Harald came here specifically to look for that manuscript, as I'm sure you know. He turned all the sources inside out until he got on the right track, or so he thought. He was convinced that Bishop Jon Arason had taken the manuscript to be printed but hid it when his power base began to collapse upon the conversion to Lutheranism. At that time I didn't realize what he was up to and did nothing to obstruct him. He went to Skalholt to examine the site of Jon Arason's execution. There he got on the trail of the manuscript by sheer chancesomeone told him about Brynjolfur's collection of manuscripts and he studied all the records in the hope of identifying what had gone missing. It was only when he came to see me after Briet had found out about the letter that disappeared from the national archive'

He lowered his gaze, then looked back up at Thora. 'Of course I kept the letter after I realized what I'd discovered. I was scared it would lead other people to the cavesthat someone would reach the same conclusion as you about the holy cross. That was a costly mistake. Briet was easy to deal with, but then Harald appeared. He had studied the content of the letter. He got straight to the point, said he knew I'd found Kramer's Witches' Hammer and he wanted it. He had stolen an article about the Irish monks and the caves from my officean old paper I was forced to write at the end of my sabbatical. I had to report on what I'd done and I published the article in an obscure journal that has since gone under. I made the mistake of including a photograph of the hole where I dug up the chest. I said it was an ancient fireplace. No one countered that findingin fact I don't think anyone ever bothered to read the paper at all. Harald simply put two and two together. And I thought the cleaner had stolen the article.'

Gunnar paused for a moment. 'He wanted The Witches' Hammer. Said he didn't care what else had been there, but he had to have the book. Then he offered to buy it from me. He named an incredible sum, much more than I could have got for it on the black market even if I had the faintest idea where that market is. Instead of refusing and throwing him out, I lowered my defenses. The money tempted me. At the time I still didn't know how remarkable the manuscript was. Harald didn't tell me the whole story until he gave me the money. And that made me change my mind. But of course I couldn't tell him that.' Gunnar sighed. 'Naturally you can't understand, but when you spend your whole life working with history, you instinctively become enchanted by what's survived. I had my hands on a remarkable treasure. Absolutely unique.'

'So you killed Harald to keep the manuscriptwithout trying to return the money or find out if he was prepared to back down?' asked Thora. 'Maybe he would have chosen to live without it, rather than to die.'

Gunnar laughed weakly. 'Of course I tried. He just laughed in my face and said I'd be better off dealing with him than with the authorities, because he wouldn't hesitate to inform on me if I double-crossed him.' He sighed. 'I saw him. He was cycling up to the campus when I was driving home. I turned back and caught up with him at the entrance. He threw his bike aside and we entered the building together. One of his hands was covered in blood from a nosebleed he had. Disgusting.' Gunnar closed his eyes.

'He used his key and PIN number to open the door. He was drunk and high. I tried to talk to him again, asked him to show a little understanding. He just laughed at me. I followed him into the common room where he rummaged around in a cupboard and found a white tablet that he swallowed. That made him even weirder. He slumped down in an armchair, turned his back to me, and asked me to massage his shoulders. I thought he'd gone mad, but I later learned that he'd taken ecstasy, which apparently heightens the need for physical contact. I went up to him and at first I thought of indulging him in the hope that he would agree to my request. Suddenly I was seized with such fury that before I knew it I'd taken off my tie and wrapped it round his throat. I tightened it. He struggled. But there was no fight. Then he died. He slowly slipped out of the chair onto the floor. And I left.' Gunnar looked at Thora, gauging her reaction. He seemed to have completely forgotten Matthew.

The sound of sirens could be heard through the window, growing louder. 'They're here to collect you,' said Thora.

Gunnar looked away from her and stared out of the window. 'I was going to run for vice chancellor,' he said sadly.

'I think you can forget that now.'

EPILOGUE

DECEMBER 13, 2005

Amelia Guntlieb stared at the tabletop, silent as the grave. Thora suspected she did not feel up to talking. In her position, Thora would doubtless have had little to say. Matthew had just given an account of the events as they understood them. Any more important details were unlikely to surface now. Thora admired how he played down the parts of the story that must have hurt Harald's mother. It was still a repulsive tale and difficult to listen toeven for Thora, who already knew it inside and out.

'They've located The Witches' Hammer and other things that Gunnar dug up in the cave,' said Matthew calmly. 'The money too. He had spent only a fraction of it. It was all in the bank.'

After the police had arrested Gunnar the previous day, Thora and Matthew's plans to dine out were nixed by the interrogation. Thora had not felt up to meeting Amelia Guntlieb after they left the police station. Instead she went home. Before sitting down with Gylfi to talk about Sigga and the baby she had a long chat with Laufey. She advised Thora to make the situation clear to Gylfi by doing something to personalize the baby for him. That would help him realize what was going on. For example, she should encourage him to think of names for the child.

They were sitting in the deserted cafeteria in city hall. Elisa had shed a few tears while Matthew was telling the story, but her mother sat in stunned silence. She looked from her lap to the tabletop and back. Now she raised her head and took a deep breath. No one said a word. They half waited for her to say something, weep or show her feelings in some other way. It did not happen. Instead of looking at any of them she fixed her gaze on the large glass wall overlooking the lake and watched the ducks swimming there with a few geese. The wind ruffled the surface of the water and the birds gently bobbed with the waves. A seagull suddenly swept down into the midst of the dispersed group. 'Should we take a look at the map of Iceland?' Matthew said suddenly to Elisa. 'It's out front.' Elisa nodded distractedly and they stood up and went over to the hall next to the cafeteria. Thora and Harald's mother were left sitting together.

The woman gave no sign of noticing that anyone had left the table. Thora politely cleared her throat, without the intended result. She waited for a while but saw that more direct action was needed to capture the woman's attention. 'I don't have much experience with this sort of thing so I find it difficult to express how sorry I am. I just want you to know that you and your family have my deepest sympathy.'

The woman snorted. 'I don't deserve sympathyneither from you nor anyone else.' She turned away from the window and looked at Thora. Her face was full of anger, then she seemed to soften up. 'Sorry. I'm not my usual self.' She put her hands on the table and began fiddling with her rings. 'I don't know why I feel compelled to talk