"SEASON OF THE WITCH" "So, what's your favorite place to party, Sólrún?" "Kjartan Arnarson's cock." "Sólrún!" "Oh my God, what's...?" "There's been an accident on an adventure safari." "Who killed her?" "That devil Geiri, of course." "Who else?" "Who do you think you are?" "A jou... jou... journalist." "I know what you are." "You are a scandal-monger from the city, with a big attitude." "Here, at the Eyjafjörður metal dumpsite, a body was discovered early this morning." "It seems that he died of head trauma as a result of falling." "An expert told us..." "Is that from Skarphéðinn's gown?" "Yes." "It's an ancient Icelandic magic rune called the "Helm of Awe."" ""...to bear the Helm of Awe over others."" "It simply means that you believe you are better than others." "He was wearing a black gown." "Like a monk?" "No... like a witch." "My sympathies for your brother." "I didn't know your brother very well." "I only met him that one time." "I know, dear Sólrún, that you found it, like many others, increasingly difficult to deal with the hardships of life." "Then the day arrived when you felt like you couldn't give any more." "Rúnar." "Shit, fucking pussypop." "So you're fucking a parrot, your fag?" "This is actually a female parrot." "If sex is the first thing you think about when you see a parrot, it's easy to understand that you have some serious issues." "Relax, man." "You should have called ahead of you." "I would've baked you a cake or something." "Maybe thrown together a cream pie." "We had business with someone else in town, but since he's not at home, we thought we could pay you a visit." "How fortunate." "How can I help you fellas?" "Who told the police about us?" "How should I know?" "It is obvious from your articles that you are well connected." "You should tell us what you know." "For your own sake." "Otherwise you'll end up with an ex-parrot to fuck." "Well, I simply assumed it was somebody who had been at the theatre party." "Who was it?" "I've, I've..." "Ivo, squeeze the bird." "No, wait!" "She has a dick!" "Couldn't it have been..." "What's his name?" "Ólafur Einarsson?" "Not a chance." "We have that fucker in our pocket." "We have everyone in our pockets!" "No, no, no!" "Garðar!" "Garðar!" "Wait!" "No, stop!" "What?" "!" "Stop!" "Drop the knife!" "Get down!" "I'd say this was about enough of party games." "It's time to call the guests of honour." "What's the number again?" "Please, not the police!" "Please, fucking please!" "Do you think you can break into innocent people's home, in the middle of the night, take the lady of the house hostage and get away with it?" "There's nobody here to collect drug money from." "We ain't no stinking drug dealers, woman!" "No, I guess you idiots do more using than selling." "And you collect debts to pay for your own." "Agnar... you told me that you had all those people at the party in your pockets." "Why?" "Jóa." "Looks like he's falling asleep." "Answers, please!" "All of them are in debt but not to us." "We just take care of collecting it." "Whom do they owe?" "And you?" "If I tell you, I might as well order my coffin right away." "Who were you looking for?" "Who were you looking for?" "!" "Rúnar!" "Rúnar, that fucker!" "Rúnar?" "Why him?" "He was at the party, like you said." "He was the only one who wasn't using drugs." "And therefore the only one who would have dared" "Was Rúnar at the party?" "Nah." "I'm not so sure about that." "What were you going do with Rúnar?" "We were just going to mess with him." "Teach him not to poke his nose into other people's business." "His brother's death is not his business?" "!" "He wasn't supposed to drag us into it!" "You were collecting drug money from Skarphéðinn which ended in murder?" "No." "No!" "We had nothing to do with it." "We don't know anything." "Alright." "Let him go." "Get the fuck out." "Get the fuck out of here!" "Get out!" "If you so much as look in our direction, we will sue you for assault and battery and breaking and entering!" "Hey, you assaulted us, just so we're clear!" "When I read this, it crosses my mind that perhaps it was mercy and a blessing that the agony of Dísa Björk ended." "There was no solution." "No cure available." "I happened to see on the theatre society's poster that the Candy Factory sponsors the production of Loftur the Sorcerer." "Yes." "We have tried to support cultural events here in town." "Why do you ask?" "I was wondering if you knew a young man named Skarphéðinn Valgarðsson?" "Isn't that the boy who was found dead at the dumpsite?" "Right." "Not that I recall." "Wasn't it him who called you and asked for the sponsorship?" "It may well be." "Some young man called and asked for it." "Was it him?" "Yes, I think so." "And so what?" "Gunnhildur called us constantly right after the accident in the river." "But there's no evidence to suggest that foul play was involved." "She died from head trauma after falling into the river." "With a lot of pills in her system." "As far as I know, she'd only been on Prozak recently." "According to whom?" "Her husband." "Ásgeir Eyvindarson." "The GP confirmed that." "But pill addicts have many more sources than just their GP." "So you don't see anything suspect in this case?" "Suspicious?" "What is suspicious is that there are ever more fucking drug dealers that are making more money on people's misfortunes and self-destructive tendencies." "There's a couple living on the floor below Skarphéðinn's apartment with their young daughter." "Is there anything to suggest that the wife and Skarphéðinn were having some kind of affair?" "Some sexual exchange between floors, you mean?" "We spoke to his neighbor and got to know" "that this Guðjón, the husband, did not particularly like Skarphéðinn." "So that might be a possibility." "Any chance that Skarphéðinn and Guðjón had an argument that night?" "A chance is not a fact." "His wife confirmed that the husband had been fast asleep at home the night before Maundy Thursday." "So if it comes to that then that is a possibility." "These guys are a constant pain in the backside." "I heard something about them talking about getting their revenge in Akureyri." "Revenge?" "Against whom?" "And for what?" "What kind of revenge?" "I don't know." "They probably don't know themselves." "Tell me something." "Does the name Gunnar Njálsson mean anything to you?" "Gunnar?" "Yes, sure." "Who is he?" "He's just a young man, around twenty, who lived in Akureyri but later moved here to prepare for his college graduation." "He wanted some peace and quiet to do his writing." "He's renting a small house just outside town." "Gunnar's an easy going guy." "He came here yesterday and had a cup of coffee." "Can you do me a favour?" "Next time you see him, could you give me a call?" "Good morning." "I'll just take the paper with me." "Thanks." "Hello." "I'm Einar, with the Evening Press." "Have you read the article?" "Is there anything in there that you don't like?" "No, dad and I thought it was a good article." "People will finally know how ill my mother really was." "I hope it will prevent people from spreading false rumours and lies." "Glad to hear it." "Tell me, Guðmundur... are you and your father planning to sell the Candy Factory?" "Yes." "Dad's finishing the deal." "My mother never approved of selling the company." "She thought it would bring shame to her and the family." "But these old family businesses are too small to meet modern requirements of profit and growth." "It's you, boy?" "Who let you in?" "Well, nobody stopped me." "I live here." "This is my home." "I may not have much control over what happens here, but I decide who comes for visits, and right now I don't want to see you." "I never should've talked to you, boy." "It has only made things worse." "I came over to show you the article, so you would see how harmless it is." "Useful, even." "I've read that damn article." "I haven't had a moment's peace since that bloody article was printed." "Oh?" "What are people saying?" ""Oh, my poor Gunnhildur, I didn't realize!"" ""Oh, how difficult it must have been for Dísa Björk!"" ""Oh, this is so sad!"" "A load of bullshit from Geiri!" "Bloody self-justification." "How could you do this to me, boy?" "Dísa Björk was healthy as an ox." "Until Geiri killed her!" "The article is first and foremost based on medical information." "I don't believe one word coming from these quacks." "The only disease Dísa Björk had was Geiri." "I know what I know." "Hi." "I heard you'd moved in." "Taking over your brother's apartment." "Who told you that?" "A young girl who lives on the floor below." "Her name is Ösp, but she doesn't like her name." "She's a great girl." "Talking about great girls..." "I had no idea you and Sólrún Bjarkardóttir had been so close." "The eulogy you wrote for her was beautiful." "Nice place you have." "Could Skarphéðinn afford a nice apartment like this?" "It belongs to his friend." "You mean Gunnar Njálsson?" "When he moved to Húsavík, he offered Skarpi to live here while he was away." "He must be quite well off?" "I guess so." "Can I look around?" "Yeah." "Skarphéðinn's mobile hasn't been found yet, has it?" "You wouldn't happen to know where it is, would you?" "Skarpi didn't have a mobile." "He didn't have a mobile?" "No." ""The Knight of the Streets."" "I remember this one." "Skarphéðinn starred in that one, too." "Yes." "He always wanted the leading role and everyone wanted him to have it, too." "Is this Sólrun Bjarkadóttir?" "Yes, she was in the film." "Sólrún?" "Yes." "I spoke to the film's director, Friðbert." "He told me that Skarphéðinn's co-star, Ingibjörg Sigurlína, had committed suicide." "Depression and a drug overdose." "Skarpi was seeing some girl called Inga Lína while he was working on the film in Reykjavík." "It didn't work out?" "She kept calling him after the shooting had finished." "To your home?" "Yes." "And Skarphéðinn didn't want to have anything to do with her?" "I don't know." "All three are dead." "Have you been staying here for the last few days?" "Since yesterday." "Why?" "I got a visit last night... from the three stooges in Húsavík." "Agnar Hansen and crew." "They were looking for you." "And when they didn't find you they picked a fight with me." "I was at a party with Gústa and the theatre group." "A party?" "Yes, they would like me... have the part of of Loftur the Sorcerer." "But what do Agnar and his gang want from you?" "I don't know." "Yes, I've taught Rúnar before." "It's his first year and he's a promising student, just like his brother." "He and Sólrún Bjarkadottir were very close, weren't they?" "Well, she was very distraught over his death." "Actually, I was asking if Sólrún and Rúnar had been close." "Was she distraught because she felt sorry for Rúnar over his brother's death?" "No, because of himself." "Skarphéðinn?" "Yes." "Apparently, she loved and adored him to the point of obsession." "Now I'm really confused." "I thought Rúnar and Sólrún were seeing each other?" "They were very good friends." "That much I do know." "But it was Skarphéðinn who had her heart." "I've heard Sólrún's friends say that this joke about my penis had been her way of drawing Skarphéðinn's attention." "A failed attempt to make him jealous." "They must've been fighting for Skarphéðinn's affections." "Both of them." "His co-star from the film, Inga Lína... and Sólrún." "And both are dead." "Yes." "Love comes in many guises." "Good morning." "Is Gunnar in?" "He's down by the shore." "Gunnar?" "Sorry to bother you." "My name is Einar, with the Evening Press." "I know who you are." "I was wondering if we could have a little chat about Skarphéðinn." "What do you want to know?" "For example, when did you first meet?" "Five years ago." "In Akureyri?" "No." "In Reykjavík." "When Skarphéðinn was working on "The Knight of the Streets?"" "Yes." "That's right." "Were you working on the production?" "No." "We just met, as people do." "How come you became such good friends?" "Similar views to life, mostly." "What kind views?" "You were only fifteen, sixteen years old." "It doesn't matter how old people are when they discover the simple truth that life is meant to be enjoyed." "Was that at the core of your belief?" "That life is to be enjoyed?" "Complicated, isn't it?" "Well... perhaps it's more complicated than it seems." "When did you move north?" "Three years ago." "To be closer to your friend?" "Something like that, yes." "I thought you needed information about him, and not me?" "It goes together." "I understand you were his closest friend." "You lent him your apartment in Akureyri, right?" "Of course." "It wasn't an issue." "And then you went ahead and bought this house, too." "Nice apartment you have." "I wish I was as clever in financial matters as you are." "I invested at the right time, got both for a good price." "It's a good place to study in peace." "Tell me... was Skarphéðinn one of the few of his generation who didn't have a mobile phone?" "He didn't want one." "Exactly." "But I saw he had one." "I wouldn't know anything about that." "What do you think happened to him?" "I don't know." "Did the police take your statement?" "Not much I could tell them." "I was in Reykjavík during Easter." "I spotted you in a restaurant in Akureyri on Wednesday night." "Look, I left late on Wednesday night and came back on Easter Sunday." "So you have no idea who could've murdered your best friend?" "Now, that's the picture perfect wife!" "Welcoming his man no matter how useless he is!" "Even though he took a long trip for nothing." "Hey, Aggi." "About time you found your phone, you fucking imbecile!" "Easy, girl." "Hello?" "Hello?" "Rúnar?" "Hi." "This is Einar." "Yeah, I know." "I saw the number and knew it was you." "That's why I answered." "What's going on?" "Where are you?" "In the apartment." "Skarphéðinn's apartment?" "Yes." "Answering the mobile that he didn't own?" "Rúnar, what's going on?" "I have to get out..." "They're..." "Hello?" "Rúnar?" "Rúnar?" "I'm sorry to bother you." "My name is Einar." "I heard from Rúnar earlier tonight and I think he's in trouble." "I can't find him anywhere." " What do you mean?" "Isn't he at Skarphéðinn's apartment?" "No." "Well, he was." "He isn't answering his phone nor his doorbell." "Can I come in?" "Did you expect Rúnar tonight?" "I didn't know." "I was hoping so." "Have you heard from him these last hours?" "No." "You can't really tell what kids are doing when they reach this age." "It's a miracle they even bother to talk to us." "Yes, that's right, no doubt." "There are so many things one has to bear." "Skarphéðinn was... a very independent young man, from what I've heard." "He's been like that since he was a teenager." "Did that happen when he went down south?" "To work on the movie?" "Yes, that's correct." "But he's not my main concern right now." "It's Rúnar." "Understandably." "Why have you come?" "Because I think there are some people in town who may want to harm Rúnar." "Why is that any concern of yours?" "Because they broke into my house in the middle of the night and made trouble." "According to them, they did it because they didn't manage to find Rúnar." "Why were they after you?" "I don't know." "These are crazy guys." "They're on drugs most of the time." "And they're dangerous." "They were here earlier looking for Rúnar." "Why are they after him?" "I can't answer that." "You have to ask him." "Or them." "Does it have something to do with his brother?" "Possibly." "Have they been here tonight?" "I just came home." "My husband doesn't come to the door." "What does your husband do?" "He's handicapped." "An invalid." "What did he do before he got ill?" "He was a pharmacist." "And you're a nurse." "Did you meet at the hospital?" "Or perhaps at the university?" "Where do you think Rúnar might be?" "I have a feeling that Rúnar will be OK." "People reap as they sow." "Was that true for his brother?" "Shouldn't we call the police?" "This is none of your business." "You should be home in bed." "My days are long and the nights are short." "I thank you for your concern." "You should be in bed, Valli." "I knew they would just wait until I came out." "I knew that they wouldn't have any problem killing me." "I went through the backyard." "But why come to me?" "Why didn't you go to your parents' house?" "I couldn't." "You don't want them to be worried." "Why are they after you?" "They said they wanted to get back at you for talking to the police." "But that's not it, is it?" "They're after you because they're after Skarphéðinn's mobile phone." "Why don't you just give it to them?" "It's not their phone!" "It's mine." "Was it yours from the start?" "Or is it yours now, since Skarphéðinn's death?" "What's the deal with this mobile phone anyway?" "This is most peculiar, Snælda." "Why would Skarphéðinn have his own number in the address book?" "And I never gave him my number." "Rúnar is apparently more clever than we thought." "He switched the covers of the phones." "Yes, Snælda." "Now we know." "Good morning." ""Thanks for the help."" ""R."" "You're welcome." "Everything's gone." "All the text messages too." "Strange." "Why was Skarphéðinn's SIM-card such a big secret?" "What made it so important?" "I'm not getting anywhere with this thing." "I can't work these phones." "You try." "Security settings..." "Ringtone settings..." "Nothing." "Wait a second..." "Calendar." "The most recent entry is the night when Skarphéðinn died." "I wonder what the password is..." "Let me see." "Could it be..." ""Helm of Awe?"" "Try it." "No." "It didn't work." "Try "Loftur the Sorcerer."" "Doesn't work." ""Magic."" "It worked!" ""ÁE wants more... of everything."" "This is Ásgeir Eyvindarson." "I'm not available right now, but leave a message and I'll get back to you." "Gunni has gone to Reykjavík to get the stuff." "We're rich!" "You stole my SIM card!" "It wasn't your SIM card, it was your brother's." "Why did he get you to buy him a cell phone and a SIM card?" "He never told me." "It's because he was smart, Rúnar." "It made him able to claim that both the phone and the number were yours." "The phone not only contained a record of all the women he bedded, and other such achievements." "It also contained more dangerous records." "For quite a few people." "How did you know the password?" "The solution was in an old play." "Loftur the Sorcerer?" "How?" "I have everything." "All the messages." "All the deals." "All the sales." "Everything." "Your brother Skarphéðinn was... a drug dealer." "An ambitious one, just like he was in everything else." "They have been calling and calling and they're threatening to kill me if I don't give them the mobile." "I think they'd do it even if I did give it to them." "Because you have the SIM-card." "Where are you?" "At school." "Stay where you are." "Jóa and I are on our way." "You don't look so good." "You haven't started drinking again, have you?" "No." "Have you heard the one about the farmer and the girl?" "No, I'm sure I haven't." "And why haven't I heard it?" "Because I haven't told you yet, that's why." "And you're about to tell me, right?" "Yes, I am!" "There was this farmer once who hired a girl as his farmhand." "The farmer asks her:" ""Do you know..."" ""Yes, I do!"" "He brings a stool, puts it under the cow and says," ""Then milk!"" "She begins pulling at the udders, like this." ""Why aren't you milking?"" ""I'm waiting for them to get hard!"" "And...?" "That's it?" "Óli Gísli told me that one." "He's a barrel o'laughs!" "Amazing!" "Good morning, this is the Evening Press." "Rúnar Valgarðsson?" "Are you Rúnar Valgarðsson?" "Hello?" "What the...?" "He hung up." "What's going on?" "What's the deal?" "Einar?" "God damn it!" "Bloody hell, Ásbjörn." "They're after Rúnar." "Who?" "These guys are fucking nuts." "Can we hide somewhere?" "Up at my place!" "It's unlocked." "Go!" "I'll stall them!" "Figure something out." "Where is he?" "Who?" "And who are you gentlemen?" "Don't fuck with us!" "Where's Rúnar?" "And the other one, the fag who fucks his parrot!" "Hi, fellas!" "Didn't you get enough last time?" "There they are!" "Where do you want to go?" "To Krossanes." "I paid a visit to your folks yesterday." "Your father is a medicine addict, isn't he?" "Dad." "He's... a loser." "A loser and a drug addict." "Do you think that's why your brother turned out the way he is?" "I don't know." "What he experienced in Reykjavík convinced him that he could control people by making them weak." "That's how he got other people to do what he wanted." "He returned home a different person." "How do you mean?" "It's like he decided to be someone else." "What type of person?" "The one who does what he wants." "The type who gets others to do his bidding." "Did he start abusing drugs?" "No." "Skarpi never took drugs." "He didn't smoke." "Didn't even drink." "He didn't want to do anything that might weaken him." "Did he let you in on what he was doing?" "Everything." "From the very start." "He stole drugs from my father and sold them." "He visited mom at the hospital and stole from there as well." "Later, he found other sources of drugs and sold them all over with Gunnar." "And mom..." "Your mother had to cover both her husband's and son's tracks." "He said he was helping her financially." "She called it blood money, and him a poisonous devil." "But he was always kind to me." "He did everything he could for me." "Until Solla..." "Solla was supposed to be my girlfriend." "I think the beginning of what happened then is the death of Asdis Björk Gudmundsdottir." "Skarpi hadn't done anything like that before." "He only sold drugs to those who wanted them." "Claimed he was only expediting their own ruin." "He and Ásgeir had done some business before." "Because of his wife." "This is horrible." "I..." "They made a deal." "It's all in the mobile." "Ásgeir had grown tired of his wife and her reluctance." "His company was facing bankruptcy." "Together they devised a plan on how they could best proceed without anyone suspecting a thing." "Skarphéðinn provided the medicine cocktail," "Ásgeir gave it to her." "In return, he was paid a large sum of money." "Some of it went into his pocket, and some he used to finance the production of Galdra-Loftur." "He didn't listen to me." "He didn't listen to me." "I told him he needed to stop." "Laws cannot restrain me." "My actions are my own..." "The actions of others are theirs." "He enjoyed seeing how far he could go." "No matter who got in his way." "What Loftur does with ancient magic..." "I do with modern witchcraft." "If he were with us today, he'd be doing the same thing I'm doing." "We are the lords of our own existence." "You told your mother about this." "She said he'd gone over the limit." "That she hadn't raised us to become murderers." "Why have you brought me here?" "Is it here that your brother died?" "This was his hiding place." "Does Gunnar Njálsson know about this place?" "I don't think so." "Skarpi didn't trust anyone but me." "Why did you point me to Gunnar?" "You wanted him to be found, didn't you?" "I wanted to when we met on my way to Solla's funeral." "I hated him... and I hated Skarpi." "For what they did to Sólrún?" "With this shit?" "You were at the party with Skarphéðinn the night he died." "I came there with Solla." "Skarpi was behaving like a raving lunatic." "Wearing that ridiculous witch's dress." "Dressed like a bitch." "You're such a fag." "What are you guys doing here?" "You know that rednecks and immigrants aren't welcome." "Get out." "Get the fuck out." "They were pretending as if they didn't know each other." "And then he pretended to perform some ridiculous sex-hex." "And shortly afterwards he was in bed with somebody." "Was it Sólrún?" "He didn't need any stupid witchcraft for that." "Solla did everything he wanted." "Why did you do this to Solla?" "Because I can." "Come brother, let's leave this miserable bunch." "Shouldn't we at least get her home?" "Relax." "Relax." "You are the lord of your life." "Let others lord over theirs." "You must face what Loftur said:" ""I am collidal silver, pieces of good and evil"." "Then he drove like a maniac to Krossanes." "I thought he would kill us both." "What are we doing here?" "I'm going to show you my empire." "You are the only one, Rúnar, whom I trust for my empire and power." "Only you are permitted." "Only you may know." "I am the lord!" "I am the almighty!" "I felt like we'd become mad." "Perhaps I was just as crazy as him." "Only thing I knew was that it couldn't go on like this." "That's not the whole story... is it, Rúnar?" "What do you mean?" "Mother's gone crazy about my deal with Ásgeir about the old hag." "Rúnar and his big mouth!" "I had Solla removed to remind him of my authority." "He went crying again to mother." "She said she had to stop me." "I told her not to interfere." "It wasn't just you and your brother at the end." "You called her to let her know where you were." "I am the lord!" "I am the almighty!" "What the hell are you doing here?" "You've crossed every line there is to cross, Skarphéðinn." "Come here, boy." "Clinging to mama's skirt again." "Leave him alone." "You will not drag your brother into this." "Cease your endless meddling!" "Stop interfering!" "Go take care of the loser back home!" "I did not raise you to become murderers!" "Burn it." "Mother's gone crazy about my deal with Ásgeir about the old hag." "Rúnar and his big mouth!" "I had Solla removed to remind him of my authority." "He went crying again to mother." "She said she had to stop me and I told her not to interfere!" "I didn't have a choice." "I have a choice." "Options..." "I don't know how this thing works." "Whoops." "Human error." "Go closer." "Watch over it." "Everything's on there." "How did you solve the mystery, boy?" "With the cell phone." "Didn't I tell you?" "Yes, you did." "That's the way it is... these days." "It's all in the... the..." "Genes?" "Exactly." "Considering how stupid you are sometimes, boy," "I'm sure that the esteemed" "Morse and Taggart would be proud of you now." "I..." "I think I'm a little proud of you myself." "He, who with all his soul wishes another dead, shall bow his head, look to the ground, and say:" "You, who live in the eternal darkness, make your will mine." "Kill the person!" "And I swear, in the name of the holy trinity, in the name of the sun, that is the Lord's shadow." "In the name of earth's flame that is your shadow." "And in the name of my body, that is my shadow." "My soul is yours, from eternity to eternity."