Stella laughed. It was just like him to come up with the farting runes. She had to admit some of the ancient Icelandic spells were hilariously funny, in their own sick way. But others were useful, no less so today.

‘All right,’ she said. ‘But just imagine how useful it would be to be invisible. Or if you needed to find a girlfriend,’ she added. ‘I could help you out there.’ 67

‘I’m happy as it is with my Ása,’ Stefán smiled, but reached forward and placed a hand on Stella’s arm. ‘But I can well imagine how you would have wanted to be invisible when you were a little girl.’

The questioning look was back, as was the concern in his voice.

‘Could it be that, just like those people in the seventeenth century, this fascination with magic is just you trying to make sense of your life?’

26

As Úrsúla cleared her desk at the end of the day, she thought over a few other strategies she could have used to ensure the rape accusation received proper treatment. But it was too late now. What was done was done, and she had to admit that she felt her blood pumping faster through her veins. She needed to direct her thoughts elsewhere; after the meeting with the prime minister, the whole South Coast Highway headache had created a knot of tension inside her. Or maybe the tension was because she simply wanted to see Thorbjörn again; apart from the dog, he was the only one who had moved her on any emotional level since she’d been home. It was as if his proximity set off a turmoil within her that she hadn’t felt for far too long, and she was unable to explain to herself why he had this effect on her. He’d been in her office less than a quarter of an hour before he’d pulled her close and kissed her.

As soon as he had come in she had begun to explain the complexities of the rape case. He had replied that it wasn’t a problem, was easy to deal with. Then he’d taken the newspaper articles and the online coverage that Eva had printed out, along with the mother’s phone number, folded it all together and stuffed it into his jacket pocket. His careless demeanour both fascinated and irritated Úrsúla. 68

‘I can do an interview with the mother,’ he said. ‘That would attract attention.’

‘Sounds good,’ Úrsúla said. ‘And you can send a request to the ministry to ask what progress has been made on the case, and then I’ll have no choice but to make my own formal request, and push it hard. That way it can’t keep getting pushed to the back of the queue.’

When she had spoken to the mother on the phone, she had come to the conclusion the usual methods weren’t going to work. She would have to do something to crack the ministry’s deep inertia when it came to uncomfortable cases. She would make it plain that she had no intention of tolerating such working practices. If her year in the job resulted in people who brought accusations to the ministry getting better treatment, her time would have been well spent. Some cleaning up was needed, and she wasn’t going to shy away from it. But it was questionable whether Thorbjörn was the best tool for the job.