Some seagulls that had spent the night on the edge of the jetty silently scattered into the sky, disturbed by the men’s approach. An ewe with two lambs lay by the corner of the fish factory and obstinately stood up when they almost stepped on them. Kjartan gazed at the lambs running up the slope toward Ystakot. There were two huts at the end of the shore, and he thought he could make out someone peeping at him from behind one of them. He halted and tapped Grimur’s arm without saying anything. The little head popped out again and now realized it had been spotted and decided to recoil. The small human figure swiftly headed up the slope toward Ystakot.
“Isn’t that little Nonni?” Grimur said. “What’s he doing up so early?”
“Or late,” said Kjartan.
Grimur glanced back at the boats anchored at the pier. “His father’s boat isn’t back yet. Could they still be out at sea and the boy alone at home?”
“Maybe it’s not all as it seems,” Kjartan said softly.
They walked up the slope after the boy. When they reached the croft, they saw the boy in the doorway but then vanishing inside.
Grimur called through the door: “Nonni, come out and talk to us, my friend. We want to help you if there’s something wrong.”
There was no answer, so Grimur stooped to step into the dark cottage. Kjartan followed. They first came into a small, smelly, dirty kitchen. Beyond that there was a small bedroom with four beds, two on either side. Daylight filtered through a small window at the top of the gable, and a half-full potty lay on the floor. Kjartan felt nauseous, turned around, and rushed outside to deeply inhale the clear morning air several times.
“Nonni, my friend,” Grimur called inside. “We only want to ask you about your dad and your grandpa. Have they been away for long?”
Some noise was heard from within, and soon the district officer reappeared with the boy by his side.
“The boy was all alone in there,” Grimur said to Kjartan.
The boy stood beside them, downcast.
“Are your dad and grandpa at sea?” Grimur asked.
“Yeah, but they’ve been gone such a long time,” the boy answered. “They left really early this morning.”
“You mean yesterday morning. Did you get any sleep last night?”
“No, I was waiting for them all day.”
“Where did they go?”
“Out to Ketilsey to pull in the seal net and check on the eiderdown. They weren’t going to be gone this long.”
“Maybe the engine broke down. I’ll go out looking for them. I’m sure they’re in no danger. The weather’s so good. Why didn’t you go with them?”
“I wasn’t allowed to. Dad was punishing me for taking a crap on the island last time, and then I sneaked out of church during the mass on Sunday and he saw me.”
Kjartan had an idea and gently asked him, “Do you have a camera, Nonni?”
The boy looked at him in surprise but didn’t answer.
Kjartan repeated his question: “Don’t you have a camera, my friend?”
Nonni was about to say something, but the words got stuck in his throat.
“I think you have a camera and maybe also some nice binoculars,” said Kjartan.
“How do you know?” said the boy.
“Can I see them?” Kjartan asked.
The boy looked at them with trepidation but then walked away from the croft. Grimur and Kjartan followed him. Nonni walked past the potato patch toward a shed built into the earth of the slope. He entered it through a low doorway and swiftly returned, holding a small bag.
“The foreigner left this bag in the boat when Granddad took him to Stykkisholmur,” he said. “I found it myself and kept it.”
Kjartan took the bag and examined it. Inside it he found a camera, pair of binoculars, a toiletries bag, and underwear that had grown musty from damp storage.
“The camera’s broken,” said the boy. “I’ve tried everything you’re supposed to do, but there’s no picture in the box.”
“Tell us about when your grandpa took the foreigner out,” said Kjartan.
The boy looked up and said, “Dad went to the mainland with the mail boat to get Mom. Me and Grandpa went down when the boat was coming back to grab the ropes. We were then going to go out in the strait to fish some small cod for dinner.”
He grew silent and stared at his treasures. He was trembling from the cold and fatigue.
“What happened then?” Grimur asked.
“We were still on the pier when everyone else had left, and we were going to go out on our boat, Raven. Then the foreigner came running over and calling. He was far too late because the mail boat had left ages ago. Then he ordered Grandpa to take him to Stykkisholmur, but it was really difficult to understand him.”
“Did your grandpa agree to sail with him?” Grimur asked.
“Yeah, the man showed us the loads of money he was going to give us when they got to Stykkisholmur.”
“So they went then?”
“Yeah, but the foreigner didn’t want me to come along.”
“Was your grandpa away for long?”
“Yeah, he didn’t come back until the next day. The motor was completely out of fuel, so he came in using the sail when the southern winds started blowing. Grandpa then went to sleep, but I found the bag in the boat and hid it. I would’ve given it back to the foreigner, but he never came back to ask for it.”
“Didn’t your dad know about this?”
“No. He was so angry when he got back from the mainland because Mom wouldn’t come back with him from her roadworks job. He complained about everything and got really mad when he saw the boat was out of fuel. Grandpa couldn’t remember anything about his trip with the foreigner, and I didn’t dare to tell Dad about it. Grandpa has started to forget so many things. I think the foreigner also forgot to pay him the way he’d promised because Grandpa didn’t have any money on him when he got home. I peeped into his pockets when he was asleep.”
“But what about that man from Reykjavik, the reporter? Did he know you were keeping the bag?” Kjartan asked.
Nonni averted his gaze. “Yeah, when I sneaked out of mass, I went home to have a little look through the binoculars. Normally I hardly ever dare to use it because no one’s allowed to see me. I was sure that District Officer Grimur would take it away from me if anyone saw me.”
The boy looked shamefacedly at the district officer.
“Did the reporter see you?” Kjartan asked.
“Yeah, I thought that everyone was still in the church, but then he was suddenly there standing beside me.”
“What did he say to you?”
“He asked me if I owned the binoculars. Then he looked into the bag and saw the little books. Then he asked me if Dad had taken the foreigner to Stykkisholmur. I told him that Grandpa had, but he’d run out of fuel. Then he asked me if he could keep the little books if he promised not to tell anyone about the binoculars and the camera. I said yes, if he wouldn’t tell anyone. He promised and said that then I wasn’t to tell anyone either.”
The boy started whimpering. “And now the reporter is dead and I’m breaking my promise.”
“Do you remember the dead man you saw in Ketilsey?” Kjartan asked.
“Yeah,” the boy answered.
“Had you seen him before?”
“No, I don’t think so. You couldn’t see his face.”
Grimur had listened to the whole story in silence and now spoke: “Right, my friend. Let’s go to my house, Nonni, and we’ll get my Imba out of bed. She’ll give you some milk and something good to eat. Then maybe you’ll get a slice of cake and go to bed. Me and Kjartan here will go looking for your dad and grandpa.”
Question forty: The final question has now been reached. It is the key to all the other answers and goes as follows: “Who spoke the wisest?” The answers can vary greatly, according to personal taste and wisdom. There are many wise sayings in this book, but the key here is composed of the following letters:
O S L E O Y I A R N R Y L
E M H O N E A E N W T L B