My Soul to Take: A Novel of Iceland Read Free Page A

acquiring half-bankrupt radio stations that he turned around and sold at a huge profit. Thora was not sure whether he had always been odd or whether having money had turned him eccentric. Right now he was into New Age philosophy and planned to build an enormous holistic-center-cum-spa-hotel where people would pay to have their physical and spiritual ills cured using alternative therapies. Thora shook her head as she thought about him.
    "Some hidden structural defect in the building, I understand," Bragi replied. "He's unhappy with the property." He smiled. "Give him a call; he wouldn't speak to me. He claims your Venus is ascendant in Cancer, which makes you a good lawyer." Bragi shrugged. "Maybe a strong astral chart is just as good a qualification as a law degree. What do I know?"
    "What a fruitcake," said Thora, reaching for the telephone.
    Jonas had kicked off their professional relationship by drawing up her astral chart, which turned out favorably. That was why he hired her. Thora suspected that the larger law firms had refused to provide Jonas with information about their lawyers' exact time of birth and he had been forced to approach a smaller one; there could scarcely be any other explanation for a man of his wealth choosing to deal with a company with only four employees. She dialed the number that Bragi had scribbled down and pulled a face while she waited for him to answer.
    "Hello," said a soft male voice. "Jonas speaking."
    "Hello, Jonas. This is Thora Gudmundsdottir at Central Lawyers. You left a message asking me to call."
    "Yes, that's right. Thank you for calling back." He sighed heavily.
    "My colleague Bragi mentioned a hidden structural defect in the property. What is it exactly?" asked Thora. She glanced over at Bragi, who nodded.
    "It's awful, I'm telling you. The building is flawed and I'm certain the sellers knew about it and didn't tell me. I think it will spoil all my plans out here."
    "What kind of flaw are we talking about?" Thora asked, surprised. The property had been examined by approved surveyors and she had read through their report herself. Nothing unexpected had come up. The acreage of the property was as the sellers had stated, it carried all the rights named in the sale description, and the two farmhouses that were included with the land were so old that a complete renovation was the only option.
    "It involves one of the old farmhouses where I had the hotel built, Kirkjustett, you remember?"
    "Yes, I remember it," replied Thora, adding, "You know that in the case of real estate, a hidden defect must affect the value by at least ten percent of the purchase price in order for the right to compensation to be established. I can't imagine anything on that scale in such an old building, even one so large. Also, a hidden defect must be precisely that— hidden. The assessors' report clearly stated that the buildings needed to be completely renovated."
    "This defect makes the farmhouse effectively useless for my purposes," Jonas said firmly. "And there's no doubt that it's 'hidden'—the assessors could never have noticed it."
    "What is this defect, then?" Thora asked, her curiosity piqued. She imagined perhaps a hot spring appearing in the middle of the floor, as was said to have happened in Hveragerdi some years before, but she couldn't recall there being any geothermal activity in that area.
    "I know you're not particularly inclined toward spiritual matters," said Jonas levelly. "You're bound to be surprised when I tell you what's going on here, but I beg you to believe what I say." He paused for a moment before coming out with it: "The house is haunted."
    Thora closed her eyes. Haunted. Right. "Well, well," she said, twirling her index finger against her temple to signal to Bragi that Jonas's "defect" was just crazy talk. Bragi moved closer in the hope of eavesdropping.
    "I knew you'd be skeptical," Jonas grumbled. "But it's true, and common knowledge among the locals here. The sellers knew but