The reckoning
Yrsa Sigurðardóttir
Vaka sits
regretting her choice of coat
on the cold steps of her new school. Her father appears to have forgotten to pick her up
her mother has forgotten to give her this week's pocket money
and the school is already locked for the day. Grownups
she decides
are useless. With no way to call home
she resigns herself to waiting on the steps until her father remembers her. When a girl approaches
Vaka recognizes her immediately from class
and from her unusual appearance: two of her fingers are missing. The girl lives at the back of the school
on the other side of a high fence
and Vaka asks to call her father from the girl's house. That afternoon is the last time anyone sees Vaka. Detective Huldar and child psychologist Freyja are called in. Soon
they find themselves at the heart of another shocking case.
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