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it was distributed at once, along with the one Erlendur had provided.
    'Have there been any clashes between gangs in the school?' Sigurdur Óli asked when he had finished his telephone call.
    'Do you think it's connected with the school?' the principal asked, his eyes glued to the computer monitor. Elías's photograph filled the screen, smiling at them. It was a shy smile and instead of looking straight into the camera he was looking just above it, as if the photographer had told him to look up or something had disturbed him. He had symmetrical features with a high forehead and inquisitive, candid eyes.
    'We're investigating all the possibilities,' Sigurdur Óli said. 'I can't say any more.'
    'Does it have something to do with racism? What were you saying?'
    'Only that the boy's mother is from Thailand,' Sigurdur Óli said. 'Nothing else. We don't know what's happened.'
    Sigurdur Óli was relieved that the principal did not remember him from his days as a pupil at the school. He did not want to get into a conversation about the old days and old teachers, what had happened to his class and all that crap.
    'Nothing's been reported to me,' the principal said, 'or at least nothing serious, and it's out of the question that it could have resulted in this tragedy. I just can't believe what has happened!'
    'You'd better believe it,' Sigurdur Óli said.
    The principal printed out a list of Elías's classmates. It included the addresses, telephone numbers and names of the parents or guardians. He handed the list to Sigurdur Óli.
    'They started here this autumn, the brothers. Shouldn't I email it to the address you gave me too?' he asked. 'This is terrible,' he groaned, staring at his desk as if paralysed.
    'Definitely,' Sigurdur Óli said. 'I also need the address and phone number of his form teacher. What happened?'
    The principal looked at him.
    'What do you mean?'
    'You talked about something that wasn't anything serious,' Sigurdur Óli said, 'and it was out of the question that it could have resulted in this tragedy. What was it?'
    The principal hesitated.
    'What was it?' Sigurdur Óli repeated.
    'One of the teachers here has expressed a strong dislike of immigration.'
    'By women from Thailand?'
    'Those too. People from Asia. The Philippines. Vietnam. Those places. He has very strong views on the matter. But of course they're just his opinions. He would never do anything like this. Never.'
    'But he crossed your mind. What's his name?'
    'That would be absurd!'
    'We need to talk to him,' Sigurdur Óli said.
    'He has a good grip on the kids,' the principal said. 'He's like that. He comes across as brash and surly but he gets through to the kids.'
    'Did he teach Elías?'
    'At some point, naturally. He teaches Icelandic but does a lot of substitution and has taught almost all the children in the school.'
    The principal told him the teacher's name and Sigurdur Óli wrote it down.
    'I cautioned him once. We accept no racial prejudice at this school,' the principal said firmly. 'Don't imagine that. We don't tolerate it. People discuss racial issues here like everywhere else, especially from the perspective of immigrants. There is absolute equality here, neither the teachers nor the pupils would put up with anything else.'
    Sigurdur Óli could tell the principal was still holding back.
    'What happened?' he said.
    'They almost got into a fight,' the principal said. 'Him and another teacher – Finnur. In the staff room. They had to be separated. He made some remarks that annoyed Finnur. It turned into a kind of cockfight.'
    'What remarks?'
    'Finnur wouldn't say.'
    'Is there anyone else we need to talk to?' Sigurdur Óli asked.
    'I can't inform on people just because of their views.'
    'You're not informing on people,' Sigurdur Óli said. 'Just because the boy was attacked, it doesn't have to be connected with people's opinions. Far from it. This is a police investigation and we need information. We need to talk to people. We need to map