At First Light(Dr. Evan Wilding #1)(37)

Rhinehart mopped his face again with his handkerchief. “This hardly seems helpful. It’s just muddying the water. Bog water, to be exact.”

Patrick studied the photographs when they reached him, then passed them on and stood to snag the last latte from the cardboard tray. “I’m guessing that right about now would be a good time to talk about the elephant in the room and tell us what the runes say.”

Criver stood. “Agreed. Let’s take a ten-minute recess to process what we’ve heard; then we’ll move on to the runes.”

As people made a beeline for the door and the bathrooms and coffee machine beyond, Addie saw a glance pass between Rhinehart and Evan.

Evan’s expression had smoothed into neutrality. But Rhinehart looked like a man facing a rival—one he held in contempt. And was determined to flatten.





CHAPTER 13


Addie spent the short break writing down her thoughts. She wanted to talk to Evan, but two of the techs remained in the room, making private conversation impossible.

When everyone else had returned, Criver gestured to Rhinehart.

“If you would, Mr. Rhinehart, share with us what you’ve learned by translating the runes into English. I believe this is what led to your conclusions about the ásatrú.”

Rhinehart picked up the papers Criver had placed on the table and passed them around. “I haven’t yet seen the runes found near Desser’s body. These are from Talfour.”

Addie took a stapled sheet off the stack when it reached her and then passed the stack on.

“The first page is the full poem in the runic alphabet,” Rhinehart said. “The second is my initial transliteration, in which I went through and substituted letters from our alphabet for the runes. I’ve included these two versions purely for your reference. What I’d like to draw your attention to is the third page, which contains my actual translation.”

Addie folded over the first two sheets and bent over the third.

“But before you begin,” Rhinehart said, “be forewarned. The poem, if you want to call it that, is filled with nonsense words and lines that are just, frankly, garbage. There are plenty of misspelled words like corse for corpse, indicating either a lack of understanding of the runes or simple carelessness. So don’t get your hopes up that we’ll learn much about our killer from his writing.”

Translation of Runic Characters (Anglo-Saxon Runes)

Murder Victim James Talfour

Submitted by Ralph Rhinehart

Need/plight Listen up mighty men. I undo and unto earth I send

Ice their water weighted corses. I am adam nedscop.

Elk’s You know why: over the sun swimmer home I came

Yew tree A weary warrior wailing with weird edwergild

Unknown As layer of the bone. Halls breaking Fjorgyn.

Year A death drive merely a plague. The broom that binds up evil.

Sun For mine mine mine gone. Bowl buried. Busted by big bosses.

The god Tyr That war crimes. Word shaker. Heart of my baw neen tombed.

Lake Ire war din to his mouth of hearing, I poured my mead.

Steed Making me bodulfr war wolf lend reg age claw all beari eht hw/??

Man By skull food lait I laid him low this skin sinner is u wight I she is he and so on wight

Birch tree What of this bone? Cage this skin sinner is ox of riding.

Ing Tell me by man is lait. I laid it out prick. Met his but.

Day His honey maker held still so I held tight, strong as nnnmen.

Yewen bow When wailing the word weaver arrived for his bletsian.

Oak tree With his mirror I did mirror. Mere to mere.

Ash tree His thole was thus. That he thanked the hell guard.

Homeland He felt the weight of his wight knew weird is wicked.

Addie read the words, disbelieving, then read them again. Disappointment tasted like bile. Was there anything here that could help them?

After a long moment, Wao broke the silence.

“This,” he said, “is like some dude on magic mushrooms trying to write poetry.”

“So it’s not even supposed to make sense?” Patrick’s voice was thick with frustration. “What the hell does something like ire war din mean?”

Rhinehart spread his hands. “I warned you.”

“Where’s the swastika?” someone else asked.

Rhinehart drew a symbol on the board: ?? “The sun cross is denoted in runic writing by a circle with a dot in the middle. If you look online, you’ll see all the iterations of the sun cross, including the version with the broken arms, which resembles a swastika. That was the version used by the Nazis. As for the rest of the words, I suspect the killer lifted some of the runes from online sites and didn’t care that they didn’t translate to anything meaningful. The runes are more about show than substance.”

Addie’s eyes met Evan’s. The set of his brow suggested he didn’t agree with Rhinehart’s assessment.

“So he just wants to pretend he’s a Viking?” Patrick asked.

Rhinehart’s nod was regretful. “You must keep in mind that many people believe runes are mystical,” he said. “That the letters themselves have power even without having any real meaning. It might be helpful if we focus on the word set off by itself in each line. I suggest the killer is trying to invoke something with these runes.”