But later, after she had the door again locked, when she tried to wash the blood off, she found she couldn’t. She tried soap, she tried sand, she tried everything she could think of, but without success.
“I don’t care!” she thought to herself. “If Wetehinen sees the blood, I’ll just tell him I cut my finger by accident.”
So when Wetehinen came home, she hid the ring and pretended nothing was the matter.
After supper Wetehinen put his head in her lap and said:
“Now, my dear, scratch my head and make me drowsy for bed.”
She began scratching his head as she had many nights before but, at the first touch of her fingers, he cried out:
“Stop! You’re burning my ear! There must be some blood on your fingers! Let me see!”
He reached up and caught her hand and, when he saw the blood stains, he flew into a towering rage.
“I thought so! You’ve been in the forbidden room!”
He jumped up and without allowing her time to say a word he just cut off her head then and there with no more concern than if she had been a mosquito! After that he took the body and the severed head and threw them into the forbidden room and locked the door.