to learn.’
‘Humility’s hard to learn, I’ve heard.’
‘Genuine humility, that’s true. But to grovel when it suits you is basic to modern communication. That’s what Ninni’s telling him. And Bellman’s smart enough to appreciate that.’
On-screen, Bellman coughed, forced an almost boyish smile and leaned into the microphone. ‘I apologise if I sounded a bit brusque, but it’s been a long day for all of us, and I hope you understand that we are simply impatient to get back to the investigation into this tragic case. We have to finish here, but if any of you have any further questions, please direct them to Ninni, and I promise I will try to return to you later this evening. Before the deadline. Is that OK?’
‘What did I say?’ Beate laughed triumphantly.
‘A star is born,’ Bjørn said.
The picture imploded and Beate Lønn turned. ‘Harry called. He wants me to hand you over.’
‘Me?’ said Bjørn Holm. ‘To do what?’
‘You know very well what. I heard you were with Gunnar Hagen at the airport when Harry arrived.’
‘Whoops.’ Holm smiled, revealing both top and bottom sets of teeth.
‘I assume Hagen wanted to use you in Operation Persuasion since he knows you are one of the few people Harry likes working with.’
‘We never got that far, and Harry turned down the job.’
‘But now it seems he has changed his mind.’
‘Uh-huh? What made him do that?’
‘He didn’t say. He just said he thought it was right to go through me.’
‘Sure. You’re the boss here.’
‘You can take nothing for granted where Harry is concerned. I know him pretty well, as you’re aware.’
Holm nodded. He was aware. Knew Jack Halvorsen, Beate’s partner and soon-to-be father of their child, had been killed while working for Harry. One freezing cold winter’s day, in broad daylight, in Grünerløkka, stabbed in the chest. Holm had arrived straight afterwards. Hot blood soaking down into the blue ice. A policeman’s death. No one had blamed Harry. Apart from Harry, that is.
He scratched his sideburns. ‘So what did you say?’
Beate took a deep breath and watched the journalists and photo graphers hurrying out of the Kripos building. ‘The same as I’m going to tell you now. The Ministry of Justice has let it be known that Kripos has priority, and accordingly there is no chance that I can pass on forensics officers to anyone other than Bellman for this case.’
‘But?’
Beate Lønn drummed a Bic pen on the table, hard. ‘But there are other cases besides this double murder.’
‘Triple murder,’ Holm said, and after a sharp look from Beate, he added, ‘Believe me.’
‘I don’t know exactly what Inspector Hole is investigating, but it is definitely not any of these murder cases. He and I are totally agreed on that,’ Beate said. ‘And you are thereby transferred to that case or those cases – of which I know nothing. For two weeks. Copy of first report on whatever you do to be on my desk five working days from now. Understood?’
Inwardly, Kaja Solness was beaming like a sun and felt an almost irresistible desire to do a couple of spins in her swivel chair.
‘If Hagen says OK, of course I’ll join you,’ she said, trying to contain herself, but she could hear the exultation in her voice.
‘Hagen says OK,’ said the man leaning against the door frame with his arm over his head, forming a diagonal in her doorway. ‘So it’s just Holm, you and me. And the case we’re working on is confidential. We start tomorrow. Meet at seven in my office.’
‘Er … seven?’
‘ Sieben . Seven. O seven hundred hours.’
‘I see. Which office?’
The man grinned and explained.
She looked at him in disbelief. ‘We’ve got an office in the prison?’
The diagonal in the doorway relaxed. ‘Meet up, all systems go. Questions?’
Kaja had several, but Harry had already left.
The dream has begun to appear in the daytime, too, now. A long way off I can still hear the band
‘Humility’s hard to learn, I’ve heard.’
‘Genuine humility, that’s true. But to grovel when it suits you is basic to modern communication. That’s what Ninni’s telling him. And Bellman’s smart enough to appreciate that.’
On-screen, Bellman coughed, forced an almost boyish smile and leaned into the microphone. ‘I apologise if I sounded a bit brusque, but it’s been a long day for all of us, and I hope you understand that we are simply impatient to get back to the investigation into this tragic case. We have to finish here, but if any of you have any further questions, please direct them to Ninni, and I promise I will try to return to you later this evening. Before the deadline. Is that OK?’
‘What did I say?’ Beate laughed triumphantly.
‘A star is born,’ Bjørn said.
The picture imploded and Beate Lønn turned. ‘Harry called. He wants me to hand you over.’
‘Me?’ said Bjørn Holm. ‘To do what?’
‘You know very well what. I heard you were with Gunnar Hagen at the airport when Harry arrived.’
‘Whoops.’ Holm smiled, revealing both top and bottom sets of teeth.
‘I assume Hagen wanted to use you in Operation Persuasion since he knows you are one of the few people Harry likes working with.’
‘We never got that far, and Harry turned down the job.’
‘But now it seems he has changed his mind.’
‘Uh-huh? What made him do that?’
‘He didn’t say. He just said he thought it was right to go through me.’
‘Sure. You’re the boss here.’
‘You can take nothing for granted where Harry is concerned. I know him pretty well, as you’re aware.’
Holm nodded. He was aware. Knew Jack Halvorsen, Beate’s partner and soon-to-be father of their child, had been killed while working for Harry. One freezing cold winter’s day, in broad daylight, in Grünerløkka, stabbed in the chest. Holm had arrived straight afterwards. Hot blood soaking down into the blue ice. A policeman’s death. No one had blamed Harry. Apart from Harry, that is.
He scratched his sideburns. ‘So what did you say?’
Beate took a deep breath and watched the journalists and photo graphers hurrying out of the Kripos building. ‘The same as I’m going to tell you now. The Ministry of Justice has let it be known that Kripos has priority, and accordingly there is no chance that I can pass on forensics officers to anyone other than Bellman for this case.’
‘But?’
Beate Lønn drummed a Bic pen on the table, hard. ‘But there are other cases besides this double murder.’
‘Triple murder,’ Holm said, and after a sharp look from Beate, he added, ‘Believe me.’
‘I don’t know exactly what Inspector Hole is investigating, but it is definitely not any of these murder cases. He and I are totally agreed on that,’ Beate said. ‘And you are thereby transferred to that case or those cases – of which I know nothing. For two weeks. Copy of first report on whatever you do to be on my desk five working days from now. Understood?’
Inwardly, Kaja Solness was beaming like a sun and felt an almost irresistible desire to do a couple of spins in her swivel chair.
‘If Hagen says OK, of course I’ll join you,’ she said, trying to contain herself, but she could hear the exultation in her voice.
‘Hagen says OK,’ said the man leaning against the door frame with his arm over his head, forming a diagonal in her doorway. ‘So it’s just Holm, you and me. And the case we’re working on is confidential. We start tomorrow. Meet at seven in my office.’
‘Er … seven?’
‘ Sieben . Seven. O seven hundred hours.’
‘I see. Which office?’
The man grinned and explained.
She looked at him in disbelief. ‘We’ve got an office in the prison?’
The diagonal in the doorway relaxed. ‘Meet up, all systems go. Questions?’
Kaja had several, but Harry had already left.
The dream has begun to appear in the daytime, too, now. A long way off I can still hear the band
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