Afterwards he sat at the kitchen table holding the old Enfield revolver. He remembered when they played spin the bottle as children, and a funny idea came to him. He spun the revolver and it stopped with the barrel pointing at the window. He spun it again. This time the revolver pointed towards the bathroom. He was about to spin it for a third time when he decided to check the chambers.
They were empty.
He had wrapped the dead kitten in a towel. The bundle lay in front of him on the table. He watched the light change outside, saw black clouds gather and block out the sun, and he felt the kitchen grow cooler. But he did not stir from his chair. Every now and then he patted the tiny bundle in the towel. As far as he was concerned, the sun could go down for ever and darkness could cover the earth, he no longer cared. It was the sound of the doorbell that roused him from his apathy. He got up to open the door immediately. He knew they had come for him. It was a relief to move around, a relief to hear voices. That same day Philip Reilly made a full confession.
CHAPTER 35
Irene Selmer was used to getting her own way.
So was Axel Frimann.
‘I’m not a taxi,’ he said. ‘I have to give Jon and Reilly a lift and that’s more than enough. Nattmål is completely out of my way, and it’s really late.’
Jon cautiously intervened. His feeble appeal had little impact on Axel. ‘Surely we could make a small detour,’ he suggested. ‘It wouldn’t be the end of the world. Perhaps his parents are waiting up for him.’
Axel looked at Irene. ‘You let him in to your party,’ he said, ‘so he’s your responsibility. You can’t expect your guests to run a minicab service in the middle of the night.’
‘Stop being such a tosser,’ she said. ‘You’ll drive Kim home and you’ll do it now!’
Their shouting made Kim lift his head, but he was far too drunk to realise that the argument was about him.
Jon intervened for a second time. ‘It’s really not a problem to make that detour, Axel. I think we should get him home.’
Irene tried a different tack. ‘Please,’ she begged. ‘Waking up with a stranger in your house is so awful, I just can’t bear it.’
‘What’s in it for me?’ Axel said.
Irene groaned. ‘Nothing at all. Does there always have to be something in it for you?’
They lifted Kim and dragged him through the snow. With some effort they reached Axel’s Mercedes. Axel looked through the windows at the white leather interior.
‘How are you doing, Kim?’
Kim collapsed across the bonnet. He started to hiccup.
‘You’re not going to throw up, are you?’
Axel looked inside his car again. He made a decision.
‘No bloody way am I letting a pissed Chinese guy into my car,’ he said. ‘He’s going to be sick all over the place. He’ll ruin the seats. We’ll put him in the boot.’
Reilly shook his head in disbelief. ‘The boot, are you serious? No, you have got to be joking.’
‘Come here,’ Axel said. ‘Give me a hand.’
‘Surely that’s not wise?’ Jon said.
‘I’m not very wise this late at night,’ Axel said.
Kim protested a little when they picked him up and put him in the boot, but then he seemed content once more. He curled up and closed his eyes. Perhaps he hadn’t even noticed the lid slamming shut. It began to snow. Small, dry flakes which danced in the headlights. Reilly closed his eyes. After the uproar at Irene’s, the silence was welcome. The only sound was the constant spinning of the engine. Axel Frimann was driving, Jon dozed on the back seat. Reilly looked forward to being back in his own bed. The many hours of loud music had made him feel dizzy. They were approaching the town. At a roundabout they debated which exit to take.
‘I wonder why they come here,’ Axel said.
Reilly gave him a quizzical look. ‘Who?’
‘All the foreigners.’
‘It’s obvious why they want to come here,’ Reilly said. ‘Norway’s a much better country. Is that so hard to understand?’
‘But it’s so cold here,’ Axel said. ‘Look.’
He pointed to the display on the dashboard. ‘It’s minus seventeen.’
‘I don’t suppose they worry about the cold,’ Reilly said. ‘They want food and a job. They want the freedom that we have. They want to be able to walk in the street without having to show ID papers and all that. They want to say what they want and write what they want. It’s not like that everywhere, as you well know. Of course people want to come here.’
‘That guy in the boot,’ Axel said. ‘Why do you think he came here?’
‘I guess he came with his parents,’ Reilly suggested. ‘And they probably came here to get a job. And a house. The kind of things people normally want.’ He turned and checked the back seat. ‘Are you asleep, Jon?’
When they reached Nattmål, Axel pulled up by the letterboxes. He stepped out into the snow, which squeaked underneath his shoes, and some tiny snowflakes landed in his brown hair. Jon woke up and rubbed his eyes.
Icy air poured into the car.
Axel opened the boot.
‘We’re here,’ he called out. ‘Out you come!’
Reilly came to help. He slipped a couple of times, and had to hold on to the car for support.
‘Look at his eyes,’ Axel said. ‘Something’s wrong with them.’
Reilly leaned over to have a look. ‘He’s lying on his back,’ he said. ‘That’s not good.’
‘Surely it makes no bloody difference which way he’s lying,’ Axel barked. ‘Let’s get him out.’
He bent over Kim Van Chau to get a better look at him.
‘Hey, Kim. Wake up, damn you!’
Nothing happened in the boot. They started prodding him. Axel slapped him gently across the face, but to no effect. He was still. Reilly started pacing up and down in the snow. His long coat flapped around his legs.
‘Do you think he’s passed out?’
Axel snarled at him. ‘Of course he has. He’s not responding.’
‘Do you know any first aid?’ Reilly asked. ‘Like CPR?’
‘Why do we need to do CPR?’ Axel said. ‘He’s just had a few too many beers. No one’s ever died from that. We need to get him out of the car. Out into the fresh air. Then he’ll come round. Right, come on.’
They got hold of Kim. His body was limp like a rag doll, only much heavier.
Jon came to help.
‘What’s going on?’ he asked. ‘Can’t he walk on his own? Will we have to carry him?’
Axel got Kim out on to the snow. His legs refused to support him and he collapsed on the ground.
‘Kim!’ Axel shouted. ‘Listen to me. You need to stand up.’
Kim Van Chau stayed where he was.
‘We’ve had enough,’ Axel continued. ‘This isn’t a game. Your mum’s expecting you.’
‘We’ve done it this time,’ Reilly groaned.
‘We haven’t done shit,’ Axel raged.
Jon moaned and fell to his knees. ‘We need to call someone,’ he gasped. ‘We need someone to help us!’
Axel looked hard at both of them. ‘We need to talk about this. Now calm down.’
‘We’ll carry him up to the houses,’ Reilly suggested. ‘He’s bound to have a key in his pocket. We’ll let him in and leave him in the hall.’
‘We don’t even know where he lives,’ Axel protested. ‘We don’t know which house number. Jon, go and read the names on the letterboxes over there. Quickly!’
Jon rushed over, but it was dark and he found it difficult to read most of the names.