Yum.
Chapter 28
His supply of batteries is starting to run out, but he has enough to replace the batteries in all eight smoke alarms as he gets home. He goes into his living room. No killers lying in wait for him. He hadn’t really thought so, either, but you never know.
He takes a shower while his computer boots up at a snail’s pace. Fifteen minutes later, he is cleaner than a Johnson’s baby and he loads FireCracker 2.0. He has a question for 6tiermes7. This time Deep Throat is already logged on: MakkaPakka: Turbo.
6tiermes7: Negro.
It didn’t take you long to become a target?
MakkaPakka: In that particular respect, I’m not out of practice.
6tiermes7: Still in one piece?
MakkaPakka: Oh, yes. Just as well I don’t need to sleep at night.
6tiermes7: Count sheep. Have a wank.
MakkaPakka: Too much effort.
6tiermes7::-)
MakkaPakka: I’m thinking of taking a couple of days off, but I’m curious about something.
6tiermes7: Time off? You?
MakkaPakka: Do the Marhoni brothers have anything to do with BBB? Are they members?
6tiermes7: No. We are struggling to find the link.
MakkaPakka: But there is one?
6tiermes7: Don’t you think so?
MakkaPakka: I don’t know. They may just have known each other socially.
6tiermes7: Yeah, right.
MakkaPakka: Will you be carrying out a raid against them soon?
6tiermes7: I don’t know anything about that yet. But I’m guessing they’ll try Yasser Shah’s home first.
MakkaPakka: He has probably gone underground.
6tiermes7: You don’t think he’ll have another go at you?
MakkaPakka: Would you? When all eyes are on him?
6tiermes7: No. Did they offer you protection?
MakkaPakka: Yes.
6tiermes7: Good. But you never know, someone else might want to finish the job.
MakkaPakka: I declined.
6tiermes7: Oh. Did you?
MakkaPakka: Very funny.
6tiermes7: So what happens now?
MakkaPakka: I’m thinking of lying low for a couple of days.
6tiermes7: At least.
MakkaPakka: Okay. I might work from home. I’ll see what happens.
6tiermes7: Okay.
MakkaPakka: Any developments in the investigation?
6tiermes7: A few. They’re hunting high and low for links and clues. Many interviews.
MakkaPakka: Any details you can feed to me?
6tiermes7: Well, they’ve given up on the honour killing theory.
MakkaPakka: Any other excitement?
6tiermes7: Not quite sure. I don’t know if this means anything, but a film company had taken out an option on a screenplay written by Hagerup.
MakkaPakka: How recently?
6tiermes7: A while ago, I think.
MakkaPakka: Student rivalry, perhaps?
6tiermes7: No idea. But they’re talking to all her friends and tutors.
MakkaPakka: Did Hagerup have a tutor?
6tiermes7: Yes. A chap called Yngve Foldvik.
MakkaPakka: That name sounds familiar.
6tiermes7: Means nothing to me.
MakkaPakka: Do you know anything about the tent on Ekeberg Common?
6tiermes7: The college had put it up. They were in the middle of filming.
MakkaPakka: Do you suspect any of her fellow students?
6tiermes7: Not at the moment. I think Mahmoud Marhoni is their prime suspect. They’ve evidence which implicates him.
MakkaPakka: Has he been questioned following the murder of his brother?
6tiermes7: No. His lawyer threw his weight around.
MakkaPakka: Okay. Thank you. See you later.
6tiermes7: Stay healthy.
Stay healthy.
The quote is from the film Heat with Robert De Niro and Al Pacino. Jon Voight’s character sits in the car with De Niro, planning a break-in, and as De Niro gets out of the car, Voight tells him to stay healthy.
6tiermes7 likes Heat. And Voight is on to something. It’s important to stay healthy. And it’s good to know that someone cares about you, even if Henning doesn’t know who that someone is.
Chapter 29
6tiermes7 was right. It won’t be easy to lie low. Too many questions are buzzing around his head and the more he thinks about it, the more convinced he is that Henriette Hagerup’s college and its students hold many of the answers.
He visits Westerdal’s homepage and switches on his mobile again. Just like the last time, the messages pile up. And just like the last time, he deletes them without checking them first. He clicks on the college’s film section, finds a staff list and localises Yngve Foldvik after some quick scrolling and clicking. A photograph with a CV and contact details pop up. Henning studies him.
Where does he know him from? Dark hair, side parting to the left. Narrow nose. Sallow skin, not brown, the kind which tans easily. Light stubble with streaks of grey. He looks to be in his late forties, but he is still a handsome man. Henning suspects some of the students have secret crushes on him.
He checks the time. 5.30 p.m. Tariq’s last words will have to wait. He rings Foldvik’s mobile instead. Three rings later, he strikes lucky. Henning introduces himself. Foldvik says ‘hi’ in a voice that Henning instantly recognises as the ‘oh shit’ tone.
‘I don’t have much to say to you,’ he begins. His voice is high.
‘I don’t want you to, either,’ Henning counters. Silence follows. He knows that Foldvik hasn’t quite understood what he meant. And that’s the idea. He lets Foldvik wait until he grows sufficiently curious and simply has to ask:
‘What do you mean?’
‘If I could meet you tomorrow morning, at a time convenient to you, then I can explain what I want to talk to you about. But I would be lying if I said it didn’t have anything to do with your late student.’
‘I don’t know if I have — ’
‘It’ll only take a few minutes.’
‘Like I said, then — ’
‘I want people who read about Henriette to get as accurate a picture of her as possible. I think you might be the most suitable person to paint that. You knew her in a different way to her fellow students, and — to be honest — they have a tendency to say some strange stuff.’
Another silence. He can hear Foldvik mull it over. And that’s part of the technique. Massage the ego of those you want to interview to such an extent that it becomes harder and harder for them to say no.
‘Okay, two minutes. Ten o’clock tomorrow?’
A broad smile forms around his lips.
‘Ten o’clock would be fine.’
*
It is a straightforward matter to write out an interview when he has everything on tape. To begin with, he decides to use everything Tariq said, word for word, since they were the man’s last, but he abandons that idea as soon as the interview takes shape on his computer. Too much irrelevant information. And he doesn’t want people to know everything Tariq said about his brother. After all, Mahmoud is still in custody and it very much remains an open investigation.
It takes him half an hour to type up everything Tariq Marhoni said. He starts to edit and decides to focus on the fine description Tariq gave of his brother.
My brother is a good man.
It borders on the dull, but it’s a start. He types on:
Tariq Marhoni spent his last moments praising his brother, who is suspected of murder. Read the exclusive interview here.
He knows that people will read this story, even though it is not very exciting. There is something about a man’s last words. They appeal, no matter what he said. And when it is as exclusive as this, everyone with even a vague interest in the story will click on it. Other media will trawl the story for quotes they can use. This means ‘…, said Tariq Marhoni to 123news, only minutes before he died.’