‘I’m sure we can sort that out,’ Mjones smiles.
The camera is mounted under the ceiling with the lens overlooking the tills and the entrance. At the bottom-right corner a counter shows the time as being 12:38:04.
‘Look at him,’ Ahmetaj says, pointing to a man who walks quickly into the restaurant. In his hand he holds a bulging white plastic bag.
‘That’s Brenden,’ Mjones says.
‘Okay. And now look, a few minutes later.’
Ahmetaj fast-forwards the recording until the counter shows 12:43:26. A man in a white T-shirt is standing with his back to the camera, glancing nervously around and carrying an identical but slightly less bulging plastic bag.
‘Brenden again,’ Mjones says, getting excited now.
‘Are you sure?’
‘Yes. It’s the same hairstyle and posture.’
Brenden leaves Burger King, making sure he is looking at the ground and shielding his face with his hand as he does so.
‘Okay,’ Mjones says. ‘From his bank statement we know that he went into JeanTV in Arkaden Mall and bought something that cost 399 kroner.’
‘A hat, maybe.’
‘Yes, that was my first thought. Or a baseball cap. And since he ditched his mobile on a train leaving Oslo Central Station, it’s highly probable that he himself travelled in another direction around the same time. Can you find out which other trains left then?’
‘Okay.’ Ahmetaj’s fingers fly across the keyboard.
‘Wait a moment. I’ve got a better idea. Can you give me a printout of the best picture you have of Brenden?’
Ahmetaj clicks again and replays the video. He waits for Brenden to turn his head. His face appears in profile. Ahmetaj freezes the picture, takes a screen dump and opens the file in Photoshop where he adjusts the colours and the contrasts. Then he hits Crtl + P. The sound of a printer warming up comes from somewhere under the desk. Mjones bends down and kicks away an empty Coke bottle, which in turn knocks over several other empty bottles. He pulls a face as the dust rises.
‘What are you going to do?’ Ahmetaj asks when Mjones reappears with a sheet of paper in his hand.
‘I’m going to play cops and robbers,’ Mjones replies and grins.
Chapter 64
In US TV crime dramas, male pathologists are short and fat while female ones have long legs and are as immaculately groomed as only newly divorced women can be. Both sexes have complicated private lives, but as far as Henning knows Dr Karoline Omdahl fits none of the above categories. When he wrote a story about a day in the life of a forensic pathologist some years ago and used Dr Omdahl as his subject, he learned that she is married with three grown-up children and has a passion for golden retrievers. The numerous photos of dogs, children and grandchildren Dr Omdahl displayed in her office made it easy for Henning to bust every myth and cliche about the profession of forensic medicine. Even so, he couldn’t stop himself from spicing up his feature with references to smelly corpses, stomach contents and open chest cavities.
Dr Omdahl replies after several long rings. Henning introduces himself and asks if she remembers him.
‘Oh, hi,’ she says, surprised. ‘Yes, of course I do.’
‘Good to talk to you again.’
‘Likewise.’
‘How are the dogs?’
Henning hears her drink from a cup and swallow. ‘Why, thank you, they’re fine. Yash had an infected paw last week, but it seems to have cleared up now, fortunately.’
‘Glad to hear it. Do you have a couple of minutes?’
A few seconds of silence follow. ‘That depends on what it’s about.’
‘It’s about Tore Pulli.’
She falls silent again. ‘I can’t discuss him with you, Juul.’
‘No, I know. But have you finished his autopsy?’
‘The police have requested a forensic autopsy, yes, and we’ve made it our top priority. That’s all I can say.’
Henning nods. ‘How long will it be, do you think, before the preliminary autopsy report will be available?’
‘It’ll be ready later today.’
‘Can I ask… What exactly goes into a preliminary report? What do you look for?’
‘We open up the body and carry out a macroscopic assessment of the organs. We check for internal damage, possible stab injuries, gunshot wounds and so on.’
‘And what about the final report?’
‘That contains toxicology information and analyses of blood and other fluids, possibly a DNA analysis. In addition, we always take tissue samples from various organs. These samples are collected as a matter of routine, but we will also take samples of any discoveries we make during the autopsy. All of this goes into the final report.’
‘I understand. How long will it be before the final report is ready?’
‘It can take up to a couple of months.’
Months, Henning thinks. He can’t wait that long.
‘Speaking generally, what would cause an otherwise healthy forty-two-year-old man to suddenly drop dead?’
‘It depends on what you mean by “otherwise healthy”. You can carry many potentially fatal conditions without being aware of it. An electrical defect in your heart, for example. If that happens, you’ll need highly sophisticated medical intervention within minutes or you’ll die. These conditions can strike without warning.’
‘Sounds sinister.’
‘An artery in your brain might burst, or an artery in your chest or abdomen might rupture. This can sometimes be caused by a vessel degenerating through disease while in other cases the blood vessel may look healthy and still burst. Or you could suffer a blood clot in a central artery in your brain or your heart or a sudden bleed in your brain tissue.’
‘I think I get the picture,’ Henning says. ‘In this case, it looks as if Tore Pulli suddenly begins to experience breathing difficulties. Does that fit in with any of the causes you’ve just mentioned?’
‘It might.’
‘If I were to tell you that he didn’t appear to be in control of himself or his muscles, either, what would you say?’
‘That his death could still be attributed to any number of reasons. It’s possible that he was poisoned though in this case it would be highly unlikely.’
‘Why?’
‘Because he died in a prison.’
‘Yes,’ Henning hears himself say. ‘But if it turns out that he was poisoned, how will you know?’
‘I’m not sure that we would.’
‘But if you suspected it?’
‘Then we would ask the Institute of Forensic Toxicology to carry out further investigations. They never attend the actual autopsy, they just get the samples. But if this turns out to be a case of poisoning, and I want to emphasise that I’m merely speculating here, then I would assume that we’re talking about some sort of nerve toxin.’
‘He couldn’t breathe or move just before he died.’
‘Quite so,’ Dr Omdahl replies, slowly.
‘What are you thinking?’
‘No, it’s just that if — and I want to stress again that if — it were a case of poisoning, then we might be talking about a combined neuro- and cardiotoxic substance, but speculating is a waste of time. We need to examine him first.’
‘I appreciate that, and I have no intention of speculating in my newspaper either. But how many types of such poison exist?’
‘Oh, several. Dozens. Hundreds. The Institute of Forensic Toxicology is much better placed to answer that question. They report to the Institute of Public Health now. Their full name is the Department for Forensic Toxicology and Intoxicating Substances Research.’
‘Okay, I think I might give them a call.’
‘You do that.’
‘How will the body look if it was poisoned?’
‘A pure nerve toxin that paralyses the respiratory system will cause you to suffocate while your heart is still beating. Your skin and mucous membranes will probably turn slightly blue. If we are talking about a combined neuro- and cardiotoxin, it’s likely to cause heart and respiratory failure, and then there will be no external signs whatsoever. All you’re likely to see are possible signs of suffocation if the respiratory system is affected before the heart stops.’