“I wouldn’t say that,” said Johanne. “They meant a lot to me when I read them. Particularly Fever Chill. Even though he broke every boundary and…”
“Asbjørn was loyal to his beliefs,” Geir Kongsbakken interrupted.
It was as if he was talking to himself. He had one of the books in his hands. It was big and heavy. Johanne guessed it was Sunken City, Rising Ocean. The gold leaf glinted in the light from the ceiling lamp. The leather binding was dark, almost like polished wood.
“The problem was that he had nothing left to believe in, in the end,” he said. “There was nothing left to be loyal to. And then he couldn’t bear it anymore. But until…”
He nearly sobbed and then straightened his back.
“Asbjørn would never harm another person. Not physically. Never. Not as a sixteen-year-old nor later. I can guarantee you that.”
He had turned toward her. His chin was jutting out. He stared her in the eye and held his right hand down flat on the book, as if he was swearing on the Bible.
How well we know those closest to us, thought Johanne. You’re telling the truth. You know that he wouldn’t hurt anyone. Because you loved him. Because he was your only brother. You think you know. You know that you know. But I don’t know. I didn’t know him. I’ve only read what he wrote. We’re all more than one person. Asbjørn could have been a murderer, but you would never see it.
“I’d like to talk to your father,” she said.
Geir Kongsbakken put the book back in its place on the shelf.
“Please do,” he said with no interest. “But then you’ll have to go to Corsica. I doubt that he’ll ever come back here again. He’s not very well at the moment.”
“I called him yesterday.”
“Called him? About this nonsense? Do you know how old he is?”
The white rings started to appear around the base of his nostrils again.
“I said nothing about Asbjørn,” she said quickly. “I barely had the chance to say anything, in fact. He got angry. Furious, to tell the truth.”
“Understandable enough,” mumbled Geir Kongsbakken, and looked at his watch again.
Johanne noticed that he wasn’t wearing a wedding ring. Nor were there any photographs in the brown office. The room was devoid of personal connections, other than to his dead brother, an author who had been beautifully preserved in expensively bound books that had never been read.
“I thought maybe you could talk to him,” said Johanne. “Explain to him that I’m not out to get anyone. I just want to know what actually happened.”
“What do you mean, what actually happened? As far as I recall, a man was sentenced for the murder of Hedvig. Tried by a jury! It should be fairly obvious what happened. The man was guilty.”
“I don’t think he was,” said Johanne. “And if I could use the last ten minutes of my half-hour appointment to explain why I…”
“You do not have ten minutes,” he said firmly. “I consider this conversation closed. You may go.”
He picked up a folder and started to read, as if Johanne had already disappeared.
“An innocent man was jailed,” she said. “His name is Aksel Seier and he lost everything. If nothing else, that should concern you, as a lawyer. As a representative of the law.”
Without looking up from his papers, he said:
“Your speculations could do untold damage. Please leave.”
“Who can I damage? Asbjørn is dead. Has been for seventeen years!”
“Go.”
Johanne had no recourse but to do as he said. Without saying another word, she got up and walked toward the door.
“Don’t bother paying,” said Geir Kongsbakken, harshly. “And don’t ever come back.”
A warm wind blew over Oslo. Johanne stood outside Geir Kongsbakken’s office and hesitated before deciding to walk to work. She took off her suit jacket and noticed that she was sweating under the arms.
This case should have been cleared up ages ago. It was too late now. She sank into despondency. Somebody should have cleared Aksel Seier’s name while it was still possible. While those involved were still alive. While people still remembered. Now she was just banging her head against a brick wall wherever she went.
She was sick of the whole case. And at the end of the day, Aksel Seier himself had turned his back on her. She felt a stabbing pain in her chest when she thought of Alvhild Sofienberg, but she quickly repressed the pang of bad conscience. Johanne had no obligations to either Aksel or Alvhild.
She had done enough; more than anyone could expect.
FIFTY-NINE
And this is all we’ve got,” said Adam Stubo despondently.
“Yep.”
Sigmund Berli sniffled and wiped his nose on his sleeve.
“Not a lot, I’m afraid. Clean record. If he was ever reported for anything, it was a long time ago. He hasn’t taken any exams from Oslo University or anywhere else in Norway, so he must have gotten that education he was boasting about abroad.”
“No completed studies. She was right.”
“Who?”
“Forget it.”
Sigmund sniffed again and dug around in the tight pocket of his jeans for a tissue.
“Got a cold,” he mumbled. “Really stuffed up. Karsten Åsli has moved around a lot, I’ll tell you that. Not surprising that he can’t be bothered to notify the authorities of a change of address anymore. A bit of a vagabond, that man. Oh, he’s got a taxi licence for Oslo, if you can call that a qualification.”
“Hardly. What’s this?”
Adam pointed at a Post-it.
“What?”
Sigmund leaned over the table.
“Oh, that. He learned to drive an ambulance a few years ago. You said include everything.”
“And what about the son?”
Adam was struggling to get the cellophane off a new cigar.
“Working on it. But why should we doubt that the guy’s telling the truth about that? Is there any reason why he might lie about having a son?”
Adam let the cigar slip gently into the silver cylinder and put it back in his breast pocket.
“I don’t think he’s lying,” he said. “I just want to know how much contact he actually has with the boy. His home certainly didn’t look like he had a child there regularly. What about Tromsø? Was he there?”
Sigmund Berli looked at the light balsa box.
“Help yourself,” Adam nodded.
“The best thing would be to ask Karsten Åsli about that! I’ve checked all the lists and he wasn’t on any of the flights in the relevant time frame. Not under his own name, at least. I’ve gotten ahold of a copy of his passport photo and sent it to Tromsø. So we’ll have to wait and see what the professor says. Probably nothing. He’s adamant that he didn’t see the face well enough. This investigation…”
He made irritated quote marks in the air before helping himself.
“… is not made any easier by the fact that Karsten Åsli is not supposed to notice anything. Couldn’t we just pull him in for normal questioning? Jesus, we do that with every Tom, Dick, and Harry without…”
“Karsten Åsli is neither Tom, nor Dick, nor Harry, for that matter,” Adam broke in. “If I’m not wrong, he’s holding a child hostage somewhere. I don’t want the man to get even the slightest inkling that we’re onto him.”
Sigmund Berli held the cigar under his nose.
“But Adam,” he said, without looking the detective inspector in the eye.
“Yes?”
“Was there anything else there, anything other than… this… Was there anything more concrete, like, more than…”
“No. Just a hunch. Just a very strong hunch.”
There was silence in the room. Quick steps could be heard in the corridor and a telephone was ringing somewhere. Someone answered it. A woman laughed outside the door. Adam stared at Sigmund’s cigar, which was still suspended between his nose and upper lip.