There was a Sputnik cassette in the stereo. Laffen sang along. Soon he turned out onto a bigger road. He was calmer now. It was good to be sitting behind the wheel. The last time they’d broken his arm. This time they would surely kill him, if he didn’t manage to get to Sweden first. And he would. It couldn’t be that far now. A couple of hours, perhaps, max. The last time he was in Sweden he ate Janssons fristelse in a roadside café. It was some of the best food he had ever tasted.
Cigarettes were cheap there too. Cheaper than in Norway, at least.
He accelerated.
Karsten Åsli concentrated on not driving too fast. It was important not to attract attention. Three to four miles per hour over the speed limit was probably best. Most normal.
He regretted the whole idea of making the trip.
Bobben had undoubtedly seen him passing the garage. He waved eagerly even though Karsten pretended not to see him. It was highly unlikely that Bobben would mention it to anyone from Saga, but Karsten was still not happy about it. After a written warning for theft, it wouldn’t take much to get him fired. To call in sick and then go to Elverum shopping was not very smart. He could of course use the excuse of the doctor, but the boss was the sort who would investigate. The boss was a real bastard and would do anything to get rid of him.
The speedometer crept up to sixty-eight miles per hour and Karsten Åsli swore under his breath as he took his foot off the pedal and braked.
Maybe he should just turn around.
“The suspect is driving a dark blue Mazda 323,” said the helicopter pilot in a loud, clear voice, with undertones of high drama. “License plate number still unknown. Should we follow? Repeat: should we follow?”
“At a distance,” was the scratchy reply in his headphones. “Follow at a distance. Three cars are on the way.”
“Received,” said the pilot, and the helicopter curved over the treetops before rising up to seven hundred yards.
His eyes did not leave the car.
SIXTY-FOUR
Johanne had been sitting at the Grand Café for a quarter of an hour. She was dreading meeting Unni Kongsbakken and tried not to bite her nails. One finger was already bleeding. At precisely three o’clock, the old lady came into the restaurant. She lifted a hand to hold off the headwaiter and looked around. Johanne half got up and waved.
Unni Kongsbakken came toward her, well built and broad. She was dressed in a colorful, woven jacket and a skirt that went down to her ankles. Johanne caught sight of a pair of solid, dark shoes as she approached the table.
“So you are Johanne Vik. How do you do?”
Her hand was heavy and dry. She sat down. At first glance it was hard to believe that this woman was over eighty. Her movements were strong and her hands were steady when she put them on the table. It was only when Johanne looked more closely that she could see that her eyes had that pale, matte film that old people get when they are so old that nothing surprises them anymore.
“I’m very grateful that you were willing to meet me,” said Unni Kongsbakken calmly.
“It was the least I could do,” said Johanne, and drank the rest of her water. “Shall we order something to eat?”
“Just a cup of coffee for me, thank you. I’m quite tired after the journey.”
“Two cups of coffee,” said Johanne to the waiter, hoping that he wouldn’t insist on them eating.
“Who are you?” asked Unni Kongsbakken. “Before I give you my side of the story, I want to know more about who you are. Astor and Geir were a bit…”
She smiled weakly.
“… vague, I think.”
“Well, my name is Johanne Vik,” Johanne started. “And I work at the university.”
The TV in Adam Stubo’s office was on. Sigmund Berli and one of the secretaries were standing just inside the door, watching. Adam himself was sitting with his feet on his desk and chewing on an unlit cigar. It was a long time until the end of the day. He had to have something to chew on. Something with no calories. He spat out some bits of dry tobacco and realized that he was starving.
“This is very American,” said Sigmund, and shook his head. “TV-transmitted manhunt. Grotesque. Is there nothing we can do to stop it?”
“Nothing that hasn’t already been done,” said Adam.
He had to get something to eat. Even though it was only an hour since he’d dug into two big rolls with salami and tomato, he could feel the hunger burning under his rib cage.
“This is going to end in disaster,” said the secretary, and pointed at the screen. “That’s a madman’s driving, and then the pack of journalists behind… Something’s got to go wrong!”
The helicopter pictures on TV2 showed the Mazda accelerating. On a curve, the back of the car slid out of control. The journalist went wild:
“Laffen Sørnes has spotted us,” he screamed with delight.
“Along with five police cars and a couple of bear hunters,” muttered Sigmund Berli. “The guy must be petrified.”
Again the Mazda skidded on a curve. The edge of the road was loose and stones and gravel sprayed the left side of the car. For a moment it looked as if the car would drive off the road. It took the driver a second or two to regain control and then pick up even more speed.
“He can certainly drive a car,” said Adam drily. “Any more on Karsten Åsli’s son?”
Sigmund Berli didn’t answer. He stared wide-eyed at the TV screen. His mouth gaped, but not a sound came out. It was as if he was trying to give warning, but knew there was no point in saying anything.
“Oh my God,” said the secretary. “What…”
It would later transpire that more than seven hundred thousand viewers had watched TV2’s live transmission of the car chase. Over seven hundred thousand people, most of them at work, as it was twelve minutes past three in the afternoon, watched as the dark blue Mazda 323, 1987 model, skidded sideways into a curve and collided with an Opel Vectra, also dark blue, coming in the opposite direction.
The Mazda was nearly ripped in two before it turned over. It bounced on the roof of the Opel, which continued to skid forward. The Mazda got stuck on the Opel in a crazy, metallic embrace. The guard rail spat sparks at the car doors before the Opel was thrown to the other side of the road, with the Mazda still on the roof. A large stone marking the edge of the road tore the hood of the Opel in two.
Seven hundred and forty-two thousand viewers held their breath.
They all waited for an explosion that never came.
The only sound from the TV speakers was the throbbing of a helicopter that circled just fifty yards above the accident. The cameraman zoomed in on the man who only a few seconds ago had been fleeing the police in a stolen car. Laffen Sørnes was hanging half out of a broken side window. His face was turned upward and it looked as if his back was broken. His arm, the one in the cast, had been ripped off at the shoulder and lay a few yards away from the interlocked car wrecks.
“Holy shit,” screamed the journalist.
Then the sound disappeared completely.
“It happened the night Astor was to present the arguments for the prosecution,” said Unni Kongsbakken, pouring a bit of milk into her half-empty coffee cup. “And you have to remember that…”
Her thick gray hair was put up in a loose bun that was held together with black enamelled Japanese chopsticks. A lock had fallen out at the side. With deft hands she put her hair up again.
“Astor was absolutely convinced that Aksel Seier was guilty,” she continued. “Absolutely convinced. There was, after all, plenty to imply that he was guilty. He had also contradicted himself and been unwilling to cooperate since his arrest. It’s easy to forget that…”
She paused and took a deep breath. Johanne could see that Unni Kongsbakken was tired now, even though they had only been talking for fifteen minutes. Her right eye was red around the edges, and for the first time, Johanne got the impression that Unni Kongsbakken hesitated.