Trine straightens up.
‘Go on?’
Katarina starts talking. Trine doesn’t move. But her newly acquired peace of mind has evaporated.
When Katarina finishes some minutes later, Trine thanks her.
‘Don’t mention it.’
‘How did you discover all this?’
Katarina doesn’t reply straightaway.
‘I had a tip-off,’ she then says.
‘Who from?’
‘From… someone who wants to remain anonymous.’
‘Is that right,’ Trine says pensively. Katarina doesn’t elaborate.
‘And then there’s one final thing,’ she says. ‘I’m prepared to go public to support you – in case he thinks you’re bluffing.’
‘I really appreciate that, Katarina.’
‘Good luck.’
‘Thank you.’
They finish their conversation. As the petrol stations on either side of the motorway at Kløfta pass by, Trine leans forwards and says to her driver: ‘I’m afraid I have two more stops I need to make before the day is over. Is that all right?’
‘Yes, yes, of course.’
‘Great. First, we’re off to see the Prime Minister.’
Chapter 88
The rain continues to fall though it is now reduced to a drizzle. But even if it had still been tipping down there is no way Trine would have accepted Harald Ullevik’s invitation to come inside his warm, terraced house opposite Eiksmarka Tennis Club. She chooses to remain outside, looking hard at the champagne flute in his hand and the rising colour in his cheeks that indicates it is very far from the first glass of bubbly he has enjoyed that evening.
And she knows exactly why.
‘I’ve just been to see the Prime Minister,’ Trine says and looks at her friend and closest colleague in the three years she has been Justice Secretary. As always he is elegantly dressed in suit trousers and a white shirt that is without a single crease even after a long working day. He is leaning against the door frame and has loosened his tie.
‘And I suppose I ought to congratulate you now that I know the Prime Minister asked you if you would like to take over from me less than an hour ago.’
Ullevik sends her an unconvincing smile. Trine sees what lies behind it. Anxiety and apprehension because he has never seen her like this before. Out in the rain and with a look that would make a tiger flinch. Trine has to control herself very hard not to scream at him. Attack him physically.
The new Justice Secretary.
‘Yes,’ Ullevik replies reluctantly. ‘He did.’
‘You declined, I trust?’
Ullevik wrinkles up his nose and tightens his grip around the stem of the flute.
‘Eh, no. I accepted.’
Trine nods slowly.
Ullevik shifts away from the door frame, straightens up slightly and examines her with guarded eyes. Trine is tempted to slow clap him, but stops herself.
‘There’s no doubt that you should have got the job three years ago, Harald. You were better qualified; I’ll be the first to admit that. And I’m quite sure you felt that you had been overlooked, who wouldn’t have? A man with your background, and then I come along – little me, a nobody – I waltz in and go straight to the top. That must have hurt.’
Trine winks. Ullevik is about to say something, but no words come out.
‘Was that when you decided to stab me in the back?’
Again he pulls a face.
‘Did you start planning your revenge straightaway? And were you just biding your time?’
Ullevik’s face assumes a look of blank incomprehension.
‘Are you suggesting that – that I should have—’
‘I’m way past suggestions, Harald, and I know that not even your good friends at VG will want to protect you if the truth about your duplicity comes out. And if you do become the next Justice Secretary, I’ll make sure that everyone knows what you did.’
‘Trine, I really have no idea what you’re talking about.’
‘Oh yes, you do. And if you don’t call the Prime Minister the moment I leave, then he’ll be calling you. The Prime Minister knows that I went to Copenhagen during our annual conference in Kristiansand because I had an appointment the following day at a clinic that would remove the child I was carrying. Information that you found out from Katarina Hatlem one evening after the two of you had torn each other’s clothes off in room 421 at Hotel Bristol.’
Ullevik spins around and looks into the house. Then he steps outside and quickly closes the front door behind him.
‘She also told you that I hadn’t told my husband. Katarina was a good friend, one of the few people I tell most of my secrets to. Armed with this information, you convinced me to tell the press that Pål Fredrik and I had been trying for a baby for a long time. That was a smart move. It increased my popularity in the opinion polls. But it was also cynical and calculated. After that statement, I couldn’t possibly admit to having had an abortion. It would have been career suicide; me who has opened God knows how many children’s homes around Norway and signed a convention to support children’s rights across the world. Besides, there was a real risk that I would lose the man I love. And that was what you were counting on, Harald; you calculated that I wouldn’t want to risk my marriage or my career. So you fabricated an allegation of sexual assault and gave it to Norway’s biggest newspaper, a newspaper you’ve been leaking stories to for years. And I know the kind of feeding frenzy journalists engage in when they spot the chance of bringing down a member of the government. They don’t give up until they get what they want.’
‘This is completely absurd, Trine, I would never do anything like that to you.’
‘You would and you did, Harald. And cut the crap, please, I know it was you. Let me give you a piece of advice. The next time you decide to send an anonymous fax, go further away. Go to a part of Oslo or to somewhere in Norway where people don’t know you, so you can lie about who you are when you register your name and mobile number at an Internet café.’
Trine stops talking. Ullevik opens his mouth, but closes it a few seconds later. Only water dripping from a nearby gutter punctuates the silence.
Trine thinks back to the day her nightmare started, when Ullevik came to her office after the morning briefing and asked if there was anything he could do for her. ‘You’ve done a brilliant job as Justice Secretary. You’re the best one we’ve had for years.’
Lies.
All lies, the whole time.
‘Katarina has said she’s willing to do whatever she can to make amends. Do you know what she suggested to me, Harald?’
Trine continues to speak before he has time to shake his head.
‘She volunteered to take a peek at the department’s log files to find out who sent me that nice little email I got on Monday morning, just before you came strolling into my office, incidentally. What are the odds, do you think, that she’ll be able to trace that email back to your computer?’
Ullevik clears his throat.
‘She’s not allowed to do that,’ he begins.
Trine scoffs.
‘I really don’t think you’re in a position to lecture anyone on morality, Harald. And in case you’ve forgotten which department I’ve been heading the past three years – how hard do you think it would be for me to find out if you really did get a telephone call from VG that Monday morning, like you claimed, just before all hell broke loose?’
Ullevik continues to look blank.
‘That was a lie too. Just like everything else.’
He makes no reply. He just lowers his gaze.
‘Look at me, Harald.’