‘But I was driving my car to Blindern. I was searching for Reidun Vestli when this happened.’
‘Lystad told Kripos that was what you said, but he also said the timing was blurred. You might have been in Askim during daylight, then you drove like fuck to Blindern to give yourself an alibi.’
Frank Frølich sighed heavily. ‘That’s ridiculous of course.’
Gunnarstranda lit his roll-up. ‘Have you got an ashtray?’
Frank Frølich motioned with his head towards an empty peanut bowl on the table. ‘Use that.’ He straightened up and looked at the map again. He cleared his throat and said: ‘What make was the car parked in Skjoldenveien?’
‘We don’t know. Lystad says it was a saloon, silver-grey. Could be anything from a Saab to any Japanese car. But we know that Faremo had a silver-grey Saab.’
‘And I have a silver-grey Toyota Avensis – saloon.’
‘Exactly,’ Gunnarstranda said laconically. ‘And when we were up at Kykkelsrud power station you talked all the time about this road here.’ He tapped the map with his finger.
‘And, naturally, you said that to Lystad?’
‘Naturally.’
Frank Frølich gave a wry smile and said: ‘This Vrangfoss place is quite special. There’s a spit protruding into the river so the water has to flow around it in an extremely narrow channel.’
‘You seem to know the place well.’
‘I went there after we’d talked by the dam.’
‘OK.’
‘What’s the real reason you came here?’ Frølich suddenly asked.
Gunnarstranda raised his head, a crooked smile playing around his lips. He coughed. ‘A witness has turned up in the Loenga case.’
Frank Frølich raised his eyebrows interrogatively.
‘He didn’t come forward willingly. He’s one of the bums in the square by the station and was brought in because two undercover men had heard rumours that he knew something about the murder in Loenga,’ Gunnarstranda went on. ‘The man’s name is Steinar Astrup. On the night in question he was sleeping in cardboard boxes. What he says is very interesting. He says he was awoken by the sounds of someone breaking into the container nearby. There were three men.’
‘Very promising. Any results with the rogues’ gallery?’
‘They were all wearing balaclavas. Outside the wire fence there was a car, a BMW estate. The three men had started to cram the loot into black plastic sacks. Then they ran to the fence and threw over the sacks. And now get this: the witness maintains a fourth person was sitting behind the wheel of the car. This person had left the driver’s seat and lifted the sacks into the boot of the car twice. That means the men ran over to the fence twice. But suddenly the three inside the perimeter hid behind a pile of pallets. Because the security man, Arnfinn Haga, drew up in his little Ford. He slowed down as he passed the BMW even though the two cars were on opposite sides of the fence. The Ford stopped, then reversed. The guard got out of the car with a powerful torch and shone it through the fence at the person sitting in the BMW on the other side. But then something even stranger happened.’ Gunnarstranda paused for effect before continuing.
‘The person behind the steering wheel in the BMW got out – hands in the air.’
‘Hands in the air? These guards aren’t armed, are they? The car was on the other side of the fence and the man could have just driven off.’
‘I haven’t finished. Though you’ve got a point. According to Astrup, the guard asked the person what they were doing. Then there was a bang.’
‘Bang?’
‘Yes, one of the men wearing a balaclava had charged out and smacked the guard over the head with a baseball bat.’
‘And then?’
‘What he says about the baseball bat is important. It means the witness is telling the truth. No one knows about the murder weapon – except for trusted members of the force.’
‘And he talks about four people. That suggests we might be barking up the wrong tree.’
Gunnarstranda shook his head. ‘Then the three of them climbed over the fence and jumped into the BMW, which shot off,’ he concluded.
‘Four people?’
Silence settled over the room. Frølich could hear ticking. It was Gunnarstranda’s Swatch. He coughed. ‘What do you make of that?’
‘Not sure,’ Gunnarstranda murmured. ‘Either it was those four: Faremo, Rognstad and Ballo plus an unknown fourth man who committed the robbery and murder – or the whole line of enquiry involving Faremo, Rognstad and Ballo is simply a wild goose chase.’
‘What about if the three were using a driver for this particular job?’
‘A container at the harbour? There’s no reason for the three of them to recruit a fourth man for this job. The trio are well known for sticking together, for not taking on anyone else.’
‘When were they arrested?’
‘Ballo and Faremo were picked up at the Faremo flat just before five in the morning. Rognstad was collared outside the Hell’s Angels clubhouse in Alnabru. In their statement they said all three of them had been playing poker in Jonny and Elisabeth Faremo’s flat, accompanied by Elisabeth from two o‘clock onwards until they were arrested. And the clincher for the judge was that Elisabeth Faremo was in the flat when the police arrived.’
‘What about Rognstad?’
‘His explanation was that he left the flat ten minutes before the arrests. He went on his motorbike to Alnabru and that matches witnesses’ testimonies in Alnabru.’
‘No one saw them arrive during the night?’
Gunnarstranda shook his head.
‘What about the car, the BMW?’
‘A stolen BMW, which might have been the car used in the robbery, was found in Sæther the day after. There had been an attempt to set it alight.’
‘What’s your take on this then?’
‘The only thing connecting these three men to the murder of Arnfinn Haga is Merethe Sandmo’s tip-off. If Sandmo and Ballo are lovers, the chances are she’ll withdraw her statement and then we’ll have nothing.’
‘But what do you think? Did these three kill the guard?’
Gunnarstranda stood up. ‘Right now I don’t believe anything.’ He went towards the door. ‘What bothers me is another mystery,’ he mumbled.
‘What’s that?’
‘If four men broke into the container that night, why did Merethe Sandmo only mention three names?’
Frank Frølich shrugged his shoulders.
‘You agree it’s a little odd?’
‘Yes.’
‘There are three possibilities. Either she didn’t know about the fourth man or she’s keeping stumm about him or the tip-off was a fabrication.’
‘Maybe Astrup is pulling a fast one? And there were only three men?’
‘Doubt it. His statement clarifies the course of events, gives a motive for the murder and the explanation fits in with the burned rubber on the road outside the fence.’
‘So there were four men.’
Gunnarstranda nodded. ‘If you succeed in finding her – Elisabeth Faremo – try to coax a couple of relevant names out of her.’
‘Belonging to whom?’
‘The fourth robber.’
17
Inspector Gunnarstranda drove along Drammensveien and turned off at Lysaker. He was going to see Reidun Vestli and wasn’t happy about it. Why was he going? he wondered. Was it to do Frølich a favour? No. Even though he was aware of the value of Frølich’s instincts. The problem was that initiatives to do with Reidun Vestli didn’t fall within the jurisdiction of his investigation.
That was why he had decided to justify this initiative by telling himself it was important to establish Elisabeth Faremo’s trustworthiness. Reidun Vestli might be able to give them more information so that they could assess the defence’s main witness. He parked alongside a red picket fence and strolled up the drive to her house. It was cold. The sun, almost colourless and cold, shimmered between two roofs covered with hoar frost. He stopped in front of the brown teak door with the lion’s-head door knocker and reflected for a moment before he rang. Nothing happened. There wasn’t a sound to be heard. He grabbed the handle in the lion’s jaws, brought it down hard and discovered that the front door was unlocked and ajar. He listened. There was a small bang, like something, an object, falling onto the floor. He looked around him. Everywhere lifeless windows reflected back at him. The light breeze caused the front door to close with a clunk against the bolt. He knocked again. Again there was that thud.