The Last Fix [En liten gyllen ring no]

'Abag, a little shoulder bag…' Eidesen fixed his gaze on Gunnarstranda, who tookoff his coat, walked a few paces over to the free manila chair, placed itopposite Eidesen and sat down. He then rested his head on his hands and said ina low voice, 'I always lay my cards on the table and I never lie.'

'Isthat right?'

'ButI'm a real bastard, Eidesen, a real bastard. Did you know that?'

Eidesen,puzzled, shook his head

'Butthat's how the game's played,' Gunnarstranda said. 'Now and then there arecertain advantages to being a bastard. From what I understand you were, or hadbeen at some point, Katrine's boyfriend. Right now I cannot make allowances forthat. The most important thing is to find out who killed her and, for all Iknow, that could have been you. I don't know. No one knows except the killer.'-›-

Eidesennodded again. He was ill at ease.

'Didyou kill Katrine Bratterud?'

Eidesenwinced. 'No.'

'Shedied what pathologists here call a gruesome death,' Gunnarstranda said.

Eidesenlooked up.

'Wedon't know why the killer did what he did. The conclusion, however, is that shetook a very long time to die. A very long time.'

Eidesenwas breathing with his mouth open. There was silence in the flat; onlyEidesen's heavy breathing was audible.

Inthe end Gunnarstranda broke the silence again. 'The fact that it took a longtime means that the killer had time and the opportunity to stop and let herlive. So what, one might ask? Does it matter when she's dead anyway? Well, thetime it takes to kill her suggests two very important pieces of information. Itmeans we're talking about malice aforethought.' He stared at Eidesen in theensuing silence.

'And?'Eidesen asked with face raised.

'Ifsomeone is hellbent on eliminating a threat someone poses, there can be two causesfor what happens. Two causes that seem feasible. The killer may be trying toprotect his own life. But I don't believe that to be the case here. Evenstrangulation must have taken several minutes, which means she put up someresistance. She must have been lashing out with her arms and legs. So we have asituation in which the assailant is waiting for her to die. This killer wasn'tdefending himself, which may mean that he was blinded by fury – or quiteunemotional at the time of the crime.'

Fromthe kitchen they heard the refrigerator switch itself on. Frølich alsoheard a hollow ticking sound in the silence. It was a small table clock on topof the television – a new black Philips.

Eidesenstroked the cuts on his face. 'I would imagine she resisted,' he mumbled.

Thepoliceman nodded without saying anything. He looked into Eidesen's eyes andsaid: 'Were you and Katrine having some disagreements?'

Eidesenshook his head.

'Pleasearticulate your answers.'

'Hm?'

'Answermy questions with words not body language. Frank Frølich, in the chairover there, will note down your answers.'

'No,we didn't argue very often.'

'OnSaturday 7^th June you both went to a party held by Annabeth s. Isthat correct?'

'Yes,it is.' 'Is fru Ås a friend of yours?'

'No,the invitation came via Katrine. Annabeth is the boss of the rehab centre whereKatrine was a patient, a part-time patient.'

'Howlong did you stay at the party?'

'Ileft at about midnight.'

'Did youleave alone or with someone else?'

'Alone…that is there were several of us splitting the taxi fare.'

'AndKatrine?'

'Shewas ill and went home.'

'Beforeyou?'

'Ithink so.'

'Whydo you think she left the party before you?'

'Shewas in a bad way, throwing up.'

Gunnarstrandafurrowed his brow; his interest was caught. 'Did she have a habit of throwingup?'

Eidesen:'A habit? She was ill.'

'Butdid she suffer from an eating disorder? Did she often throw up?'

'Notat all.' Eidesen continued in a dry voice, 'After we had eaten, a good whilelater, she went to the bathroom and threw up. She said she didn't feel well.'He fell silent.

'Soyou interpreted this behaviour of hers as a case of illness, gastric flu orsomething like that?' 'Yes, that is, at first I thought she might have beendrinking.'

'Butshe hadn't been?'

'No.She said she hadn't touched a drop all evening.'

'Butdid she seem drunk?'

'No.'

'Whatdid you do? Ring for a taxi?'

'No.'

Gunnarstrandawaited. Eidesen cleared his throat again. 'I think she did that. She said shewanted to go, and a little later she was nowhere to be seen.'

'Butyou didn't see her go?'

'No.I didn't see her anywhere, so I presumed she must have left.'

'Didyou have a row?'

'No.'

'Whydidn't you say goodbye or make sure she found her way home OK?'

'Therewas a bit of tension between us.'

'Soyou did have a row?'

Eidesenshrugged.

'Shewas ill, wanted to go home. You wanted to stay. You couldn't agree. You had arow?'

'Wedidn't have a row.'

'If Iwere to say a guest at the party saw you involved in a loud altercation beforeshe left, what would you say?'

'OK,that's true. But I don't remember it being loud. It was more the atmospherethat was unpleasant. She didn't want me to stay.'

Gunnarstrandawas quiet. The sunshine broke through the large south-facing windows and specksof dust danced in the air. 'Ole,' he said. 'May I call you Ole?'

Eidesennodded.

'Incases like these, out of self-respect, you must stick to the truth from thevery first moment. Otherwise you'll get into a lot of trouble. Do youunderstand?' Without waiting for a response he went on: 'Well, Ole, did youhave a row or not? If you did, what did you row about?'

'Shewanted to leave the party because she was ill, but I didn't want to go. It wasfun there so then she got, well, she got… annoyed with me. That was what itwas. She was annoyed that I wouldn't accompany her home.'

'Didshe say that? That you should accompany her?'

'No,but I interpreted her annoyance in that way.'

'Tellme about her illness.'

'Well,she just fainted, sideways. We were standing and chatting to some women fromthe centre, including the one whose house it was, Annabeth s. All of a suddenKatrine collapsed, towards me, with her eyes rolling. Out cold. There was a bitof a palaver and I went to the bathroom with her. She had just fainted for asecond or two, then she threw up in the toilet bowl.'

'Didshe give any explanation for this attack?'

'No.'

'Hadthis happened before?'

Eidesenjutted forward his lips and considered the question. 'Not like that. I don'tthink I'd ever seen her faint before, but she had been really dreading thisparty.'

'Whywas that?'

'That'show she was. Couldn't quite manage social gatherings with people she didn'tknow. And she was dreading spending a whole evening with these particularpeople. She felt she was on display because she was a patient.'

'Butdid she express her terror that day?'

'Notin so many words. But…' Ole Eidesen pulled a face. 'She had been very bitchyearlier in the day. Argued with me a lot.'

'Arguedwith you?' ^v

'Yes,we were at her place. I was watching football and then we started arguing. Thatis, she started.'

'Whatabout?'

Eidesenshook his head. 'She wanted to use the phone and I wasn't allowed to watch TV.She turned down the sound and we had a row. It was the Saturday afternoonfixture for the pools coupon, wasn't it. She was in a real state!'

'Andyou interpreted this as a bout of nerves?'

'Yes.'

'Andwhat was she nervous about?'

'Goingto the party. She didn't want to go, but felt she had to.'

'Backto the party. What were you talking about when she fainted?'

'Idon't remember. It was just chat. I think Annabeth was complimenting her onbeing so clever and all that. I don't remember her exact words.'

'Wereyou drunk?'

'Iwas in a good mood. There was wine with the meal and brandy afterwards, quite alot of brandy.'