The Last Fix [En liten gyllen ring no]

Eidesenstood there with his head hanging. He was considering the situation. That muchwas obvious. When he finally straightened up he did so with a worn, somewhatresigned expression on his face. 'Henning Kramer,' he mumbled.

Frølichcoughed and took notes.

Gunnarstranda:'Why did you think she was with the conscientious objector?'

'Shespent a lot of time with him.'

'Aboyfriend?'

'Accordingto Katrine they were… ' Eidesen curled both index fingers,'… just goodfriends.'

'Butyou didn't believe that?'

'Areyou starting again?' Eidesen looked tired.

Gunnarstrandashook his head. 'I would like to know your opinion. What kind of relationshipdid the two of them have? It makes me especially curious when you assume shehas spent the night with the man. What kind of person is Henning?'

'Whatkind of person?' Eidesen shrugged. 'A skinny guy, long hair, bit of fluff onthe end of his chin, grins a lot, obsessed by philosophy.'

'Philosophy?'

'Yes,philosophical questions, sitting and thinking, writing poems, likes cooking,obsessed with Buddhist tosh – every woman's dream guy.'

'CanI take it that you neither like cooking, writing poems nor debating philosophicalquestions?'

'Youcan take whatever you like. But I do not like and have never liked HenningKramer. That's no secret.' v.

'Butyou believe he and Katrine were having a relationship.'

Eidesentook his time. 'Relationship,' he mumbled. 'I would guess they were very goodfriends, as they say. In any case Katrine claimed Henning was a friend and nota lover. Nevertheless, now and then I did wonder. They seemed to know eachother so well.'

'Explain.'

'Theywere very intimate with each other, the way married people can be. They didhave something private going between them.'

'Andyou thought she was with Henning that night?'

'Yes.'

'Youmust have thought there was something going on between them.'

'Sheclaimed Henning was like a girlfriend.'

'Agirlfriend? Is he gay?'

'Don'tthink so, but they were friends.'

'Shedidn't have any girlfriends?'

'No.'

'Noneat all?'

'Nonethat I know of.'

'Isn'tthat strange?'

'Maybe,I didn't think about it. She may have had female friends, but I don't know ofanyone close anyway.'

Gunnarstrandalooked down. 'All right,' he mumbled, then homed in on the young man's eyesagain. 'Were you jealous of Henning?'

'Ihave been.'

'Wereyou that night?'

'No.'

'Whynot?'

'Noidea.'

'Butyou come home at night expecting to find your girlfriend there. She isn't andyou conclude as a matter of course that she is with another man. Yet you arenot jealous?'

'I wasn'tjealous.'

'AndI find that a little hard to believe!'

'Fine,'snapped Eidesen. 'You want me to be jealous so what the hell does it matter? Ifyou want, I can say I was. If that makes you feel better. Yes, I can say I wasjealous. Are you happy now?'

'No!'

'Andwhy not?' Eidesen stood up and screamed the word into the face of thepoliceman, who calmly said, 'Sit down.'

Eidesensat down and Gunnarstranda cleared his throat in a formal-sounding manner. 'Iwant to know what happened,' he said in a quiet voice. 'As I mentioned before,I don't bluff and I don't tell lies. I am a civil servant, that is all, andhave nothing to gain by either bluffing or lying. I only want to do my job,which is to discover the truth. You have confronted me with two possiblehypotheses. Either you were jealous or you were not jealous. Let's imagine youwere jealous that night. She was found murdered two to three kilometres fromhere. Let's say she was on her way here that night. What are the consequences ofthis hypothesis? Suppose we say you met outside or that maybe you went out -restless because she was not here waiting for you. It was beginning to getlight and you met her on the way here. Perhaps you asked where she had been.Perhaps she admitted what you suspected, that she had been with Kramer. Perhapsthat started a row with a fatal conclusion. That fits the facts of the casevery well – the killer must have been furious with the victim. If the victimhad cheated on or deceived the killer you can understand the fury. Do youunderstand? Was that how it happened'

'No,'Eidesen said in a resigned tone.

'Shecould have come here,' the policeman continued. 'For all I know, you may havekilled her here, in this chair.'

Gunnarstrandasat watching Eidesen running two fingers down the sides of his nose. Thesilence persisted.

Frølichcould feel that he was hungry. As if on cue his stomach rumbled. Both Eidesenand Gunnarstranda glared at him. Frølich cleared his throat and changedsitting position.

'Whydid you let her leave the party so early on her own?' Gunnarstranda asked atlength.

'Theparty? She felt unwell and I was enjoying myself.'

'Butyou were a stranger there, weren't you?'

'Nomore of a stranger than Katrine was.'

'Abit more of a stranger than Katrine was. She knew the hosts. You knew no one inthe house.'

'Iwas a guest like everyone else and it was a good party.'

'Goodin what way?'

'Therewere some good stories told. They were good people.'

'Youleft with, amongst others, this woman, Merethe Fossum. She's about your age,isn't she?'

'Abit younger.' Eidesen's eyes were now those of someone who was concentrating onnot looking away. ^v 'You had a good time. I mean it was just youtwo, wasn't it?'

'Itwas packed with people, but we danced a little, chatted a little.'

'We?So you were a couple?'

'Wewere not a couple. I was with Katrine!'

'Butyou and this Merethe got on well, had good chemistry even before Katrine leftthe party, didn't you?'

'No.'

'Thatwasn't why Katrine left, was it? Because you were coming on to other women?'

'Idid not come on to anyone.'

'Butyou danced with her. And you admitted you had a row with Katrine.'

'Wedidn't argue about things like that.'

'Wheredoes she live?'

'Who?'

'MeretheFossum.'

'InGagleberg, on the bend at the start of the road up to Ryenberget, Vеlerenga.'

'Howdo you know?'

'Wesplit the fare home. She got out there.'

Gunnarstrandamotioned to Frølich, who stood up and went to the door. But then heremembered something. 'One last thing,' Frølich said as his colleagueunbuttoned his jacket and rolled himself a cigarette.

Eidesenraised a weary head. 'Yes?'

'Weknow the clothes she was wearing, but this was a party. What jewellery was shewearing?'

'Jewellery…'Eidesen mused. 'A thin gold chain around her neck. Maybe a couple of bracelets.She had an incredible eye for bracelets. Always wore some round here.' Heillustrated by holding his wrist. 'They jangled. She thought it was cool ifthey jangled.'

'Anymore?'

'Nothingstands out.'

'Norings?'

'Yes,of course, she always wore a lot of gold.'

'Andin her ears?'

'Yes.I bought them myself. A present. Two cannabis leaves – in gold, one for eachear.'

'Ithought she was clean.'

'Shewas.'

'Butcannabis leaves…?'

'Yes,what about it?'

Frølichwaved him away. 'Nothing,' he mumbled, waiting for Gunnarstranda, whoshouldered his way past the much taller and stronger Ole Eidesen. 'You areinstructed to attend the Institute of Forensics within the next twenty-fourhours,' said Inspector Gunnarstranda, putting a cigarette in his mouth. 'Thereyou need to give a DNA sample. You have twenty-four hours. Good evening.'

Chapter Sixteen

Discussions in the Rain

Therain was attempting to wash away a small, narrow biro mark on Frølich’sleft thumb. A raindrop struck the line about every third second. He hardly feltit; he was about as wet as it was possible to be. The material of his rainjacket was as stiff as cardboard, and the water trickled down his sleeves anddripped off both hands. The blue line contrasted with the summer-brown skin ofhis hand.