'Wehave tried to ring, but for some reason or other no one answers the phone. Ihave a suggestion to make,' Frølich said with calm. 'I suggest you knockon Haugom's door and ask him to set aside ten minutes. The alternative is thatI call him in for questioning at the police station. He has a legal obligationto appear, which would mean his losing four hours, at least. You can put downthe phone and ask him which he prefers. It's his choice – not mine.'
Thewoman closed her eyes and put down the telephone. 'People are so bloody cheeky,'she said in a low mumble as she went into the room behind the counter.
Soonafter she showed him the way through the same door. They walked through roomssmelling of medicine, rooms equipped with folding screens, recliners covered inpaper towels and eye charts on the wall. A similar chart was hanging inHaugom's office.
ErikHaugom received him with an outstretched arm. A doctor with a ruddy complexion,the statutory white coat and a tuft of grey chest hair protruding at the topover the buttons. He ran his tongue round his teeth at the bottom of his mouth.His jaw resembled a filing cabinet drawer ©f. 'You must excuse our ladies,' hesaid. 'You know this is a clinic and some of the oddest fruitcakes can make anoccasional appearance. Two months ago – Inger Marie, you've just met her, wason duty at the time – a man appeared out of nowhere in reception. It wasimpossible to get through to this person. Decent type, properly dressed, youknow, suit and tie and so on. And he just stood there without moving. Withoutsaying a single word. Quite the shop window dummy. What do you do? They alltried talking to him while he stood there rooted to the floor. I don't think heeven blinked for twenty minutes. In the end the man started undressing. Can youimagine that? Without a qualm, one garment after the other, nicely folded overhis arm. And there he was, standing in all his horrid nakedness, then he walkedright out in the buff, through the waiting room, down the stairs and into thestreet. Can you imagine that? The world has not been the same since for IngerMarie. Take a seat,' he said, holding a chair out for the policeman. 'Yourname's Frølich, isn't it? The poor woman managed to remember thatanyway.'
'Mm,'Frølich said, taking a seat. 'I won't detain you for long. This is aboutthe party at Annabeth s's place.'
Haugomsat down behind the desk and nodded.
'Didyou also know Katrine Bratterud?' the policeman asked.
'Notvery well.' Haugom smiled. It was a strained smile – his tongue was playingwith his lower teeth – a sort of nervous twitch that had become fixed and forthat reason would not melt away.
'Sigrid,my wife, talked about her,' the doctor went on as Frølich was silent.'She talks a lot about her work. The way women do. Isn't that right? A woman'sthing – talking about your job come what may? I have a friend who teaches atthe high school. That is, we play bridge together – Sigrid and I with thiscouple. And the man, Mogren's his name, Mogren tells us about these nightmarecolleagues of his, women who talk ad nauseam about their problems instead ofdoing their job. You're a policeman. I'm a doctor. How would it be if I talkedabout every bloody patient and every genital wart or gonorrhoea- infected penisor hypochondriac I meet on a daily basis, eh?'
'I amaware of the problem.'
'Ishould think you are. But I don't suppose it was our marital difficulties youwanted us to talk about?'
'Soyou didn't know Katrine Bratterud?'
'No…Yes, by sight. Attractive girl, breasts, long legs, attractive girl, wasn'tshe?' w
'Myunderstanding is that you drove your wife to the party on the Saturday, and youpicked her up later that night.'
'Indeed,that's correct. Wretched business this attractive girl getting murdered, isn'tit!'
'Whendid you collect your wife?'
'Justafter four o'clock in the morning.'
'Thatwas very kind-hearted of you.'
'I'lltell you something, Frølich. I've done this job all through ourmarriage. I'm no modern man; I don't do anything in the kitchen and I don'tdarn my stockings. But I do what is expected of me as a husband. Which includespicking up Sigrid when she wants to come home.'
Frølichglanced up. What is expected of me as a husband, he thought. That was anambitious objective. He looked down again.
'Didyou sit up waiting for her to call?'
'Ofcourse. I am her husband.'
Thepoliceman took a deep breath. He could not quite come to terms with thetransfixed grimace on Haugom's lips.
'Howdo you pass the time?' he asked.
'Here?'
'No,I mean while you're sitting up for your wife.'
'It'sthe sort of investment that pays dividends over time in a marriage,' the doctorsaid with a faint smile. 'In this field I can speak with a certain professionalgravitas. There are many myths about the recipe for a successful relationship.The secret is the small investments that cost very little, for example patienceand tolerance. Besides, I enjoy such moments. Night time is the best time,especially light summer nights. Just going for a walk, eh? The silence and theblue-grey light. Or sitting on the veranda and reading, smoking a good cigar.It takes over an hour; time slips away without your noticing. You should smokecigars. I can see from your fingers you don't smoke much. Perhaps you belong tothis hysterical generation that always has to do things right, stick needles inrather than take medicine, who think they can prevent cancer by eating wrinkledapples and unchewable black bread. Well, I don't know. Appearances can deceive.I'm sure you're a fine man, but you should smoke cigars. It gives your soul amore profound calm. Recommended by doctors, you might say. So that you don'thave to suffer from an uneasy conscience.'
'Whenyou arrived there,' Frølich asked, 'to pick up your wife, that is, werethere many guests left?'
'None.'
'Justyour wife?'
'Yes,she'd been helping to wash the ashtrays and clear away the bottles and so on.'
'Was BjørnGerhardsen there?'
'Yes,my understanding was that he had just returned from a little trip to town.Devil of a fellow. Goes to town and leaves his wife at home, eh? At anotherparty, I wouldn't mind betting. He's a modern man, Gerhardsen is. But he knowshow to enjoy the good things in life, even if he is modern.'
'Canyou remember what the exact time was when you arrived?'
'Fiveminutes past four.'
'Anddid you have any idea of how long Gerhardsen had been there?'
'No,but it can't have been long.'
'Whydo you say that?'
'Ileaned on the bonnet of the car he had been driving, and the engine was stillvery hot.'
'Werethey full of what had happened?'
'Whathad happened?'
'Thebusiness of Katrine's sickness during the evening.'
'Idon't think so, no. It was the middle of the night after all. My goodness, theywere as tired as hell, the three of them. It was already the day after.'
Thepoliceman stood up. 'Thank you for taking the time to talk to me at such shortnotice,' he said. He went to the door, but turned as though he had rememberedsomething.
'Yes?'Haugom said from his desk.
'Mm,I read your column now and then,' Frølich said after some hesitation.
'Whichone?' Haugom asked, his chin in the air.
'Well,if only I knew,' Frølich said, lowering his eyes.
Haugomsent him an indulgent smile. 'You had a question perhaps?'
'It'sgone from my head now,' Frølich said, grasping the door handle. 'I'll bein touch if I think of it.'
Chapter Twenty-Four
Gunnarstrandawas reading through Frølich’s report and smacked the sheet in annoyance.'Is she stupid or what?' he said, looking across at Frølich who was sittingin the low armchair beneath the window. Frølich was weighing a greendart in his hand. He took aim and let his forearm rock backwards and forwardsas if on a spring until he threw the dart at the board he had positionedbetween two box files on the shelf above his desk.
'Shecan't be,' Frølich answered from a different world. 'She has a job andan education.' He took another dart off the coffee table beside him.