The Last Fix [En liten gyllen ring no]

Eidesendidn't answer. He gently cleared his throat. Gunnarstranda strolled over to thewindow and placed his palms against the hollow of his back.

'Thereis one thing,' Eidesen said in a hoarse voice.

Gunnarstrandalooked up at the blue sky. Over the ridge to the west a flying object was justdiscernible, a hang glider. He didn't answer, didn't turn around.

'Katrinedid have a very colourful past,' Eidesen said. 'Imagine you were with someonewho had done everything with everyone.' ^

Eidesenfell silent, and at long last Gunnarstranda came away from the window andrested his gaze on him. 'And what do you mean by that?' he asked airily.

'Idon't know,' Eidesen sighed. 'That's what I have to say and either youunderstand it or you don't.'

'Doyou know any of these men you have in mind?'

'I'mnot interested in any of them.'

'DidKatrine mention a man called Raymond?'

'Don'tthink so.'

'RaymondSkau?'

'No.'

'Quitesure?'

'I'venever heard the name before, neither from her nor anyone else.'

'Whathappened on the day of the party? When did you meet?'

'Iwas already at home when she arrived. She worked on that Saturday.'

'Athome?'

'Istayed over at hers, from the Friday. We went to the cinema to see a filmcalled The Matrix. Terrific film, I thought. But I don't think sheenjoyed it very much. And it was crazy.'

'Whywas that?'

'Becauseshe liked that kind of film, action films, I mean, with tough-guy actors, CGIeffects and so on, but she was very distant…'

'Distant?'

'Yes,distant, but afterwards we went back to her flat in Hovseter. It was late andwe went to bed. I woke up as she was going to work… at about a quarter pasteight, I think. They opened at nine, so she left in good time to be there fornine.'

Gunnarstrandamoved away from the window. He crossed the floor and sat in the chair oppositeEidesen. 'And you?' he asked.

'Ihad a day off, so I stayed in bed. I slept a little, don't remember when I gotup, but it was late morning. I went for some exercise, ran down to Bogstad andback, and afterwards I bought a couple of newspapers, read them and made somefood for when she came back.'

'Whenwas that?'

'Afternoontime – half past two – three maybe.'

'Andthen?'

'Weate. She took a shower and so on. I watched football on TV, Molde v Stabæk…finished in a draw, 0-0.'

'Whatdid she do?'

Eidesenshrugged. 'Don't remember. She just did her own thing, trying on clothes and soon.' 'Clothes?'

'Yes,she was a bit stressed about what to wear in the evening.'

'Andotherwise?'

'Shewas on the phone…'

'Whodid she ring?'

'Noidea. I was watching the football. It finished at about six.'

'Didshe still seem distant?'

'Abit. But nervy too. Distant and nervy.'

Gunnarstrandawaited.

'Itwas my impression she was in a flap because of the party.'

'Areyou sure?'

'Howdo you mean?'

'Well,she might have talked about other things. Something might have happened atwork.'

Eidesenshook his head.

'Soshe didn't say anything about her job?'

'No.'

'Howmany calls did she make?'

'Several.I wasn't following.'

'Butdid you hear what she was talking about?'

'No.She closed the door. The telephone's in the hallway, and I think the footballwas making quite a bit of noise, so she closed the door.' 'But how do you knowshe called several people?'

'Becauseshe hung up, paced up and down, sat on the sofa for a bit and then calledagain.'

'Howmany calls did she make?'

'Noidea.'

'Morethan two?'

'Itmust have been.'

'Three?Four? Five?'

'Threeor four, I guess.'

'Doyou know if she spoke to Sigrid Haugom?'

'It'spossible, but she didn't tell me who she spoke to.'

'Andyou weren't curious as to why she made four calls?'

Eidesenpulled a face and shook his head.

'That'srather odd,' the policeman said. 'I mean, most people would have wondered whathe'd got the girl into, wouldn't they?'

'Iassumed she was chatting, the way that girls do chatter to each other.'

'Areyou sure she wasn't trying to talk to you about something special that day andyou may not have realized?'

'Idon't understand what you mean.'

'Well,let's suppose something had happened at work and she wanted to talk to youabout it, but you were so busy watching TV that you didn't twig that she wantedto talk about something important, so…'

'No,'Eidesen said categorically. 'I would have sensed that.'

'Butwas she upset?'

'Shewas in a flap. But it was because of the bloody party. She was as nervous asshit about the party.'

'Howdid her nervousness manifest itself?'

'Shetried on a pile of clothes and she was… well… bitchy.'

'Bitchy?'

'Yes,almost pre-menstrual, nagging me about every sodding thing.'

'Aboutwhat for example?'

'Well,she was angry that I was watching football, that I hadn't folded up thenewspaper and that my jogging gear was strewn all over the bathroom, that sortof thing.'

'So shewas grumpy?'

'Grumpyis too mild. Bitchy is better.'

'Butwas that because of you?'

'Whatdo you mean now?'

'Iwas wondering whether these outbursts were unusual or whether she consideredyou lazy as regards tidying up.' 'No, no,' Eidesen reassured him. 'This wasunusual.'

'Accordingto another witness Katrine was wound up on this particular day because she hada secret she didn't want to tell.'

'Asecret?'

'Youdidn't notice anything?'

'Nothingat all.'

'Andthe word secret doesn't ring any bells? You didn't share some deepsecret no one else could be party to?'

'Notthat I can think of offhand.'

Thepoliceman nodded slowly. 'But there is one thing I don't understand,' he wenton. 'Why do you interpret this mood as an attack of nerves before the party?'

'Becausethat was what she said.'

'Tellme what she said.'

'Iasked her what was bothering her because she had thrown my tracksuit in myface, and she stood looking at me as though she was calming down andconsidering the question. Then she said she was nervous about the party.'

'Whatwere her words?'

Eidesenfurrowed his brow in thought. 'I said something like What's up with you? orWhat is it now? Something like that. And she said: I'm just so on edge!

'And?'the policeman said.

'That'swhat she said.'

'I'mjust so on edge?'

'That'swhat she said word for word.'

'Whydid you interpret that as nervousness?'

'Shewas on edge… tense,' Eidesen added, on seeing the policeman's scepticalexpression. 'That was what she meant when she used the phrase on edge. Shemeant tense, nervous.'

'Butmight she have meant something else? Could she have meant she was on edge aboutsomething that had happened or something that was going to happen?'

Eidesengave the matter some thought. 'It would have to be the party. That was how Iinterpreted it, anyway.'

'SigridHaugom says she received a telephone call from Katrine that Saturday,'Gunnarstranda said. 'She says Katrine was anxious because something hadhappened that day – at the travel agency – and she wanted to discuss it withher.'

Eidesenshrugged his shoulders.

'Wehave reason to believe she felt threatened.'

'Threatened?'

'Shedidn't mention any of this to you?'

Eidesenshook his head. 'Not that I can remember.'

'Ihave to ask you to think back one more time to when she was explaining to youwhy she was irritable. What were the precise words that she used?'

'Shesaid: I'm just so on edge!

'Areyou still sure it was the party that was making her nervous?'

'Notnow, not after what you said about threats. What sort of threats were they?'

'Howmuch did you know about Katrine's past?' Gunnarstranda asked in a compassionatetone.