'Haugomdid meet Henning,' Frølich said laconically. 'The guy is the dutifultype.'
'Wedon't know if Haugom drugged Henning, but it's very likely, anyway. Then hehanged him from the ceiling.'
'Helluvaguy,' Fristad said with a brief nod to two solicitors on their way out.
'Yes,it was clever. The so-called suicide almost made us decide to shelve the case.'
'Us?'Fristad laughed aloud. 'You, Gunnarstranda, you almost shelved the case. UnlessI am much mistaken, I urged you to keep going.'
Gunnarstrandaput another sugar lump on his tongue and sipped coffee in silence.
Fristadwas still grinning and grimacing.
Gunnarstrandawatched him from beneath heavy eyelids until the man's convulsions were over.Then he said: 'Sigrid had suspected her husband for a long time, but onlyunderstood the precise circumstances when Henning died. That led to someterrible fights between them. Which led to her taking sick leave and in the endtelling her husband that she had visited Bueng at the nursing home.'
Theysat looking into the air again. Frølich raised his arm and signalled thewaitress with two fingers. She immediately brought two more beers on a tray.
'SoBueng was the final threat,' Fristad said in an earnest voice. 'The motive forkilling the girl was to prevent the Lockert case from being solved. Henning waskilled to cover up the first crime. The same motive triggered the attempt onBueng's life.'
Gunnarstrandanodded. He turned to Frølich. 'At some point you could…' He bent downfor a brown leather briefcase and put it on the table. He undid two zips andopened the briefcase to take out a green notebook. '… take this to KatrineBratterud's mother,' he said, passing it to Frølich. 'I'm sure she wouldbe happy to have it.'
'Whatis it?' Frølich asked, examining the notebook with interest.
'Herdaughter,' Gunnarstranda said with a weary smile. 'The daughter she lost whenher husband died.'
Kjell Ola Dahl
The highly acclaimed and award winning crime writer K.O. Dahl's popular crime series is now rapidly becoming an international success and critics around the world have labeled him as Norway's answer to Henning Mankell. Dahl has been awarded with the Riverton Prize and nominated for Glasnyckeln (The Glass Key), Brage Literary Prize and the Martin Beck Award. His books include The Fourth Man, The Man in the Window, The Last Fix, and Lethal Investments.
