The Water's Edge

'I've given him my telephone number. Perhaps he'll call.'

'There's not much evil in him,' Skarre said. 'Just fear.' He looked at the inspector. 'There is something I've been meaning to ask you. Do you remember Andor? The chap we met down on Guttestranda?'

'Of course I remember Andor.'

'Did you move your chair?'

'Yes, I did.'

'And? Is your psoriasis better?'

'Now that you mention it, it is, actually. But apart from that he was totally on the wrong track with those visions of his.'

'Not at all,' Skarre said. 'And it's strange, I hardly know what to say. We found Edwin in the earth cellar lying on a mattress. I went on the net and looked up "Hasselbäck" and yes, it's a place in Sweden, in Västmanland. But I also discovered that Hasselbäck is the name of a sprung mattress from IKEA.'

Sejer drove up to Linde Forest and parked by the barrier. Elfrid Løwe was sitting next to him, her hands resting in her lap.

'This is where he parked the car,' Sejer said. 'He carried Jonas the rest of the way.'

She looked at the barrier.

'This is where he met the couple who later identified him. Without them we would never have caught him. Shall we get out?'

She opened the door and put her feet on the ground. Sejer walked around the car and took her arm. She felt the warmth from the setting sun and the strength from the man next to her.

'Brein is a pathetic creature,' she said.

Sejer nodded. 'I'm sure you're right. He has settled into life in prison, he says his days are fine. I ask him if he thinks of Jonas, if he repents. He says every single hour of the day.'

'Do you believe him?'

'No.'

They walked on in silence. Sejer tried to match his long stride to her short steps.

'Did you take a lot of photos?' she asked.

'Yes, we did. We have to, they're an important part of the investigation.'

'What happens to them when the case is closed?'

'They're filed with the rest of the documents. No outsider will have access to them, if that's what you meant. If I were you, I wouldn't ask to see them.'

'I haven't.' Then in a milder voice. 'The weather was fine, wasn't it? Do you remember how warm it was last September, summer temperatures.'

'Yes.'

Sejer recalled it. 'We were working in shirt-sleeves. The day after, it grew cooler and the autumn set in.'

They were further into the woods. Sejer held some branches back and Elfrid ducked under them.

'He chose this place with care,' Sejer said. 'People are complex. Despite the awful thing he had done, he tried to do something right. Jonas should not be found in a ditch.'

'You don't expect me to be grateful for that, do you?'

'No,' he smiled. 'I was just thinking out loud.'

Finally he saw the clearing. He recognised the small cluster of trees and the log pile.

'Here, Elfrid, by those trees,' he said.

She stopped. Put her hand over her mouth.

'He lay face down,' Sejer said, 'with his arms by his side.'

'And without his trousers,' she said.

'Yes. That was how it was.'

'What did you think?' she asked. 'What was your first thought when you saw Jonas lying there without his trousers?'

'I wondered what I would say when I met you. I was also relieved. He was whole and fine.'

She smiled a brave smile.

'It's a fine place,' she said. 'Very fine.' She sat down on the logs. Sejer remained standing looking at the scenery, all the smells of the forest wafted through the air.

'His punishment was far too lenient,' she said.

'Brein's, you mean?'

'Yes.'

'What kind of punishment do you think he deserved? What would have satisfied you and Jonas?'

'Not the death penalty,' she said quickly. 'You didn't think that's what I meant?'

'Not for one second.'

'Well,' she hesitated. 'I don't want him to have too much nourishment. And I don't mean food. I mean all other sources of nourishment, for the soul and the heart. Experiences, warmth and kindness.'

'He'll have some of those. Does that torment you?'

'Yes. His days shouldn't be good.'

She looked up at him with despair in her eyes.

'Imagine if he's laughing right this moment,' she said. 'Sometimes I can see him laughing. It's unbearable.'

'But he'll have his dark moments, too,' Sejer said. 'Alone in his cell. And he has nowhere to go.'

'There are many like Brein,' said Elfrid.

'Yes,' he said. 'As long as adults make mistakes and as long as parents abuse, they will create new abusers.'

'Thank you,' she said softly.

'What are you thanking me for?'

'Everything.'

'Please forgive me for putting it this way,' Sejer said, 'but it has been a privilege to know both you and Jonas August. I wouldn't have missed it for anything.'

They walked back to the car. They did not speak for a long time, but finally when they reached the main road, she turned to him and asked:

'Can I call you?'

'Of course.'

'I mean, can I call you when things get really bad?'

'You can call me any time,' he said. 'We know each other now.'

'There's a bond between us,' she said, 'and I need to keep that bond for ever.'

That night it started to rain.

Yet he stayed in the park, there was nothing for him to go home to, the rooms were empty and cold. She had left him in the most cowardly way imaginable and she had planned it carefully. He felt a violent need to vent his rage, but he gritted his teeth. He was not going to whine, it was not his style. There was a grid of narrow tarmac paths in the park. He wandered around aimlessly. Soon he reached a crossroads. In the centre of it was a rotunda with a pretty statue of a little girl, she was naked. He slumped on to a bench and watched her. She was frozen mid leap, she was laughing and her arms were outstretched. He started thinking she was coming towards him, that at any second now she would jump on to his lap, but when he tried to catch her eye, she stared blindly past him. The rain trickled down the back of his neck and his shoes were letting in water, but he stayed where he was. Things would turn out the way he wanted them to, sooner or later. A little girl would emerge from the trees, she would be wearing a red raincoat, and he would get up from the bench and flash her a dazzling smile.

Karin Fossum

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