‘I wanted to discuss something called “the safe list” and a few young women, one called -’
‘And on whose authority have you come here?’
‘On the greatest authority in the world,’ I said. ‘On the authority of all who have children!’
He looked at me lugubriously. Then he nodded towards the chair as though I were a patient to whom he had to give a sentence of certain death.
I sat down. ‘I think you know what we’re talking about. There’s no point beating about the bush. Torild Skagestøl is dead, one of the other girls has spilled the beans. The only thing that might help you now, once the police get going, is whatever Birger Bjelland had over you.’ He didn’t react to the name at all. His look remained just as dead and glassy as before. Then he lifted the receiver and keyed in an eight-figure number.
Faintly I heard a woman’s voice answer.
‘Dr Evensen here. Is he there? Yes, it is. Thank you.’
He looked at the window. It was still snowing. The roar of the traffic from Strandgaten sounded strangely muffled. I wondered whether it was on account of the snow or whether he had particularly well-insulated windows.
‘Yes, it’s er… – I have a chap here called Veum. He -’
It was a man’s voice this time, and it didn’t sound any too pleasant. I noticed that a few beads of sweat had appeared on Dr Evensen’s brow.
‘What? Yes, he’s sit -… He claims he knows everything. He even says… Yes. No. I see. I’ll count on that, then. Goodb -’ The connection was broken with a sharp sound at the other end.
Then he turned to face me again. ‘I’ve nothing to say. If the police come, I’ll insist on my lawyer being present.’
‘Maybe your lawyer should also have been present when you were examining those girls in the evenings?’
‘I’ve told you I’m not saying anything.’
‘You’ve already said more than enough. That telephone conversation… the safe list!’ I leaned forward so abruptly that a sharp pain stabbed through my head like an icicle. ‘Oh God!’
He looked at me with no trace of sympathy.
‘I’ve squashed people like you before,’ I said, ‘so don’t feel too safe! Doctor? Don’t make me laugh! If Hippocrates had turned up here he’d have stopped in his tracks and turned tail. Did you never stop to think for a second that you were dealing with young girls – children? That they had parents who were concerned for their welfare?’
His look of embarrassment signalled that I was the one making a fool of myself. ‘I think you should go now, Veum. My waiting room’s full of patients, and -’
‘And I’ve a good mind to go out and tell them what kind of a doctor you really are, Dr Evensen!’
‘If you do that, you’ll hear from my lawyer, let me tell you! Is that clear?’
‘I have a lawyer myself, Evensen. Just wait till you see the newspaper headlines the day we go to court. I shan’t be the one losing my clients, you can be sure of that!’
His eyes followed me right to the door like cold clammy fingers on my neck.
His secretary did not look too charming either, and crossing the waiting room was like skiing across Greenland in a howling midwinter gale. As I passed the indignant lady from earlier, I glanced sideways and muttered: ‘I can count on your vote then, can I? Is that a promise?’
Forty-four
I MET VIDAR WAAGENES in the police station.
‘What on earth’s happened to you?’ he asked, nodding at my face.
‘A car accident.’
‘Serious?’
‘Mainly for the car.’
As we walked down the stairs to the remand cells, he said: ‘You’ve been engaged pro forma to assist the defence in their work. But I wasn’t thinking of paying you any fee, just so we both know where we stand.’
‘Are things that tight?’
‘Not if you should turn up something I can use. In that case, I’ll be willing to discuss it. Fair enough?’
‘D’accord.’
The police sergeant in the remand section checked our papers thoroughly before letting us into the cell where Helge Hagavik sat reading a popular men’s magazine of the kind which mainly concentrated on hunting, fishing, crime and naked women.
Helge Hagavik was both larger and in more impressive shape than I’d anticipated. His hair was light blonde, short and curly, and his skin still had a faint trace of colour from the solarium. He looked well built: no bodybuilding fanatic but not a skinny long-distance runner either. When he stood up I saw that he was nearer six foot one, with clean regular features. It wasn’t hard to understand that this was the sort a sixteen-year-old girl could have fallen for.
‘Hello, Helge!’ said Vidar Waagenes with forced heartiness. ‘This is Veum, who thinks he may have something to contribute, to your case I mean.’
Helge Hagavik eyed me suspiciously. ‘How exactly?’
‘I’m a private investigator. I was hired to find Torild when she went missing from home.’
This did not make him any less suspicious. ‘What might you be able to contribute?’
‘A few facts I’ve gathered during my investigation.’
‘Shall we sit down?’ Vidar Waagenes suggested. He had brought in a Windsor chair, which he pushed over to me, himself sitting on the bunk beside Helge Hagavik.
‘And what facts are those?’
‘Are we agreed that you knew Torild Skagestøl?’
He looked at his defence lawyer, who nodded. ‘Yes,’ he muttered.
‘Where did you meet her?’
He shrugged. ‘Somewhere in town. At a pub or a disco.’ His eyes glazed over. ‘I don’t remember exactly.’
‘Not at Jimmy’s, then?’
He bit his lower lip nervously. ‘No, not – there.’
‘But the two of you did meet there later?’
‘Yes, but that was only because I worked there a bit.’
‘Doing what?’
‘Oh, tidying up and washing the floor, emptying the game machines and stuff.’
‘So you’re not at school?’
‘No, I dropped out.’
‘How old are you?’
‘Eighteen.’
‘Which school did you go to?’
‘Sixth Form College. Doing marketing. But I got sick of it. There was too much homework, and I was pissed off with school.’
‘So how did you get this job at Jimmy’s?’
‘I train a lot. Pump iron, go running and cycling, windsurfing, downhill skiing, anything that’s a buzz. I met the brother of the bloke who runs Jimmy’s down at the fitness centre…’
‘Kenneth?’
He moved his head slowly from side to side as though he was exercising his muscles there. ‘Yeah.’
‘All that ground’s been covered, Veum,’ Vidar Waagenes broke in. ‘Helge’s admitted he knew Torild. Also that they were going out together for a while. But to conclude from that -’
I interrupted him. ‘Were going out together for a while? So was it over?’
Helge Hagavik looked almost embarrassed. ‘Yes. – From my side at any rate.’
‘But the two of you were seen together last Thursday.’
He blinked with both eyes. ‘Last…’
‘Yes, the week she disappeared! You were one of the last people she was seen with. And it was you who – found her. The police aren’t stupid, you know. It’s not without reason that you’re in here.’
‘Veum,’ Vidar Waagenes began to say.
‘But I didn’t kill her…’
‘No, I don’t think you did either.’ I let my words sink in to both of them for a moment before adding: ‘So it’s all the more important for you to tell the truth! Don’t you understand that? However painful or difficult it is.’
‘Yes… I could never have killed her…’
‘No? How long did you go out together?’
He wagged his head a little. ‘A couple of months.’
‘When?’
‘Last autumn.’
‘And were you really going out together? You know what I mean, don’t you? Did you go to bed with her?’