I was absolutely convinced that Patricia would get more out of the facts of the case. I thought to myself that no matter how irregular my contact with Patricia was, it was in a way my duty to call her when I thought that her help might be vital to solving the case.
But even after Miriam had disappeared from sight, I felt that it would be too much of a betrayal to phone Patricia behind her back. Also, I still wasn’t sure if Patricia would be willing to help me while Miriam was still around.
So I pushed it to one side and sat down on my own to listen to the news. I was somewhat relieved that the only mention of the politician’s murder was a brief report to say that the prime suspect had taken his own life in prison.
As was to be expected, the main stories were about the EEC and the demarcation line agreement with the Soviet Union. The first item was just as controversial today as it had been yesterday, whereas it seemed that the demarcation line issue was now close to agreement. The Government had had a draft agreement confirmed and the opposition was largely in favour of it, though it did have some reservations.
Despite this exciting news, my thoughts kept turning back to the murder investigation. When the evening news had finished reporting on my case, I was finished with it. I sat and looked through the papers I had been working on before I left the office.
They were copies of a short press release and two telegrams that had been sent to Oda Fredriksen at Bygdøy and Lene Johansen at Grønland, telling them that the investigation would continue for a few more days. Then there was a note of two telephone numbers, to three people I had not spoken to yet: Hauk Rebne Westgaard, and the couple Kjell Arne and Solveig Ramdal. The investigation was now becoming an obsession. It was increasingly clear to me that I would not be able to wait until tomorrow to pursue it.
XV
Hauk Rebne Westgaard answered the telephone when I rang at twenty-five to nine. ‘Westgaard, how can I help?’ he said, in a steady and controlled voice, without the slightest hint of joy.
Our conversation was short and to the point. I told him that I was leading the investigation into the murder of Per Johan Fredriksen and therefore had to ask him some routine questions in connection with the events that took place in 1932. He in turn told me that he had heard about the murder on the news and had been expecting the police to contact him. We agreed that it was a little too late to travel either to or from Holmestrand today. He said that he would be more than happy to talk to me, but was in the middle of renovations at the farm and would therefore not be able to come to Oslo until late afternoon the following day. I offered to drive down to Holmestrand and meet him there around ten o’clock in the morning. He said that that would work well for him and that I was very welcome.
My next telephone call was answered by a man who said: ‘The Ramdals, you are talking to Director Ramdal himself.’
When he heard who I was, he said that of course he knew what it was about and that they had expected to be contacted. His wife was at present visiting a daughter and would not be home until later, but he himself was there and had time if I wished to meet him now. I thanked him and said that I would.
I got into my car at a quarter to nine and drove to Frognerkilen. On my way there, I passed within a few hundred yards of Erling Skjalgsson’s Street. I wondered how Patricia was. I imagined her sitting there as she always did, in the library with the papers and reports about the case spread out in front of her. But I had made my decision, at least for today. And I did not even consider turning off into Frogner.
The Ramdals’ home was a generous detached house in a garden in the best part of Frognerkilen, with a view to the fjord in the background. Both the house and garden were bigger than I had anticipated. On my way up the drive, I found myself wondering whether the Ramdals knew the Borchmanns, and if they also had servants.
The answer to this proved to be no. When I rang the bell, the door was eventually opened by Kjell Arne Ramdal himself. He was a slightly overweight man with grey streaks in his hair and beard, and yet clearly in good health and fit for his sixty-five years.
There were two pairs of skis leaning up against the wall in the hallway, beside a full to bursting cupboard. The photographs of children and grandchildren on the walls all added to the impression of a happy, upper-class home. Ramdal himself was in several of the photographs together with a slim, black-haired woman whom I assumed was his wife. It occurred to me that there was something odd about the pictures, but I could not put my finger on it.
‘As I said, my wife is visiting one of the family – our children moved away from home a long time ago. So I am the only one here at the moment. Which is perhaps a good thing, if we are to talk about business or the old case from 1932,’ Kjell Arne Ramdal remarked.
I said that I agreed and followed him into the living room. He sat down on a rather majestic brown leather chair and indicated that I should sit on a slightly smaller leather chair on the other side of a mahogany table. The furniture was very elegant and the living room one of the biggest I had seen, though of course it could not be compared with the drawing room of the late Per Johan Fredriksen.
It was as if Kjell Arne Ramdal had read my thoughts as he started by saying: ‘If you have been to Fredriksen’s home, you will know that mine can in no way compete with his. But fortunately the same is not true of our financial situation.’
‘Because in recent years you have been more successful in terms of business. And as I understand it, you have given an offer for more or less all of his companies?
His nod was brisk and almost too keen.
‘All his properties in Oslo and Akershus, yes. It will be my largest investment to date if it all goes through, and I believe it will also be my best. The geographical profile of his properties will complement my own and the advantages of having a large company will be even greater. I have always been more strategic and daring than Fredriksen, which is probably why I have been more successful.’
I asked him without further ado what he had to say about the man, both as a businessman and a person.
‘Fredriksen could be very different when in different situations. More recently I have known him mostly in his role as a businessman. And as such he was cautious and focused on the short-term gains to be had from his properties, without having any particular strategy or future vision. For the past fifteen years, he has been more interested in politics and less in the markets than before. His business was healthy and robust. But he stagnated while others expanded and was reluctant to make the necessary investments at a time when people expect a higher standard of accommodation than before. He had a very good accountant and office manager who have been with him for years, but they were constantly overworked and he had too few staff. Over the past three or four years he has let some good opportunities go, and the value of his companies has fallen rather than increased.’
‘And does your offer to buy the companies still stand, even though he is now dead?’
He nodded slowly and forcefully. ‘His son rang me today to check whether the offer still stands and whether it would be possible to extend the deadline. I told him that of course the offer still stands, but that as I have the bank on standby and my administration have been working very hard on it, I could only offer an extra twenty-four hours before I needed a decision. He thanked me for this and as far as I understand, they are likely to accept the offer. What Fredriksen would have done is less clear, and now we will never know. He had acquired larger and smaller properties throughout his adult life and it was not in his nature to sell, even for a good price.’
I noted that Kjell Arne Ramdal still only used Per Johan Fredriksen’s surname, despite having known him for more than forty years. And also it seemed that they had been competitors, rather than associates. I asked if I was correct in understanding that they had once worked together?