‘The woman with two different-coloured eyes,’ Ludvig said.
‘Someone from the church?’ Curry said.
‘Staff at Høvikveien Care Home,’ Gabriel said.
Mia looked at Ludvig Grønlie.
‘Anything? Any links? Veronica Bache’s mobile?’
‘I’m sorry, nothing yet. We’re still working on it,’ Ludvig Grønlie said.
‘Oh, Christ, I’m slow!’ Mia burst out.
‘What is it?’
‘Charlie. Charlie Brun.’
‘Who?’ Munch said.
‘A friend. He runs a transvestite club in Tøyen. He told me about her. The woman with different-coloured eyes. He’s seen her several times. God, I’m an idiot.’
‘Bring him in,’ Munch said. ‘We have to find this woman. Who knows, perhaps she’s the woman from the photofit, the one our eyewitness saw in Skullerud. God knows, it’s a long shot, but why not give it a go? We’ll let this Charlie meet every woman whose name has cropped up in the investigation who would have been in a position to pay Veronica Bache’s mobile bills after her death, all staff at the care home and anyone connected to this church. And if we get a hit, check with the pensioner if it’s the same woman.’
As Mia was heading out of the door, Anette pulled her to one side.
‘Are you sure about this?’ Anette whispered.
‘About what?’
‘This whole set-up? You don’t think Munch is too close? I mean, a threat has been made against his grandchild. His mother might be involved. Shouldn’t he step aside? Let someone else take charge?’
‘Holger knows what he’s doing,’ Mia said sharply.
‘Let’s hope so,’ Anette said.
Chapter 54
‘What do you think?’ Charlie said, twirling in front of Mia in the bedroom.
He had chosen an old-fashioned floral tea dress, shiny knee-length silver boots, white gloves that reached all the way up to his elbows and a green feather boa.
‘Don’t you have an ordinary jumper and a pair of ordinary trousers?’ Mia heaved a sigh.
‘Really, Mia, you’re crushing freedom of expression here. I’m an artist, I’m a mobile work of art, didn’t you know that?’
Charlie rummaged through his wardrobe and made a big deal out of showing her how difficult it was.
‘All right, all right, Charlie, point taken.’
‘I’ve got it!’
Charlie turned around and was one big smile.
‘Mr Freud.’
‘Mr who?’
Charlie clapped his hands and jumped up and down like a little girl.
‘Mr Freud. He hasn’t been on an outing for a long time. He was in the cabaret. It’s Swinging Again in 2004. You know that The Swingers Club and the Association for Transgender People held several…’
‘Enough,’ Mia said. ‘I don’t need to know everything you get up to. Mr Freud is fine, just get a move on.’
Charlie took a suit bag out of his wardrobe and disappeared into the bathroom. He returned, dressed as a dandy in a black suit with a pink tie and patent-leather shoes. He looked like a cross between James Bond and Egon Olsen.
‘What do you think?’
Charlie smiled and spun around once more.
‘Stunning,’ Mia said.
‘Am I man enough now?’
‘Very manly. The ladies at the care home will throw roses at you.’
‘Do you think so?’ Charlie chuckled.
‘I’m sure of it,’ Mia said. ‘Now come on.’
Charlie followed her out to the waiting car. On their way to Høvik, Mia wondered if she should tell Charlie that he was not going there to perform but simply to look at photographs of the staff on a computer, but she decided against it. They had called the care home in advance and, fortunately, they had photographs of all staff members on record. New security requirements made it essential for all staff to carry photo ID; it would make their work so much easier.
Holger Munch was waiting outside the care home for them when they arrived.
Charlie bowed and greeted him politely.
‘Nice to meet you,’ Munch said, smiling slightly. ‘Like the suit.’
‘Has Mia explained to you why we’re here?’
‘I’m working undercover, isn’t that right?’ Charlie winked.
‘Yes, exactly. What we need you to do is to look through some photographs on a computer here, tell us if you recognize Roger Bakken’s friend.’
‘I can do that.’ Charlie smiled.
‘Her eyes were different colours, am I right?’
‘Yes,’ Charlie nodded. ‘One brown and one blue. I knew there was something mysterious about her.’
‘Well, that might be going a bit far,’ Munch said. ‘We just want to have a word with her, that’s all.’
‘I understand.’ Charlie winked again. ‘Top-secret police business.’
At that moment, the door opened and the woman Holger had been talking to outside the last time they were here came out.
‘This is Karen Nylund,’ Holger said.
The woman, who looked to be in her late thirties, was slim, with long, strawberry blonde hair and a beautiful smile. Charlie bowed and took her hand.
‘This is Charlie. H’s helping us today. And this is Mia, my colleague.’
Mia shook Karen’s hand.
‘Nice to meet you,’ Karen said with a smile. ‘I’ve been trying to get hold of Karianne, but she’s not answering her phone; she’s quite strict about things like that. She doesn’t want to be disturbed when she is off work.’
Mia did not ask, but concluded that Karianne must be the manager of the care home.
‘But is it all right if we take a look?’ Holger said.
‘Yes, I don’t see why not.’ Karen smiled. ‘I’m glad to be of service.’
Mia still said nothing. She had been a little worried about the paperwork; they needed a warrant, and these things usually took time, but she expected that Holger must have called in a favour from the staff at the care home because they already knew him.
‘Excellent,’ Holger said. ‘Shall we go inside?’
They followed Karen inside the care home and into one of the offices. Charlie strutted like a peacock through the corridors, bowing politely right and left.
‘Here we are,’ Karen said, indicating a computer on the table.
Suddenly, she looked a little hesitant.
‘This is a shared computer used by all staff members, and none of residents have access to it, but I guess it’s OK for you to look at it? I mean, you are the police?’
Karen glanced at Holger, who nodded to reassure her. Mia suppressed a smile.
‘It’ll be fine, Karen,’ he said, patting her tentatively on the shoulder. ‘I’ll take responsibility, so you don’t have to worry about a thing.’
‘Oh, good.’ Karen smiled again. ‘It’s just that, well, Karianne can be quite strict sometimes, but she’s also very nice, and she’s a good boss.’
She added the latter hastily, as if she did not want to be caught speaking ill of anyone.
‘Like I said, I’ll take the responsibility.’ Munch smiled and moved another chair in front of the screen so that Charlie could sit down.
‘Do you want me to stay?’ Karen asked.
‘Yes, that would be good. In case we have any questions.’
‘Not a problem,’ Karen said. ‘We’ll be serving lunch in a little while, but not yet.’
‘Good,’ Holger said, sitting down on the chair next to Charlie.
He grabbed the mouse and clicked on the file Karen had found for him.
‘Do we scroll down?’
‘Just use the arrows.’ Karen smiled, pointing to the keyboard.
Holger pressed the arrow key and the first picture appeared. The caption identified her as Birgitte Lundamo.
‘No,’ Charlie said, looking very grave, to prove that he was taking the job seriously.
Holger pressed the key again. This time a picture of a Guro Olsen appeared.
‘No,’ Charlie said again.
‘How many employees have you got?’ Mia asked.
‘We have fifty-eight residents and twenty-two – no, twenty-three staff – in total. Some work full time, others part time; in addition, we have a list of temps we call on when someone is off sick.’