‘No.’
‘Why not?’
‘Helene is a rational woman. She wouldn’t consider the risk of getting caught as being worth the upside.’
‘The upside?’
‘Well. Revenge.’
‘Or killing them to keep you.’
‘No. She knows I’d never leave her for a bimbo. Or two. But that I might if she tried to curtail my freedom.’
‘When did you last meet Susanne or Bertine?’
‘At the party.’
‘And prior to that?’
‘Prior to that it had been a long time since I’d seen them.’
‘Why did you stop seeing them?’
‘I lost interest, I suppose.’ Røed shrugged. ‘The physical aspect is always enticing, but the shelf life of girls like Susanne and Bertine isn’t the same as Helene Røed, if you follow me.’
‘Mm. Did you and or the girls take any controlled substances at the party?’
‘Drugs? Not me, anyway.’
Harry looked at Truls. Truls gave a small shake of his head.
‘You sure?’ Harry said. ‘What about cocaine?’
Truls could feel Markus Røed’s eyes on him but didn’t lift his own gaze from the screen.
‘All right,’ Røed said. ‘The girls had a couple of lines.’
‘Their own cocaine or yours?’
‘There was a guy who brought some.’
‘Who was he?’
‘I don’t know. A friend of one of the neighbours or a guy they buy off, maybe, I don’t know about that sort of thing. If it’s cocaine dealers you’re after, I can’t give you a description either unfortunately, as he was wearing a face mask and sunglasses.’ Røed allowed himself a wry grin, but Truls could see he was irritated. Alpha males tended to be under questioning.
‘But was he white, Norwegian, or—’
‘Yes, white. Sounded Norwegian.’
‘Did he speak to Susanne or Bertine?’
‘Yes, I suppose he must have done if they were snorting his stuff.’
‘Mm. So you don’t use cocaine yourself.’
‘No.’
Harry leaned over to Truls, who responded by discreetly pointing at a place on the screen.
‘Mm. Looks like the polygraph thinks you’re not telling the truth.’
Røed stared back at them like a defiant teenager at his parents. Before giving up with a groan of irritation.
‘I don’t understand what this has to do with the case. Yes, I used to enjoy myself at the weekends. But I made a deal with Helene about not taking anything, and that night I didn’t. OK? And now I must be on my way.’
‘Just one last question. Have you hired or cooperated with anyone in order to kill Susanne Andersen or Bertine Bertilsen?’
‘For fuck’s sake, Hole, why would I do that?’ Røed threw his arms in the air in exasperation, and Truls saw with concern that one of the electrodes was about to come loose from his wrist. ‘Don’t you understand that when you’re in your mid-sixties and have an understanding wife, you’re not exactly afraid of the fact that you’re still able to pull and fuck girls in their twenties coming out? In the circles I move and do business in, it’s rather something which instils respect. It’s proof there’s still enough man left in you to be reckoned with.’ The level of Røed’s voice rose. ‘Enough for people to understand they can’t pull out of handshake deals they’ve made without there being consequences. Do you understand, Hole?’
‘I understand,’ Harry said, leaning back in his chair. ‘But the polygraph test here responds best to yes/no answers. So allow me to repeat the ques—’
‘No! The answer is no, I haven’t ordered any—’ Røed began to laugh as though at the absurdity of the thought — ‘killings.’
‘Right. Thank you for your time,’ Harry said. ‘You should make your next meeting. Truls?’
Truls stood up, walked around the table and removed the electrodes from Røed.
‘By the way, I’ll be asking to talk to your wife,’ Harry said while Røed was buttoning up his shirt.
‘That’s fine.’
‘Asking her, I meant.’ Harry quickly shut the laptop as Røed came round the table. ‘I just wanted to inform you.’
‘Do what you like. But don’t make me regret hiring you, Harry.’
‘Think of it as going to the dentist,’ Harry said, getting to his feet. ‘You don’t regret it after you’ve been there.’ He walked to the wardrobe and held up Røed’s jacket while he slipped into it.
‘That,’ Truls grunted after they had closed the door behind their employer, ‘depends on what you think when you see the bill.’
16
Tuesday
Seamaster
‘She’s sitting there,’ the old lady in the white coat said, pointing into the laboratory. Harry saw a back, also in a white coat, sitting on a high stool hunched over a microscope.
He walked over, stood behind the back and coughed quietly.
The woman turned impatiently, and Harry saw a face that was hard, closed, still concentrated on work. But it changed to a sudden sunrise when she saw it was him.
‘Harry!’ She stood up and threw her arms around his neck.
‘Alexandra,’ Harry said, slightly perplexed; he’d been unsure what sort of reception he could expect.
‘How did you get all the way in here?’
‘I was here a little early, and Lilly at reception remembered me, so she—’
‘Well, what do you think?’ Alexandra proudly stood up straight, even twirled a little.
Harry smiled. ‘You still look fantastic. Like a cross between a Lamborghini—’
‘Not me, you idiot! The laboratory.’
‘Oh. Yeah, it’s new, I see.’
‘Isn’t it amazing? Now we can do everything here that we used to have to send abroad. DNA, chemistry, biology, we cover so much that when Krimteknisk lack analysis capacity, they just send it up here. We’re allowed to use the lab for personal research as well. I’m working on my doctoral thesis on DNA analysis at the moment.’
‘Impressive,’ Harry said, letting his gaze sweep over trays of test tubes, flasks, computer screens, microscopes, and machines whose functions he had no clue about.
‘Helge, say hello to Harry!’ Alexandra called out, and the other person in the room turned on his stool, smiled and waved before returning to his microscope.
‘We’re competing to see who gets their doctorate first,’ Alexandra whispered.
‘Mm. Sure you have time for a coffee in the canteen?’
She slipped her hand under his arm. ‘I know a better place. Come on.’
‘So, Katrine knows that you know,’ Alexandra summed up. ‘And now she’s offered to let you babysit the boy at some stage.’ She put down her empty cup on the roofing felt in front of the chairs they had taken out from inside the roof door. ‘That’s a start. Are you scared?’
‘Scared stiff,’ Harry said. ‘Besides, I don’t have the time right now.’
‘Fathers have probably been saying that since time began.’
‘Yeah. But I need to solve this case in the next seven days.’
‘Did Røed only give you seven days? That’s a bit optimistic, isn’t it?’
Harry didn’t answer.
‘Do you think Katrine would like you and her...?’
‘No,’ Harry said firmly.
‘Those kinds of feelings never die completely, you know.’
‘Yes, they do actually.’
Alexandra looked at him without saying anything, just pulled away a black corkscrew of hair which had blown across her face.
‘Anyway,’ Harry said. ‘She knows what’s in the boy’s and in her own best interests.’
‘And that is?’
‘That I’m not worth having around.’
‘Who else knows you’re the father?’
‘Just you,’ Harry said. ‘And Katrine doesn’t want anyone else to know Bjørn wasn’t.’