‘Do you remember anything that happened?’ Henning asks in an attempt to shake off the memory.
‘I remember being lifted up as if I weighed nothing at all, and then there was a bang.’
‘Did you see who it was?’
‘No, but he was strong. I wanted to wriggle free, but I never got the chance.’
Iver manoeuvres one arm towards a cable that lies across his stomach, lifts up a handset and presses the button marked ‘up’. The bed starts to hum, and slowly he is raised to a sitting position. Henning takes out his mobile. ‘Do you recognise this T-shirt?’ he says, turning the display to Iver. Iver tries to focus.
‘I don’t know. It happened so quickly.’
Henning nods and puts the mobile back in his pocket.
‘I think the man who beat you up was Petter Holte,’ he says.
‘Pulli’s cousin?’
‘Yes.’
‘Why?’
‘I don’t know. But Petter is or was an enforcer once. He also works as a doorman at Asgard.’
Iver nods. So far so good.
‘Did you know that he went to prison?’ Iver says, trying to make himself more comfortable.
‘No,’ Henning replies, surprised. ‘What for?’
‘Last year on International Women’s Day there was a demonstration outside Asgard. Petter was a bit heavy-handed with one of the feminists. Got a couple of months inside for it.’
‘Really? Did he serve his sentence at Botsen?’
‘Yes.’
‘Do you know if he was in contact with his cousin while he was inside?’
‘That I don’t know. There are hundreds of cells there, but they probably met in the yard. I believe inmates are entitled to one hour of fresh air every day.’
Henning nods. If Holte and Pulli were in prison at the same time, something could have gone down between them.
‘The doctor has probably told you to take it easy,’ Henning says. ‘So I don’t suppose we should be talking shop.’
‘That’s just something they say in the movies, Sherlock.’
Henning grins. ‘Has the doctor said anything about how long you will be in here?’
‘No, but I think it’ll be a while. I’ll be bored out of my skull. You’ll have to keep feeding the monster yourself while I’m out of action. I know you’ll struggle without me, but-’
Henning laughs. ‘Are you still able to send text messages or do you need help with that as well?’
‘I haven’t tried yet.’
Nora enters the room, which instantly grows hotter and more claustrophobic. Henning gets up.
‘Do you know where my mobile is?’ Iver asks.
‘No,’ Nora replies. ‘But I can find out.’
‘Yes, please, would you?’
She disappears out of the door again. Henning follows her with his eyes before he turns to Iver.
‘I need to leave,’ he says.
‘Where are you going?’
‘I’m going… I’m going home.’
‘Okay.’
There is another silence. Henning starts to walk towards the door.
‘Henning?’
Henning stops and turns around.
‘Has it gone?’
‘Has what gone?’
‘The cocksure look.’
Henning turns to his colleague, serious this time. ‘Yes, Iver. It has. How does it feel?’
‘It hurts like hell.’
Henning’s face creases sympathetically.
He hasn’t felt like smiling this much for a long time.
Chapter 93
Henning’s mobile rings as he is about to go into the hospital newsagent to buy a paper.
‘You just can’t manage without me, can you?’ he mutters, feigning irritation.
‘Henning,’ Iver says eagerly. ‘I think I got an email from Thorleif Brenden.’
‘What?’
‘At first I thought it was spam, but the contents suggest that it’s him.’
‘I’ll be with you in a sec,’ Henning says, tossing down the newspaper. A few minutes later he is back in Iver’s room.
‘What did he say?’ Henning asks, agitated, as he rushes towards the bed. In a brief moment he registers that Nora isn’t there.
‘Read for yourself,’ Iver replies. Henning takes the mobile and starts reading:
From: GulvSprekk ‹gulvsprekk@hotmail. com›
Subject: ‹‹missing TV2 cameraman››
To: iver. gundersen@123news. no
Hello. I see that you are writing about me.
I am contacting you because I don’t know who to trust. I hope I can trust you. I am still alive and I am still sane — though I have good reason not to be.
I need your help. I was forced to commit a murder. I killed Tore Pulli. I had no choice. And now I am on the run from the people who made me do it because I think they want to kill me.
Henning spends some minutes reading the rest of the email before he looks up at Iver. ‘Bloody hell,’ he says. ‘This is-’
‘I know,’ Iver nods. ‘Forward the email to yourself or take my mobile with you.’
‘I’ll forward it to myself. Write a reply and see if you hear anything back from him.’
‘That’s a bit difficult,’ Iver says, looking at his hands. ‘I needed Nora’s help to ring you in the first place.’
‘Oh, right,’ Henning says, flustered. ‘I didn’t think-’
‘Don’t worry about it,’ Iver says.
Henning forwards the email and gets ready to go.
‘Keep me updated,’ Iver calls out after him.
‘Of course,’ Henning replies. While he half-runs down the corridor in the direction of the lift he takes out his own mobile and finds Brogeland’s number.
‘There are no new developments,’ Brogeland sighs, wearily.
‘Oh yes there are. Are you at the station?’
‘Yes.’
‘Come downstairs and meet me in reception in half an hour. I have something to show you.’
*
Thirty-five minutes later Henning is in Brogeland’s office. He puts his laptop, which he picked up from home on his way to the police station, on the inspector’s desk. Brogeland sits down and moves his chair closer to the table. Henning reads the email over his shoulder. He pays particular attention to the second half:
I don’t know if this can be used as evidence, but the man who forced me to murder Pulli might have left a fingerprint in my car on the day he tested me to find out if I could be ordered to kill. The fingerprint is on the armrest on the passenger side. I parked my car in Kirkegaten. It has probably been issued with several parking tickets now. But if you can get someone you trust from the police to check this out for me I think it might be possible to discover the man’s real name.
I hope you can help me. The way things look now you are my only hope. At the moment I don’t want to say anything about where I am, but I hope you will help me so I won’t have to remain in hiding for very much longer.
Please would you also contact my girlfriend Elisabeth Haaland and let her know that I am all right? But please do it discreetly. I have reason to believe that our flat is under surveillance.
Yours sincerely,
Thorleif Brenden
Henning waits impatiently for Brogeland to finish.
‘Have you already swept his flat for bugs?’ he asks.
‘Yes,’ Brogeland replies. ‘We found masses of high-tech equipment. Video and audio.’
‘Did you now?’ Henning says.
Brogeland nods. The next moment there is a knock on the door. Sergeant Ella Sandland appears. She sees Henning standing behind Brogeland and she makes a gesture with her head to indicate that she needs to speak to her boss. Brogeland returns soon afterwards with a grave expression on his face.
‘What is it?’ Henning asks.
‘We’ve just had a call from Geilo Police. A body has been found at the foot of Hallingskarvet. From the description, it’s likely to be that of Thorleif Brenden.’
Chapter 94
Henning goes home and lies down on his sofa. He stares at the ceiling and thinks about Elisabeth Haaland, of the news awaiting her — if she hasn’t been told already. And he feels for the children, only eight and four years old. A difficult time lies ahead of them.