Simonsen said honestly, “That’s a good question, I should have asked it myself.”
Ernesto Madsen answered hesitantly, “I haven’t really speculated about that, but now that you mention it… Everything must be as it always is, otherwise the whole thing is ruined for him. That is a good point… actually I would think he will not kill them at the same time. He will presumably be completely finished with one before he goes to work on the other. Yes, two at a time is not probable. He will perhaps let a day go by between the killings, to deal with the practicalities, although perhaps that is more my wishful thinking than anything psychology tells me.”
The Minister of Justice’s secretary asked crossly, “When you find him… that is, if you find him… I understand that the idea is he should be shadowed and not arrested. Is everyone in agreement with that decision?”
The question was aimed directly at Simonsen, who answered.
“No, certainly not, but that’s how it will be done. My assessment is that our best chance of rescuing the women is if we follow him to his hiding place. But I admit that I’m in doubt. It also depends on when we find him, and he will not be allowed to move around for days. On the contrary we are convinced that he will refuse to talk to us when he is first captured, and then we are seriously up against the wall.”
The head of DSIS picked up the thread and carefully addressed the gathering.
“If it becomes necessary, I wish that we could pressurise him into telling us where his victims are. Especially if one, or both of them, is still alive.”
It was a feeler, everyone knew that, and everyone also knew that this subject was extremely controversial. Simonsen had long since worked out his own attitude. He would do everything in his power to get Jeanette Hvidt and Pauline Berg back alive. A situation where Andreas Falkenborg was in jail and steadfastly refused to speak, while his victims rotted in some secret place, was simply unacceptable. For that reason he was particularly interested in the others’ opinion. Carte blanche from above to go beyond the boundaries of normal questioning would affect to a great degree his decision about letting the man be shadowed in favour of arresting him immediately. Overall this meeting had developed far more productively than he had foreseen.
The prosecutor asked the head of DSIS carefully, “Do you mean physical pressure?”
The man confirmed, “Yes, that’s what I’m talking about.”
The national chief of police reached to remove his glasses, had second thoughts apparently and let them stay where they were, while he tried to avoid answering the question. “We can take a position on that problem if it becomes relevant.”
The police commissioner and the chief administrative officer from the Ministry of Justice were in agreement, Hampel-Koch frowned, after which Helmer Hammer, in crystal-clear turns of phrase, shot the tacit proposal to the ground. He spoke slowly and ominously.
“You can use all lawful means, including those that go to the edge, such as the episode that was reported in the press last week, but torture in any form whatsoever is completely ruled out regardless of the situation. If it does happen, the perpetrators will be prosecuted and their superiors held accountable, under their professional sanctions and the Penal Code.”
He looked directly first at the police commissioner and then at the national chief of police, and added slowly, “And that responsibility goes all the way up, don’t be in the slightest doubt about that.”
A short pause allowed his words to sink in, after which he clarified, “Denmark does not use torture, period. And torture is torture regardless of various linguistic circumlocutions of the word. No one should imagine that there are limitless opportunities for interpretation. This is a direct signal from my boss, and I can assure everyone present that it is deeply felt, both politically and personally.”
He was looking straight at Konrad Simonsen now.
“As long as Andreas Falkenborg is in the custody of the state, he will not be physically harassed.”
Then he turned to Bertil Hampel-Koch, in his capacity as minutes-keeper.
“What I just said should be stated unambiguously in the minutes, including that responsibility does not stop at operational level in the case of any incidence of torture. Please read back what you’ve noted.”
Hampel-Koch read, and Helmer Hammer confirmed it. Again he looked at the police commissioner and the national chief of police, who both nodded acknowledgment. Only then did Hammer let the meeting continue.
Hampel-Koch immediately took the floor and in his high-pitched voice directed an extremely surprising question to Helmer Hammer.
“If this concerns the two women’s lives, and the serial murderer is not in the custody of the state, will you then admit that it may be necessary to use questioning of a particular type?”
The head of DSIS added, “That is, as a very last resort.”
Helmer Hammer shook his head with irritation and answered, “You are not specifying what form of questioning, so I do not think that your comments give reason for any comments on my part.”
Simonsen noticed sweat break out at the bottom of his back and feverishly loosened a few buttons on his shirt. Suddenly it was crystal clear to him why he was sitting here; why indeed the meeting had been called at all. Helmer Hammer’s comment was word for word synonymous with the sentence he had praised in such glowing terms in the Botanical Gardens less than a week ago-a sentence that now gave Simonsen permission to do the impermissible. The Countess also understood what had happened. They had just been given the green light to do whatever they wanted with Falkenborg when he was captured, so long as no one found out about it. Her jaw dropped open, a little trickle of saliva escaping from one corner of her mouth. The head of DSIS handed her a napkin without looking at her. Instead he turned to Ernesto Madsen and asked, “What do you think, based on your professional insight, the probability is that Falkenborg will let himself be questioned by the police if he is captured?”
“It is slight.”
“How slight?”
Simonsen could feel the heat rising in his cheeks. Ernesto Madsen answered, sounding mystified, “That I couldn’t say, just slight.”
The time had come for Simonsen to take the lead. He wanted DSIS people added to his surveillance effort, and thought that perhaps he had gained an unexpected ally in the form of the head of DSIS himself. The man was evidently quite clear about the under secretary’s underlying message. Presumably the only listener here besides the Countess, Simonsen and Bertil Hampel-Koch who was. Simonsen turned to him.
“I could use a large number of your people to help with our surveillance effort. They are better trained for that sort of thing than mine are.”
A miracle happened, the head of DSIS gave a positive response.
“Excellent, but under my command.”
“Yes, but you’ll report to me. An investigation doesn’t have two leaders. That’s a recipe for disaster.”
The police commissioner backed up Simonsen and plunged into a long rigmarole about unclear paths of command, which in her view was a disaster on a par with the plague and marginal tax pressure. She was interrupted by the head of DSIS, who growled, “I can live with Simon… that is, Konrad Simonsen… as chief for a couple of days.”
The matter was now settled. The final decision however lay with the national chief of police. He said hesitantly, “Yes, well, it could be that way, we should consider-”
He got no farther. The chief administrative officer from the Ministry of Justice made things awkward.
“This is a bad idea, which my boss opposes. The security of the realm must not be weakened by this diversion of resources.”
The Minister of Justice’s secretary added cynically, “This concerns only two human beings, after all.”