She was done in ten minutes. She ended her speech with a tear glittering in the corner of her eye, pleading with her classmates to help her spread her story. Just like the man in the ad, apart from the fact that she could not afford expensive media interventions. Seconds later, her request had been fulfilled as her classmates’ thumbs hammered like drumsticks over their cell phone keys and sent her story into circulation. Two friends who were gifted in practical matters talked briefly and found that they were on the same page. The shopping trip was canceled. The diesel pants could wait. Without further ado, they piled money on the desk, as a way of speaking for the less affluent. And others also consulted their wallets.
And the spark caught. Like a fire in a haystack, the confessional narrative spread among Danish secondary-school students.
Chapter 30
Konrad Simonsen was looking at Helmer Hammer’s house. It was a pretty villa in its original condition with tall mahogany paneling and ornate crown moldings. The floors had been sanded smooth and polished white with pipe clay. He peered out the window until he caught sight of a jogger his own size making his way around the lake, which gave him a bad conscience. He left the window and inspected the pictures on the opposite wall. They were four original lithographs of Hans Scherfig’s naivistic elephants. They were striking and fit very well into the decor.
“You know, of course, that he was a communist?”
He turned in surprise. A girl was standing behind him. She was around sixteen years of age with black matted hair, worn jeans, a ring in her nose, and peeling nail polish in a vibrant shade of red. Her sweater was unraveling on one arm and she was wearing two different, extremely worn sneakers. There were no laces in one and the ones on the other were undone. Her clear eyes shone with intelligence.
“Dad has all of his books, even the yearbooks from Land and Folk. He collected them in his Red Period.”
Simonsen did not really know what to say, and decided on an affable smile.
“Is he still with you?”
“He was called in, apparently something important. It’s like that all the time. It’s always very important and extremely irritating. Are you the one who is supposed to find the ones who killed the five men in Bagsværd?”
“Yes, me and a whole lot of other people.”
“I hope you don’t find them.”
She said this without aggression, more as a considered opinion that should naturally be respected. Against his better judgment, Simonsen found himself impressed with her self-confidence.
“And why is that?”
“Because the five men were child molesters, of course.”
He had denied this rumor at least ten times in the past twenty-four hours. He had even gone so far as to issue a press release, which, as far as he knew, was unprecedented. The dead men had still not been identified, so their sexual predilections could belong only to the realm of speculation, even though the information he had uncovered lately surprisingly enough seemed to speak for there being truth to the rumors. He could not bear to start the day, however, where he had stopped it last night and definitely not before breakfast, so he decided not to correct her. Nor was it particularly likely that she would allow her opinions to be derailed by mere facts. Why would she, when no one else did? He chose another line of argumentation, and looked her straight in the eye.
“Last time I looked in the law books, there was nothing in it about the right to kill pedophiles.”
She returned his gaze without faltering. Her voice was friendly, albeit with a note of mockery, as if she were explaining something to a sweet but not overly bright younger brother: “If you are looking for things that are allowed, the law book is a bad place to start.”
Piqued, he shifted his gaze.
He was rescued by her father, who was finally finished with his call.
“And if you don’t get your backpack and get going, you can start looking for a paper route for your pocket money.”
Helmer Hammer’s show of anger was unnecessary. He was clearly proud of his offspring, for which one could hardly blame him.
“Yes, Daddy dear.”
She kissed him quickly on the cheek and left. Almost. She turned to them in the doorway and her smile could have melted an icicle. Her final words were aimed at Simonsen: “Dad always speaks nicely about you, he likes you, he just doesn’t show it. That’s one of his weaknesses. You’re welcome.”
Her shoelace dragged on the floor behind her as she walked away.
Breakfast was excellent and the subsequent conversation disheartening. Simonsen had both good and bad news from the medical examiner’s office. He started with the positive: “Today I’ll get likenesses of at least two of the victims and supposedly they are lifelike enough to be published in the media. That will almost certainly lead to an identification.”
“Sounds good. I allowed myself to place a call to the professor yesterday, but… eh…” The police chief hesitated. “He claimed that I was an illusion. That I simply wasn’t aware of it myself.”
“He can be a little odd at times.”
“Yes, you could say that.”
“You should come with me sometime. I’m good at handling the old codger.”
That was a lie. No one was good at handling Arthur Elvang and least of all Simonsen. He was simply more accustomed to embarrassment and therefore more prepared than most.
Hammer nodded and left the subject.
“In my line of work there isn’t anything called sin or shame. You either deliver the goods or you don’t. I was supposed to set the agenda, reassure the public, give you time to work in peace, and I haven’t managed very well with any of it. If at all.”
He was silent for a couple of seconds, then continued: “If there is a thing that politicians hate, it is getting relevant questions that they have no idea how to answer. I understand that all too well.”
“You’re no wizard,” Simonsen interrupted. “How are you supposed to control all the possible and impossible allegations? When most of them are untrue and some out-and-out ridiculous?”
Hammer listened to Simonsen’s support, then continued in the same defeated vein: “The minister of foreign affairs talks of a veritable bombardment of e-mails to our embassies, all of them maintaining that the Danish authorities are deliberately withholding the fact that the five slain men were pedophiles. The media is indulging in wild speculations on the same topic. On top of this, we have all these campaigns and protests against the so-called laissez-faire attitude of our society toward the sexual abuse of children piling up like a pyramid scheme. Mainly at secondary schools and institutes for adult education. At this point. And to top it all off, the minister of justice appears to have gone into hiding, which I haven’t quite decided if I should take as an advantage or disadvantage.”
Simonsen got the conversation back on track, effectively if a little inelegantly: “I’m afraid that it’s going to get worse.”
“You’re not serious.”
“Unfortunately, I am.”
He told him how Elvang had contacted him the evening before and-neighing with laughter-told him that Mr. Middle had been killed twice. The facial features of the hot-dog vendor in Fyn and the victim from the gymnasium were so similar that it could not be sheer coincidence. He kept silent about the old man’s amusement, however.
Hammer looked pained. “Another murder?”