‘J could be Konrad Jensen,’ I suggested, in the hope of contributing something that was not too idiotic.
Patricia shook her head lightly.
‘I have of course considered that possibility, but then the text makes little sense. It would appear that J is someone who instils sympathy and a sense of guilt in Harald Olesen. And even though one can never know what lies hidden in the past, it does seem rather unlikely that an ageing Nazi would fulfil that role.’
Patricia suddenly put down her dessert spoon and thought very hard. I could almost hear the creaking in her brain. Then equally suddenly she fired a completely unexpected question at me.
‘I am sure that you have already checked this; however, I am not so sure that you have told me… What was the name of Kristian Lund’s dead mother?’
I had never been told, and nor had I asked. On the other hand, I had remembered to take with me the papers from the census records that she had requested, and quickly found the sheets that related to Kristian Lund. A thought struck me as I leafed through the papers and I looked up at Patricia in surprise.
‘But Kristian Lund’s mother was already dead when Harald Olesen started to write about D, J, N and O.’
There was a hint of irony in Patricia’s voice when she replied: ‘Precisely!’
I had a swift look through the papers in the hope that I would not appear to be as slow as I felt.
‘Kristian of course has her surname, as his father was unknown. Her first name was Nathalie.’
Patricia frowned and shook her head and gave a deep sigh.
‘I am afraid that the name Nathalie Lund is not of much help to us… Did she perhaps have a middle name or a nickname that she used or was known by?’
I looked at the sheet from the census records, and then the two pages about her trial for treason.
‘No known middle name, but in a subclause here in her case papers it mentions that she was often called Sonja during the war, as she apparently looked like the film star Sonja Henie.’
It was silent for a beat. When I looked up, I discovered that Patricia had fixed me with an accusing telescopic gaze.
‘You could have spared us the delay by telling me that immediately! That fits perfectly with the obvious scenario. We still do not have the murderer, but we have at least identified the mysterious N as the shop manager Kristian Lund, whose address is 25 Krebs’ Street.’
I looked at Patricia as if she were a green Martian on roller skates, not a white woman in a wheelchair. She rolled her eyes.
‘Given the information that “S” could stand for “Sonja” and that this plays on her resemblance to the beautiful and famous actress, the rest is rather elementary, my dear Kristiansen. The whole sequence is then almost too perfect for it to be a coincidence. Konrad Jensen was right when he claimed to have seen Harald Olesen picking up a young woman from an NS meeting in Asker in 1939. She came from Drammen and had a relationship with Harald Olesen. Which he absolutely did not want to be reminded of later, for various reasons I hope I do not need to explain. So “S”, who is mentioned briefly in Harald Olesen’s diary, stands for “Sonja”. He would naturally still use a pet name for an old love, which means that the N Harald Olesen met unexpectedly with S, and who later tried to extort money from him, is of course her son. In which case, it is not so surprising that Kristian Lund did not want to let you see his bank statements.’
I had remembered the story with the car when I visited the caretaker, but then quickly forgotten about it again. Which annoyed me, so I moved swiftly on.
‘What does “N” stand for, then?’
Patricia furrowed her brow with impatience.
‘That is a relatively minor question that I cannot answer with any certainty yet, and that we may perhaps never have a definite answer to, but my guess would be that “N” stands for something a la “Nazi child”. More importantly, it would seem that he is in fact Harald Olesen’s own son.’
This was too much all at once. The room began to spin around me, but Patricia’s voice was just as clear and convincing when she continued.
‘It is of course possible that Kristian Lund was blackmailing Harald Olesen purely on the basis of his knowledge that Harald Olesen had had a relationship with a woman who supported the NS. But the reasons would of course be greater, and emotions far stronger, if Harald Olesen really was his father. It also fits well with the chronology, if we assume that Harald Olesen was in a relationship with his mother as late as 1939, and Kristian Lund was born in winter 1941. If the child was conceived in May or June 1940, it would be no less disastrous for Harald Olesen. What is more, it might explain certain similarities between the potential father and son. Both are obviously intelligent and energetic. And both have a talent for the immoral, particularly with regard to getting into the knickers of beautiful young women without their naive wives noticing!’
The latter was accompanied by a particularly unsympathetic teenage giggle. Patricia’s views on love struck me as being rather cynical. However, I saw no reason to waste time discussing this, as the main thrust of her reasoning was both highly convincing and important.
‘Which leaves Kristian Lund in a bit of a fix.’
Patricia immediately stopped laughing and was promptly very serious and earnest again.
‘Yes and no. Yes, in the sense that he quite obviously is not only unfaithful to his wife, but has also blackmailed his father. Yes, in that he is not only a liar, but a rather conniving pathological liar. He has possibly already gone well beyond the penal boundary with regard to false evidence. But no, in the sense that it is still an open question as to whether it was he who shot Harald Olesen. In terms of the diary, N is of course a potential murderer, but so are J and O, and certainly D, in every sense. And what is more, there may also be a fifth person, who is or is not associated with one of the four, whom Harald Olesen knew nothing about. You should absolutely interview Kristian Lund again, but in the meantime, we must try to identify D, J and O. And as yet, I only have enough information to form some very insubstantial theories.’
I waited half a minute in the hope that she would share her hypotheses on the identity of D, J and O with me – insubstantial or not – but instead, she asked another unexpected question.
‘The limitation period for murder in Norway is still twenty-five years, is it not?’
I confirmed this, but added swiftly that I sincerely hoped we could close the investigation into the case before then. Patricia laughed politely, but was soon serious again.
‘I am thinking of the past and not the future. This may perhaps be influenced by the fact that I recently read a novel by the great Belgian-French crime writer Simenon in which the limitation period for an old murder suddenly spawned several new murders. And it may be of great importance to us too. The events that the caretaker talked of took place in winter 1944. If we now say hypothetically that one or more murders that Harald Olesen knew about, to which this Deerfoot and other living people may be linked, took place around this time… then they are still a criminal offence, but in one year from now they will be time-barred.’
I nodded gravely and asked whether she thought this might be decisive to the case.
‘Again, yes and no. I have an increasingly strong feeling that something major and serious happened during the war that is crucial to our case now. I think that it is to a large extent a matter of emotions and the like, but the legal implications may still be important. Particularly when we consider that someone has a very strong wish that Harald Olesen should remain silent about something that happened during the war – preferably forever, but certainly until the limitation period has expired. Which also happens to fit in rather neatly with the notes in the diary.’
Patricia sat deep in thought for a moment. Then she managed once again to ambush me with a totally unexpected question.