The Last Fix [En liten gyllen ring no]

'Pleasedo. It's your legal right. In the meantime perhaps you wouldn't mind sittingdown. As I said, you have over six hours to kill.'

Gunnarstrandastood up and walked over to the window. 'Your girlfriend claims she received aparcel in the post, a parcel containing Katrine's jewellery,' he said with hisback to the detainee.

'We'vetalked about this before – I refuse to tell you anything more,' the man behindinterrupted. 'There's no point starting this bollocks again. I refuse and it ismy legal right.'

Gunnarstrandaturned. Skau had sat down and was resting both forearms on the table. Heglowered up at the policeman from beneath two narrow, finely arched eyebrows.Gunnarstranda went closer. The white parting in the man's hair ran as straightas an arrow from the forehead to the back, not a strand out of place.Gunnarstranda stuck his face right up close to his. The man's eyebrows had beentouched up with a pencil. 'Do you wear make-up?' the policeman asked, unable tobelieve his eyes.

'Sowhat if I do?' Skau snapped. 'Besides, I don't like your breath.'

Gunnarstrandastraightened up. He stood looking down at Skau with a smile playing around hismouth. 'It's fine by me if you don't want to make a statement,' he said. 'Idon't think it's very clever of you, but you're within your rights to refuse tomake a statement. Nevertheless, I would like you to listen to what I have tosay since you are here, anyway. Have you any strong objections to listening towhat I believe?'

'Iobject to being bloody tricked into saying things that can be used against me later.'

'Butdo you have any reason to fear saying something that can be used against you?'

RaymondSkau did not answer.

'Yourgirlfriend,' Gunnarstranda began. 'Linda. Of course she may be lying. Thejewellery story may be something she made up to protect you. For some reasonshe's in love with you. Of course she is entitled to be. But that kind of loveis ephemeral. I speak from experience. I say that because you are going to becharged with corruption of a minor and sexual exploitation. She is onlyfourteen years old.'

'Ididn't fucking know that!'

'Ofcourse not. But that's not the point. She has admitted the actual state ofaffairs, so you will be convicted whether you like it or not. The consequence,irrespective of how much in love with you she is now, will be that her lovewill pass. If she is lying about the jewellery it is therefore just a questionof time before she tells the truth. And then you're in a bit of a spot. On theother hand, she may be telling the truth. She may indeed have got the parcelthrough the post. The question is then who would have sent you the jewellery.Let's ask the question: Who could have done this?'

Skaustared into the distance with a darkened brow.

Thepoliceman coughed and said, 'You may have done it yourself. You might have putthe jewellery in the postbox.'

'Whywould I do that?' Skau interposed.

Gunnarstrandapretended not to hear. 'I have no idea why you did it, but I have been thinkingabout finding out. I intend to find that out and why you attacked Katrine atwork the day before she was killed.' Skau tried to interrupt, but the policemanheld up his palm in the air. 'You claim that Katrine owed you money, but youwon't say why she owed you money, or how much. Well, suppose that's true. Iassume it is true because two informers – independently of each other – saidyou have been desperate for money these last two weeks. Rumours are going roundthat you owe a Vietnamese a lot of kroner for amphetamines you sold on anddidn't pay for.'

Skaufrowned and said darkly: 'Am I going to be charged for that as well now?'

'Idon't give a shit what you do with drugs,' the policeman answered drily. 'Ihave other things on my mind, but let's assume for the sake of argument thatwhat the two informers have whispered in our ears is true. What I do know isthat you went to Katrine's workplace and demanded the money she owed you. Weknow you were so angry that you resorted to physical violence with Katrine eventhough someone else was present. It's this fury of yours which is interesting.The very same fury, and behaviour, when you met her alone – in the middle ofthe night – with no witnesses present – that's interesting too.'

Skausaid nothing.

Gunnarstrandaobserved him for a few seconds in silence before continuing. 'That's why it'simportant for me to find out what happened after you left the travel agency. Itwas one o'clock in the afternoon when you left Katrine's workplace. It closedat two because it was a Saturday. Let me hypothesize what might have happened.'

'Saveyour breath,' Skau hissed.

'Youhid,' Gunnarstranda ventured. 'You knew the shop closed early because it was aSaturday. That was why you waited for her. You sat on a bench not too far awayand waited until you saw her come out. Then you followed her home to the blockin Hovseterveien. You waited there until she reappeared. But she came out withher boyfriend, so you hesitated, then followed them anyway.'

'Whydon't you give it a rest,' Skau said, tired. 'You're talking shite and you knowyou are.'

Gunnarstrandachecked his watch. 'We've got plenty of time,' he mumbled. 'This is just ahypothesis, but let's say it happened. You followed the couple. You followedthe taxi that picked them up. The taxi went to Voksenеsen and dropped the pairof them outside a house in Voksenkollveien. Now it was just a question ofwaiting for the party to finish. Let's assume you did that. Or let's assumethat night you had a little recce around where the two of them lived, inHolmlia or the area around Hovseter so that you could waylay her. That would bequite logical. You're under a lot of pressure. Katrine owes you money. Whywouldn't you wait for her that night? You're desperate. Between three and fouro'clock she walked up the road to Holmlia on her own. An hour later she wasdead. Her body must have been lifted into a car. The killer drove a little way,stopped and threw her body over the barrier, where it remained. The car wenton, stopping only to get rid of a bag containing her clothes. And three dayslater our people found her jewellery in your flat. Goodness me, Raymond. Can'tyou see that you're in a bit of a tight spot?'

'I'malways in a tight spot in this place.'

'Everythingpoints to you. You owe money to everyone and his brother. You had x thousandkroner owed to you by Katrine. We know you threatened her that Saturday. Thejewellery in your flat is conclusive evidence that you had been in touch withher that night…'

'Ihave no idea where the jewellery came from!'

Gunnarstrandaignored him. 'You didn't get the money that night either, so you took herjewellery. Whether it covered your debts or not, I don't know, but yourdesperation was real enough. You were so frantic for cash that you robbedSagene Video for the till takings. We know what your temperament's like and canjust imagine what happened as she walked towards you without any money thatnight.'

'Ididn't see her that night.'

'Youshut up and listen now,' Gunnarstranda barked. 'If you didn't do this you'llhave to understand one thing and that is that we, or rather I…' Gunnarstrandapointed to his chest with a bony, nicotine-stained finger. 'I am the one personwho can do the legwork to establish that you didn't do it. And if you want meto take the heat off you, off the petty crime you're sitting up to your neckin, then you have to give me something, even if it's all you have, at leastgive me something, a straw, anything – just something that suggests it wasn'tyou who killed Katrine.' He took a pile of papers from his bag on the floor,banged it on the table and said, 'Here! This is your first statement. You areunable to account for your movements all Saturday night and Sunday.'

'Iwas asleep.'

'Where?'

'Athome.'

'Andagain you're giving me circumstantial evidence that you put the parcel ofjewellery in your own postbox.'

'Howdo you work that out?'

'Ifyou say you were sleeping on Saturday night you're admitting you were at home.You had strangled Katrine and taken her jewellery. You were at home, but youcouldn't keep the jewellery in your house. You were seen attacking Katrine atthe travel agency and you knew we could come visiting at any time at all.'