'Butyou're sure?'
'No,I don't work here every day – round the clock.'
'Couldyou find out…?' Because then I could phone you, he had thought of adding, butpaused not to appear ridiculous in her eyes.
Shesmiled. 'That should be possible.'
Theystood up. 'Is there hope?' she asked.
Hedidn't understand what she meant.
'Forthe rose.' She motioned towards the strange growth in the lawn.
Thepoliceman shrugged. 'Cut off the pale green shoot coming out of the ground. Ifit comes up again you can dig up the plant and chuck it away.'
'Therewas something there, Kalfatrus. I saw it,' Gunnarstranda mumbled as he cleanedthe inside of the goldfish bowl with a wad of cotton wool. He looked down atthe fish. It lay quite still in five centimetres of water. 'And I must buy someequipment so that this bloody bowl doesn't get so mucky,' he went on, pushinghis glasses up his nose. He stood musing and muttering to the fish: 'Either theold goat noticed a name was missing off the list I read out or he was giving mea hint. Anyway, I don't think he's the killer. He seemed too frail and fragilefor that. But suppose he gave me a hint. What would the purpose of that havebeen?'
Heput the cotton wool on the shelf and went for more. He shouted to Kalfatrus,'That would be too improbable, wouldn't it? Kripos work on that case for monthsand then twenty years later I go to a nursing home and the old Casanovasuddenly remembers salient facts?'
Hesearched for something to put water in, thinking. 'It might have been somethingelse, a detail. It doesn't have to be a person.'
Hefound a litre measuring jug, filled it with water and reached for athermometer. 'In any case,' he muttered, 'if I stumbled over something of anysignificance to help solve the Lockert case, so what? It happened more thantwenty years ago and there is no link between the two cases. Katrine Bratterudgrew up somewhere else, several hundred kilometres from Lillehammer…'
Hepoured hot and cold water in the jug until the temperature was right. Withgreat care he poured the tempered water over Kalfatrus, who reacted with wildflicks of the tail. Gunnarstranda observed the fish. 'You're happy now, aren'tyou,' he mumbled. 'You like to have water around you; you like the surroundingsyou know. Just imagine if you had landed on the floor, or in salt water. Youwould have ended up like poor Katrine. Asphyxiated and dead.'
Hestood thinking. After a while he said to the fish: 'Perhaps that was whathappened, eh? She wasn't in her natural habitat. But then what was her naturalhabitat? Or what was the wrong habitat?'
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Theywere sitting in her kitchen, in the spacious dining alcove. They were alone. AsJulie was with her father, the chair at the end of the table was empty.Eva-Britt was resting her head on her hands. She had finished eating a longtime ago. She poured herself a little more red wine. Her mouth broadened into asmile and her eyes sparkled as he took another helping.
'Youthink you've won, don't you,' he said.
'Me?'
'Iknow I'm fat,' he said, taking more sauce.
Shegrinned. 'I didn't say that.'
Hescraped the frying pan. 'But you were thinking about saying it,' he said,putting the pan down on the table and taking another potato. 'You're fat,Frankie, you were thinking of saying, just like now you're thinking aboutsaying: Be careful. I put lots of cream in the sauce!
'Well,you're wrong there,' she said. 'I like it that you're well padded.' She gaveanother faint smile and pressed her hand against his shirt front. 'I like menwho are well padded.'
'Youlike me,' Frank said. 'And you say you like men who are well padded because I'mfat. If you ask a psychologist…'
'I goto see a psychologist every week, and you don't ask psychologists anything;they ask you.'
'Well,when you're there next time you can discuss the quality of our relationship…'
'Whatdo you think I talk about? I don't talk about anything else.'
'…You can ask him how it is you can stand me, someone who refuses to move in withanyone. He'll…'
'It'sa she…'
'She'llsay that your subconscious is tricking you into liking me because you haveformed bonds with me – psychological bonds – just like a duckling follows agoat if there is a goat standing by the egg when it is hatched – you and I havebeen together for years and now you have formed a psychological bond with me.That's why your subconscious is trying to make you believe that I'm the rightone for you.'
'Youtalk such rubbish Frankie,' Eva-Britt said, clearing away her plate.
'Andin the end you say I'm a coward because it's the one hundred and fifty-fivethousandth time we have slept together and I don't like you talking aboutliving together…'
'Irefuse to listen to your drivel!' She crossed her arms and stared at thereflection in the large windows to their right.
'Fineby me,' Frank said in a sour tone. 'We've been through this ritual a milliontimes, too.'
'That'swhat I'm saying,' she grinned. 'We might just as well be married.'
'Well,I agree.'
'Youagree?'
'Ofcourse I agree!'
'Butwhy do you protest every time we talk about these things?'
'That'swhere you're wrong,' Frank smiled. 'Had it been up to me we would have gotmarried long ago…
'Yes,we would,' he continued as she made to interrupt. 'And you can take that one upwith your psychologist because now I'm going to say the whole truth out loud.I'm going to state openly what we both know deep down, that you are the one whodoes not want to get married. You don't want to live with me. You always makeout that it is me who doesn't want to, but the main reason we live separatelyis that you don't want to and then you make out the entire thing is my fault.This is basic psychology, just like the fact that people in the society for theprotection of animals are really perverts who fantasize about setting fire tokittens – and that all skinheads and neo-Nazis deep down are closet homos whodress up in women's panties and net stockings when they're alone in thebathroom.'
Eva-Brittshook her head.
'Wecan put it to the test,' Frank said. 'My thoughts and your thoughts. What am Ithinking about?'
'I'mnot interested.'
'ButI definitely know what you're thinking.'
'Ohyes?' she said.
'You'rethinking about Julie. For the first time we have been discussing cohabitationwithout bringing Julie into the discussion.'
'That'strue.' She smiled. 'At least that's positive.'
Frølichstretched across the table and caressed her cheek with the back of his hand.They sat looking at each other.
'She'sfond of you Frankie,' Eva-Britt said. 'You're as important to her as I am.'
Hesaid nothing.
'Youknow that, don't you?'
Henodded and watched her from beneath lowered eyelids.
Shetook his hand. 'If we're going to live together, we have to learn to cope withsilence.' She looked down. 'We mustn't compare hands,' she said in a distantvoice, holding his forearm instead. 'My grandma always said it brought bad luck.'
Hegave a silent nod. She looked up. 'What shall we do when we have no more to sayto each other?'
'Wedo what they do in American films,' Frank said in a low voice.
Shesent him a tender smile. They rose together. She put her arms around his neckand stood on tiptoe. The kiss lasted a long time. He ran his fingers down herspine, first once, then again. As she gently loosened her hold he enjoyed thesight of her supple body and her swaying hips move towards the window. Theyexchanged glances in the reflection. As she reached up for the string to closethe blinds her muscles undulated beneath her dress.
Frølichawoke and gazed into the air. It sounded like a bad version of Mozart's 40thSymphony being played on a barrel organ. The telephone was ringing – his mobileon the floor. He bent down and pressed the right button. 'Hi,' he mumbledsleepily.
'Guesswho this is,' Gunnarstranda said.