The Man In The Window [Mannen i vinduet - no]

'Yousaid you were frightened,' Frølich said. 'As I said, we have no reason tobelieve that either you or anyone else is in danger. We assume that the murderof your husband was motivated by personal circumstances. However, if you areconcerned, you should take account of these feelings. If you so desire, we arehappy to take measures which…'

'No,'she interrupted. 'Out of the question. I want to live here. This is my flat.'

'Ofcourse,' Fr0lich said. 'I'm just saying this to accommodate your…'

'No,'she repeated, shaking her head.

'Whatdid you think when you woke up and your husband was not beside you?' 'I thoughtit must have been Reidar in the bedroom after an evening walk, to picksomething up, a piece of paper or…' She got up and walked calmly round the bed.'Here,' she pointed again. 'There too – that was wet.'

Theywent back to the chairs where they had been sitting. 'And then?' Frølich asked.'What happened then?'

'Igot out of bed, went into the living room and round the flat looking forReidar. But, of course, he wasn't there.'

'Whatdid you think then?'

'Idon't know what I thought, I was terrified. I called Karsten,' she said.

'Whydid you do that?'

'Iwanted to ask him to come over. I was scared something had happened to Reidar.'

Frølichsaid nothing.

'Ididn't hear a sound. The whole house was silent.'

Frølichnodded. He looked down at his foot, placed his heel on the same wet patch onthe floor and watched another round drop of water forming at the end of thedrenched shoelace. 'Mm, you made a phone call.'

'Yes,it rang for a long time, well, after all, it was the middle of the night -until at last she picked up the phone. Susanne…' Ingrid pulled a face. 'Isuppose she thought I was deranged…'

'Whatdid you say to her?'

'Iasked to speak to Karsten.'

'Andwhat answer did you receive?'

'Thathe was not at home.'

'Howdid you interpret that?' 'I regretted the way I had expressed myself. I shouldhave taken a more pedagogic approach. I didn't think when I was ringing that itwas the middle of the night. You know, Susanne is quite special. Now and thenshe gives the impression that she is jealous. I…' She paused.

'Yes,'Frølich tilted his head and waited patiently.

'Iknow this might sound a bit odd, but in fact I think Susanne is frightenedabout me and Karsten…'

'So yourinterpretation was that she didn't want to wake her husband because she fearedyour intentions?'

'Iknow it sounds sick.'

'Didshe have any reason to be jealous?'

'Whatdo you mean?'

'Didshe have any reason to be jealous?' Frølich repeated with identical intonation.

'Ofcourse not. Susanne is special. I don't know how else to express it.'

Frølichcould feel that he was not sweating any more. Nevertheless he had to make aneffort to look into Ingrid Jespersen's eyes, instead of stealing glances at herrounded breasts or her hips. In fact, he could understand Susanne. 'Whathappened after that?' he asked.

'Isaid that I was worried about Reidar and asked her to tell Karsten when he camehome.'

'Andthen?'

'Iwent back to bed.'

'Butyou had a look around the flat?'

'Ofcourse, I wondered where Reidar was…'

'Didyou see these puddles of melted snow anywhere else?' 'In the hall.'

'Butnowhere else in the flat?'

'No.'

'Sosomeone had walked straight from the hall to the bedroom?'

'Ithought Reidar had been in to see me or to take something from a cupboard.'

'Whenyou found the flat empty – didn't it occur to you that Reidar might be in theshop downstairs?'

'Yes,it did, of course. I couldn't sleep, I just lay thinking hundreds of thoughts,imagining all the places he might be, what the snow on the floor might mean… Ilay awake until I heard the sounds of the morning traffic.'

'Whydidn't you go down and check?'

'Tobe honest, I didn't dare. I was petrified. When the police rang the doorbell,naturally I thought it was Reidar.' A shudder ran through her body and shecrossed her arms.

'Didyou hear anything unusual?'

'Whatdo you mean?'

Frølichobserved her without saying a word. Her eyes were glazed. She coughed.

'Didyou hear anything during the night?' the detective officer repeated. 'Noises,someone walking down the stairs…'

'Downthe stairs?'

'Noises,'Frølich said impatiently. 'Footsteps, doors closing, anything.'

'Idon't think so.'

'Don'tthink so?' Frølich gazed into her eyes. The irises were green and looked liketwo precious stones on a background of white felt in a display case.

'No,'she said with conviction. 'Nothing.'

'Hm?'

'I amsure I didn't hear anything.'

'Butyou had to have a think about it.'

'Don'tyou believe me?' she erupted.

'Ofcourse. It is just that we need to know every detail, and there may be thingswhich you overlook or consider inconsequential, things which we can make senseof. And when I asked…'

'Ididn't hear any noises!' she interrupted angrily.

'Right.'

Theysat looking at each other.

Frølichjotted down: Interviewee is evasive when asked if she heard any noises.

'Theoverwhelming probability then is that the person who killed your husband did itbefore you woke up?' he reasoned out loud.

Shetrembled again. 'I don't know anything about that!' she exclaimed.

'Butyou didn't hear any noises?'

'Iwas in a coma, knocked out, I had taken a sleeping pill! Loads of things couldhave happened without my realizing.'

'Fine,'Frølich said. 'There was one thing I was wondering about,' he mumbled with theballpoint in his mouth. 'You said the person who was in your bedroom might havebeen Reidar. Were all the doors closed and locked when you woke up?'

Ingridleapt to her feet. 'As I said, the whole thing seems like a nightmare now. Ireally don't know. The bedroom door may have been open, but…'

Shepaced to and fro before sitting down again. Frølich revelled in the sightthrough half-closed eyes.

'Butwhen you got up for the first time, and you were petrified, didn't you checkthe front door?'

'Ithink so. I'm not sure.'

'Wasit locked?'

'Idon't know. I think so. Yes, of course it was. I get so confused…'

'Soif someone had been in here – he must have been long gone?'

Shesent him a suspicious glance. 'What do you mean now?'

'Sinceyou didn't hear anything, the person who left snow on the floor must have goneby the time you woke up – isn't that right?'

Shegave him another wary look. 'Of course. I didn't understand what you meant.'

Frølichstudied her again. He thought: Is she lying? There was definitelysomething bothering her. The interview had not gone smoothly. 'Is thereanything missing from the bedroom?' he asked. 'Has anything been stolen?'

'No.That's one of the things that makes me think it was Reidar who came in to seeme.'

'Wasyour husband in good health?' the policeman asked.

Shebreathed out. 'I wish we all enjoyed the good health he had!'

'Sohe didn't have any complaints of any kind?'

'Whatdo you mean?' 'He didn't complain about pains in his back, or kidneys, orlegs…'

'No.'

Frølichnodded to himself. 'Does the number one hundred and ninety-five mean anythingto you?'

Hehad held the question back, wondering how to phrase it. Now he was happy withthe way it had come out, but it fell on stony ground. She shook her head andshrugged.

'Nothing?'

'No.'

'Nothingthat connects your husband with this number – one hundred and ninety-five?'

'Sorry,'she said. 'Nothing I can think of.'

'Inthere…' Frølich motioned towards the bedroom she had shown him. 'In yourbedroom, have you washed the floors?'

'Yes…'

Frølichthought. 'We could just have a quick look…'

IngridJespersen heaved a deep sigh.

'Well,let me see,' he mumbled, getting to his feet. 'I suppose it isn't reallynecessary.'