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

TheInspector had found two Bibles which he placed on the work desk under thewindow. He flipped through both before looking up. 'I haven't got any sherry,'he said. 'But I have some good whisky.'

Sheturned, interested. 'Where?'

'Inthe wooden chest.' He nodded towards the seaman's trunk by the fireplace.

'Here?'She opened the lid and regarded the tightly packed bottles in the chest.'You've got enough whisky,' she mumbled, lifting out one bottle after the otherand reading the labels. 'Which one would you like?'

'Onethat's already open,' Gunnarstranda answered, his finger following the lines inthe bible. 'Luke… John,' he muttered.

Tovedecided on a quarter-full bottle of Ballantine's, went into the kitchen, foundtwo tumblers and poured.

Gunnarstrandatook the glass she passed him, rapt in thought.

'Here,'he said, pointing.

'Whatdoes it say?'

'Jesusand Pontius Pilate.'

'Skal,'Tove said. 'To my grandmother.'

'AndPontius Pilate,' Gunnarstranda added.

Tovesighed, looking at the whisky tumbler with appreciation.

'PontiusPilate washes his hands – and the people put a crown of thorns on Jesus's head.The three crosses on the dead man's forehead. The Crown of Thorns! Red threadaround the neck, the purple robe.' Gunnarstranda gazed into the distance,pensive, and asked: 'But why?'

'You'rethe cop,' Tove said. She pulled books down from the shelf and studied thetitles while he flicked through the Bible and read. After a while she pouredherself another whisky and asked if he wanted any.

Gunnarstrandapeered up and shook his head. He hadn't touched his glass while he was reading.'This is interesting,' he mumbled. 'There are four gospels. But there are onlythree that describe this precise incident. Luke is the odd one out…'

Hethumbed through to show her.

'Ibelieve you,' Tove said, taking another sip. 'Damned good whisky, this.'

'Lukedoesn't mention the incident at all, not the purple robe nor the crown of thornsnor the jeering. Luke brings in Herod instead. In general, Luke appears to beon the wrong track. Whereas the other three all agree that Jesus was given apurple robe…'

'Thered thread,' Tove interrupted. 'You've already said that.'

Gunnarstrandanodded. 'Three of them also agree on the crown of thorns and Jesus being shownto the crowds to be mocked. But here John is the odd one out.' Tove peered intothe bottom of the glass, to confirm that it was empty yet again. 'I think I'llhave another,' she said, taking the bottle. 'Skal,' she said.

Gunnarstrandaraised his glass, sipped and read aloud: 'And the soldiers plaited a crownof thorns and put it on his head, and they threw a purple robe around him, andsaid "Hail, King of the Jews!" And they hit him in the face. Pilatetherefore went out again and said to them, "Look, I bring him to you sothat you may know I find no fault in him.'" Gunnarstranda looked up andcontinued: 'Here's the relevant quotation, John, 19:5: "Then Jesuscame out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And he said to them:See the man!'"

Tovewalked along the bookshelf with her glass in hand. Gunnarstranda stood up inhis excitement and articulated his thoughts: 'Only John has that line. If thereis a reason for the killer quoting John and not Mark, or Matthew, it must bebecause John has that phrase: "See the man!"

Toveturned a fraction, a genial smile on her face, and sipped her whisky beforereturning to the bookshelf.

'Butthen the question is…' the Inspector continued, concentrating, 'What does thephrase mean? And who said it?'

'Pilate,'Tove answered. 'It's Pontius Pilate talking.'

Gunnarstrandanodded. 'Pontius Pilate says he finds no fault in him, and then he shows thehumiliated prisoner and says: See! See him!' Gunnarstranda frowned. 'But ingrammar, if the pronoun be appears after the proper noun Jesus itwould be normal to interpret the sentence as meaning it is the prisoner, Jesus,who utters the words.'

'Right,'she said without a flicker of interest.

'Thequestion is: Who does the writer of this message identify with?!' Gunnarstrandaread the quotation from the Bible again: 'Then Jesus came out, wearing thecrown of thorns and the purple robe. And he said to them: See the man! Soit is not clear who says it or what it means.'

'Washe crucified?' Tove asked with somewhat slurred speech.

'Jesus?'

'No,the antiquarian!'

'Hewas an antiques dealer, not an antiquarian. No, Folke Jespersen was not crucified,'Gunnarstranda mumbled fastidiously. 'There were no wounds on the hands or feet- so it must be the exhibiting of him and the quotation which are important.The method of death is irrelevant. The situation, the quotation and thehumiliation must be the relevant points. But if Pilate said the line it is asthough he is begging for Jesus; he seems to be imploring the crowds to come totheir senses: Look – now he has been humiliated, show mercy! But if Jesus saidthe words, then the line contains a great many levels. After all he claims tobe the son of God, immortal and all that, and he is saying: 'See me, see theman!'

Tovestifled an outburst of laughter.

'What?'Gunnarstranda asked, disorientated.

'Ihope you won't be damaged by this,' she giggled. 'I hope you won't becomereligious.' She laughed out loud.

Bewildered,Gunnarstranda stared at her. 'Oooh, dear me,' she said, recovering. 'That mustbe the whisky. It's just so good. I think I might have one more.'

'Butit may be something to do with guilt,' Gunnarstranda reasoned as Tove pouredthem both another. 'This incident – where Pilate does not want to execute Jesusand offers to release him, but the crowd chooses the other one… what's hisname?'

'Barabbas,'Tove said, lowering her face over the goldfish. 'Bar a bass,' she said,changing the stress. 'Bass is a type of fish, isn't it?'

'That'sit, Barrabas, and Pilate, who washes his hands of the whole business. It mightall be tied up with – guilt.'

Toveleered. 'What's his name?'

'Whoare you talking about?'

'Thefish.'

'Thefourth wise man.'

'Thefourth?'

'Thereare three wise men in the Bible. This is the fourth.'

'Yourfish?' Tove's face was one big question mark. 'Oh, my God, I can already feelthe whisky,' she grinned.

'Kalfatrus,'Gunnarstranda said.

'Pardon?'

Gunnarstrandasmiled.

'Thereyou are, you see,' she said. 'You can laugh!' They grinned, both ofthem.

'Sorry,'she said. 'I'm stopping you thinking.' She took two unsteady steps towards thebottle. 'You think; I'll take care of this.'

'Wherewas I?'

'Youwere talking about guilt.'

'Yes,Pilate says the man is innocent. It's confusing…' Gunnarstranda furrowed hisbrow. 'The sentence in the Bible may be a reference to the discussionsurrounding the Jesus figure. Is he really the son of God, a God or a man? As aking he is mocked. The concept of king – you know, the Jews' idea of a Messiahwas a kind of all-powerful emperor who smashes the enemy and proclaims himselfking, but then this Jesus figure comes along with his "king"metaphors and uses the concept in a sort of spiritual sense. So the sentence isto do with the relationship between the concepts of king, God, man and father.But the question is whether the fact that he is exhibited in the shop window issignificant or whether it is the issue of guilt itself – after all, the sectionwith Pilate is a legal procedure…'