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

'Old Arvidis besotted with Iselin,' Hermann Kirkenær said brightly, and continued in away calculated to ensure she would also catch his drift: 'You see, I'm marriedto a woman who flourishes in the company of older men.'

'Nothingwrong with a woman enjoying feeling attractive, is there?' she said, with atentative dab to her cold sore with her first finger.

'Providingthat she doesn't offer herself.'

Thecomment was direct and personal. Frølich studied the paintings on the walls. Hethought of Eva-Britt and how she could on occasion annoy him. The thought ofwhat that annoyance could lead to in others' company brought him out in asweat.

IselinVarås spoke with a voice she was clearly struggling to controclass="underline" 'I've been toldHermann can be so nice.'

Thesilence that followed was unpleasant. Iselin concentrated on her glass ofmineral water.

'You'reinto antiques, I understand,' Frølich said to ease the atmosphere.

Kirkenærdidn't speak.

Sheraised her eyes and nodded.

'Whythis shop in particular?'

Iselincleared her throat. 'A general evaluation based on the current state of theindustry.'

'Manybusinesses are unprofessional,' Kirkenær added.

'Hencethe difficulty of starting from rock bottom,' she said, and it was obvious thecold sore bothered her. She had taken off the top of the lip-salve again.'We're on the lookout for an established business in one of the town's moreprestigious districts,' she went on. 'You know, you buy the reputation aswell.'

'Haveyou had your feelers out anywhere else?'

Kirkenærnodded.

'Whatsort of reputation are you buying off the Folke Jespersen brothers?'

Thetwo of them looked at each other. 'You answer,' she said.

Heflung out his arms. 'They sell good things,' he said.

'Goodtaste,' she added. 'They have good taste.'

Frølichlifted up his coffee cup. It was empty. He put it down.

'Whyrisk everything on this?' he asked.

At aloss to know what to say, they stared at him.

'Whatdid you do before?' Frølich asked.

'Teacher,'she said. 'I'm a qualified language and art history teacher.' She looked acrossat her husband with a smile. 'Your turn.'

'Guess,'he said to Frølich, who shrugged.

Kirkenærprovided the answer himself. 'Cars.'

'Carsalesman, shall we say,' she amended, with light irony. 'Hermann is of the firmconviction that salesmanship is what it's all about, not the sale item. Astandpoint which means he doesn't have to call himself a car salesman.'

'She'sa kind of expert on the subject,' he interceded. 'An art historian.'

'Whatsort of cars?' Frølich asked.

'Expensiveones. Mercedes, BMW, the biggest and the most expensive.'

'OK,'Frølich said, becoming irritated by the mud- slinging that was going on.'There's one thing I was wondering about: this meeting at Arvid's flat, why wasit held at all?'

Theyexchanged glances. 'You tell me,' Kirkenær said.

'Wehad to conclude the deal,' she said. 'The arrangement was that all threebrothers would meet us, hear our ideas and be convinced.'

'Sothe price wasn't a relevant topic of conversation at the meeting?'

'No,'Kirkenær said. 'The price had been agreed.'

'Reidaralready knew about the plans for the sale then and knew what your offer was…'

Bothnodded. 'Neither the meeting nor its purpose would have come as a surprise toanyone,' Kirkenær said. 'And I cannot recall a negative response from any ofthem, either,' he added.

'Youdidn't propose any new conditions, anything which might have caused ReidarFolke Jespersen to change his attitude?'

'Notat all,' said Kirkenær.

'Mightthe two brothers have held anything back from you?'

Husbandand wife exchanged looks. Iselin slowly hunched her shoulders. Kirkenæranswered: 'It's possible, in theory. But you'll have to ask them. To me…' Heglanced at the woman nodding in assent. 'To us it didn't seem as if he feltanything surprising or unfamiliar had come up at the meeting.'

'Ifhe was intent on rejecting a deal, he must have reached that conclusion beforehe appeared,' Iselin added.

'Didyou get in touch with any of the brothers after the meeting?'

'Wetalked to Arvid,' she said, still playing with the cold sore.

'When?'

'Werang Arvid the same afternoon, didn't we? And he said we should let thingssettle for a day or two and then everything would fall into place.'

'Hedidn't say anything to you about Reidar being against the sale?'

'No.'

'Canyou remember what he said word for word?'

Iselincoughed. 'That is what he said verbatim: I think we should let thingssettle for a few days and then everything will fall into place.'

'Whatdid you think?'

Sheshrugged. 'I was a little… how shall I put it?… I began to get cold feet. So Iasked if anything was the matter. Arvid said a small cloud had appeared on thehorizon, but it would be gone before the day was over.'

Frølichscrutinized her. 'A cloud which would be gone before the day was over?'

'That'swhat he said.'

'Andwhen was this?'

'Itwas the same day we met. It must have been about four in the afternoon, Iimagine.'

'Andafterwards? Have you talked since?'

'He rangthe day after, before we knew anything about the murder. It was in the morning.He told me that his brother Reidar was dead. So they would have to sort outlegal formalities amongst themselves before there could be any talk ofconcluding a deal. And he asked me if we had the patience to wait.'

Bothwere now staring at Frølich. 'Did you?' he asked.

Kirkenær,puzzled, said: 'Did you what?'

'Havethe patience to wait?'

Theyexchanged glances and smiled. 'That's what we're doing now,' she said. 'We'rewaiting.'

'Howlong are you prepared to wait?'

Theyeyed each other for a long time before Iselin turned to Frølich with a resignedexpression on her face. 'That's precisely what we've been discussing,' shesaid. 'And I don't think it's going to be very much longer.'

Chapter 35

Cherchez la Femme

EmmanuelFolke Jespersen was thinking. Gunnarstranda endured the long silence by gazingout of the window. His thoughts drifted to Tove while his eyes rested on theview from Jespersen's terrace. The rime frost lay like a layer of melted sugarover the roofs and the veranda railings. The low winter sun hit the window atan angle and showed up grease stains and fingerprints on the glass. Emmanuelfidgeted with the photograph between his fingers, rubbed his eyes, laboriouslyraised one leg and tried to cross it over the other, but then gave up.

Gunnarstrandalet his mind wander. A few hours earlier he had woken up in the same bed as awoman for the first time in ages. He leaned back and gazed at the rays of sun hittingthe opposite side of the room. The light appeared to shimmer; the heatradiating from the fireplace made the sunlight restless.

Therewas no doubt that Emmanuel had seen the woman in the photgraph before, butGunnarstranda recognized that it would take time to elicit an admission. Atfirst Jespersen took a deep breath as he spread his lips into a melancholyacknowledgement, an expression which he allowed to subside before it had fullydeveloped, and with his face set in a weird grimace, he met the PoliceInspector's eyes for two long seconds. Then his lower lip shot forward and witha shake of the head he announced that the photograph of the woman with the moleon the cheek meant nothing to him at all.

'I'vebeen talking to Arvid,' Jespersen said at last. 'He said you police were keento find out why Reidar became an antique dealer…'

Thetable was awash with weeklies and other magazines. In the middle towered a pileof books including a large crossword dictionary and Aschehoug & Gyldendal'sone-volume encyclopaedia. A third book was so creased it was impossible to readthe title on the spine. The man's black and white cat had curled up on acushion on the sofa between them.