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

Fristadnodded with closed eyes. 'Has Karsten got the hots for the widow? I meanthey're about the same age, aren't they?'

'Theyget on well in each other's company; they have a few common interests.'

'Arethey bonking?'

Gunnarstrandalooked up.

Fristadgave an apologetic smile. 'I read in one of your reports that the victim wasimpotent. Were the son and the widow bonking?'

Gunnarstranda,poker-faced: 'I didn't ask.'

'Butdo you think so?'

Gunnarstranda:'Perhaps we should concentrate on my account of events first?'

Fristadnodded: 'Right…' he said with emphasis. 'Right… widow leaves son to sleep withthis guy with the crazy name, Streamstead…' 'Strømsted…'

'Right.And the poor eighty-year-old cuckold sits waiting for the bitch to visit a realman to get her weekly fill…

Gunnarstrandastared at Fristad as though he were waiting for a phase to pass.

'Goon,' Fristad said gaily. 'Keep going.'

'Inthe meantime Reidar Folke Jespersen joins his brothers…'

'Yes,right…'

Gunnarstrandalooked up, silent.

Fristadwaved the policeman on.

'Weknow that the Kirkensers give their assurance that the Folke Jespersens'life-work will be carried on, and make a concrete offer for the shop, theshop's name and the warehouse – I believe it's called goodwill…'

'Yes,right, goodwill…'

'Butthey don't negotiate at this juncture. The couple make a kind of assessment ofthe shop's worth and give an overview of their plans before leaving the brothersto their own discussions. That's when Reidar Folke Jespersen is supposed tohave been unsympathetic and aggressive.'

'Whythe anger?'

'Ithink there was a lot of history. The man should have retired ten to twelveyears ago. He lords it over the others; he is the eldest brother. According toone brother, Emmanuel, Reidar perceived the initiative to sell the shop as aconspiracy against himself.'

'Right…but this business with the wife and lover, could that be a factor?'

'Well,of course it's possible,' Gunnarstranda conceded. 'According to the brothersand the couple, Reidar Folke Jespersen had been given prior information aboutthe background for the meeting. Well, it's hard to know what exactly annoyedhim about the negotiations. We do know however that after leaving the brothershe rang the wife's lover…'

'Yes,I read that. Pretty strong stuff, eh? The scorned spouse ringing while the twoof them are humping away…' Fristad guffawed through moist lips.

'True.At any rate Folke Jespersen didn't argue or have a row with the wife's lover onthe phone. He just asked to speak to his wife and gave her an ultimatum.'

'Nomore fucking around, eh,' Fristad said in English.

'Quiteso. At 2.30 p.m. at the latest he rings a young freelance actress by the nameof Gro Hege Wyller and brings forward a meeting with her. This change of planis in itself worthy of note. They had been due to meet on 23rd January, butinstead he asks her to come that day, Friday 13th January.'

'Right- and this was to the tune of The Way We Were?'

'Yes,Gro Hege Wyller dresses up and pretends to be a figure we have to assume is awoman from Folke Jespersen's past. Wyller acts out a play with him – a kind ofritual with improvisation, sherry and Schubert.'

'Nosex?' Fristad asked in English.

'Nevergave it a thought.'

Fristadgrinned. 'Are you a puritan, Gunnarstranda?'

Thepolice officer sighed. 'Ingrid Jespersen has confirmed that Reidar FolkeJespersen was not – as you yourself pointed out – sexually active. FrokenWyller maintains that Jespersen talked about this without any inhibitions. Itis my impression that the old man was finished with these things.'

'No jarof Viagra in grandad's medicine cabinet?' Fristad gave another moist guffaw.

DetectiveInspector Gunnarstranda took a deep breath.

'Sorry,'Fristad said.

'NowI've forgotten where I was,' said Gunnarstranda, irritated.

'Thephoto,' Fristad hastened to say. 'Wyller's role model. Who's the woman in thephoto?'

'Hername's Amalie Bruun, but her relationship with Folke Jespersen is not entirelyclear.'

'ButI suppose he must have been in love with her once upon a time?'

'Therelationship isn't clear.' Gunnarstranda, wearied, took off his glasses.

'Right,yes, well, on to the taxi murder. I assume that is the next line ofinvestigation, isn't it? Frank Frølich's somewhat dramatic nocturnal ramblethrough Bjørvika.'

Gunnarstrandastared blankly at the papers on the table.

'No,'he said. 'Let's take one thing at a time. Before Wyller comes to the dead man'soffice, Folke Jespersen rings his solicitor and asks her to revoke his will.'

'Isthat relevant?' asked a strained Fristad.

'It'srelevant to the extent that Jespersen is now focused on his own death forreasons yet to be clarified.'

'Butwhat effect does the revoking of the will have on the beneficiaries?'

Gunnarstrandaraised a hand to restrain the other man. 'Just a minute,' he said. 'Dr GretheLauritsen, who is the cancer specialist at Ullevål Hospital, says FolkeJespersen rang her that day. He was given the results of some tests anddiscovered that he had malignant cancer, which the pathologists confirmed, bythe way.'

'Doyou think that was why he revoked the will?'

'Wedon't know why. But we do know that very little time passed between his phonecall to Ullevål Hospital and then to his solicitor.'

'Butwhat are the consequences of his revoking the will?'

'Thereare hardly any consequences at all because he didn't make a new will. Accordingto the solicitor – and I have read the voided will myself – the man's lastwishes were simply a division of goods, who would get what after the inheritancehad been split along financial lines. We know Karsten Jespersen was interestedin a specific wardrobe, but I find it hard to believe he would kill his fatherfor the wardrobe.'

'Odd,'Fristad concluded. 'Bloody odd,' he repeated, gazing at the table.

'Thereare two big mysteries concerning the man's last hours,' Gunnarstranda said.'And they are the calls to Wyller and to the solicitor.'

'Butif he had found out he was going to die?'

'Thenhe should have come up with a new will if he had gone to the trouble ofcancelling the first. But he didn't.'

Fristadbrushed his jacket sleeve with his hand. 'Fine, go on.'

Gunnarstrandabreathed in. 'As will become evident, Gro Hege Wyller's statement is central.Richard Ekholt lives in the same block as Wyller…'

'Lived,'corrected Fristad.

'Iknow he's dead,' Gunnarstranda said in a low, menacing voice. 'Would you stopinterrupting me?'

Fristadopened his palms and said nothing.

'Well,Ekholt was an acquaintance of Wyller's and apparently interested in her – butthey didn't start a relationship. Ekholt drove Wyller to Ensjø. Here he tried to force her to have sex with him inthe car, but failed – according to her.'

'Doyou believe that?'

'I can'tsee why she would make up the story. She ran off and found the key to thewarehouse in a post box on the wall; this was a regular arrangement. Sheunlocked the door and got to Folke Jespersen's office at 5.15 p.m. Sheperformed this… this assignment of hers… and rang for a taxi just over an hourlater. It arrived at 6.42. We have a print-out of that. When they got into thecar, Wyller noticed that Ekholt was still sitting in his car parked outside thebuilding. He must have been waiting for her the whole time. But she left inFolke Jespersen's taxi. She says she consciously avoided Ekholt because of thebrutal incident that had taken place before.'

'Right…'Fristad waved Gunnarstranda on.

'Ekholtfollowed the taxi taking them to town. Wyller says she noticed his taxi whenshe was dropped outside her bed-sit. She also says that Ekholt followed FolkeJespersen's taxi home.'

Gunnarstrandastood up and went over to the Imsdal spring-Water dispenser next to the mirror.'My mouth has gone dry,' he mumbled, releasing water into a plastic beaker.