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

'Andeveryone agrees that Folke Jespersen went home in the taxi – and it stoppedoutside his house in Thomas Heftyes gate at 7.15?'

Gunnarstrandadrank another beaker of water and stared thoughtfully at the bottom. 'Everyoneagrees.'

'Andthis man from the woods was waiting for him – Jonny Stokmo?'

'Yes.'

'He'san old friend of ours, isn't he?'

'Yes,he is. Two convictions: one for receiving stolen goods and one for sellingcontraband.'

'Whatwas the unsettled score about?

Gunnarstrandasat down again. 'Frølich questioned Stokmo. But Stokmo was vague and evasiveabout the outstanding issues between him and the dead man. The only thingStokmo would say was that money came into the picture. We do know that theytalked before Folke Jespersen went upstairs to his flat.'

'Butyou've spoken to the son?'

'StokmoJunior claims the bad blood between them is a matter of honour and goes back tothe war and Jonny Stokmo's father – Harry Stokmo – who was alleged to have beenswindled out of a lot of money by Jespersen. Harry Stokmo led refugees acrossthe border during the war and he…' Gunnarstranda wriggled two index fingers tosuggest quotation marks… 'received gifts from Jews he guided over theborder to Sweden. Folke Jespersen, it seems, assumed the goods were stolenbecause Stokmo didn't dare to put them up for sale after the war. FolkeJespersen took them and sold them, but neglected to settle up with Stokmo.Jonny found this out a short time ago – via some old receipts, etc. – and thatwas why he had demanded a settlement from Folke Jespersen on behalf of hisdeceased father.'

'Doyou believe Stokmo Junior?'

Gunnarstrandagave a tired smile. 'Why not? If this story has any truth to it, it gives JonnyStokmo a motive, and that gives us a handy line of enquiry. Why would Karl-ErikStokmo invent a motive for his father? Anyway, we'll have to question Jonnyagain. The son's statement is not worth much more than hearsay.'

'Right…Make a note of that,' Fristad said.

'Ofwhat?'

'Thatwe need to check the story.'

Gunnarstrandasent him an old-fashioned look.

'Yes?'Fristad said.

'Doyou want to do my job?'

Fristadcleared his throat. The silence was oppressive.

'Andthen?' Fristad faked a casual cough.

Gunnarstrandatook a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair. 'Folke Jespersen went up tohis wife, son, daughter-in-law and two grandchildren.'

'AndStokmo?'

'Weknow that night he visited a prostitute calling herself Carina. She has beenchecked out. Stokmo left this woman at about an hour before midnight. She hadto clear up and get ready for the next customer at midnight. Stokmo claims hedrove to Torshov and went to bed at about eleven in a room behind his son'sworkshop. He didn't see or talk to anyone. And this was a Friday.'

'Lies,in other words.'

'Letus say that Stokmo may have arrived at Thomas Heftyes gate shortly afterIngrid went to bed on her own. We can also say, with certainty, that Stokmo hadno alibi for the moment of death.'

Theyeyed each other. Fristad roared with laughter. 'I know what you mean. Stokmo'san interesting one, isn't he!'

Gunnarstrandanodded.

'Andup in Folke Jespersen's flat they quarrelled over the evening meal?'

'No.'

'Butdid they quarrel after the meal?'

'No -according to the widow, who maintains she went to bed as normal except that shewas alone. She took a sleeping pill and woke up in the middle of the night notknowing what it was that awoke her.'

'Ifshe killed her husband, she wasn't very creative about procuring herself analibi.'

'Let'sfocus on the murder,' Gunnarstranda continued blithely. 'It's most probablethat Reidar knew his killer. Either he arranged to meet him in the shop or hewas in the shop for other reasons when his killer came. But as the murderappears to have been planned, the most likely scenario is that the victimarranged to meet his killer in the shop.'

Gunnarstrandalooked up. The public prosecutor was sitting quietly with closed eyes, asthough he were meditating.

'Weknow that Folke Jespersen was busy on the phone all afternoon and evening. GroHege Wyller said he received at least one call in his office, but he may havemade many more before she arrived. The widow said there were several calls forhim during the evening. However, we have not managed to find out who thecallers were. The only person who has admitted calling is his brother Emmanuel.He says he phoned late in the evening, but Reidar didn't want to talk to him.'

Fristadnodded to himself. His glasses fell on to his chest and he put them back.'Anything else?'

'Accordingto the prospective purchaser – Kirkenær – Arvid was supposed to have rung toremove the small cloud on the horizon.'

'Didhe?'

'What?Ring or remove the small cloud?' Gunnarstranda asked dryly. 'No, Kirkenær saidArvid had tried to get through to his brother, but without success.'

Thetwo men sat facing each other, ruminating, until the policeman resumed: 'FolkeJespersen was killed by a single stab from an antique bayonet which was ondisplay in the shop. The choice of weapon is an indication that the murder wasnot premeditated. Provided that the killer had not known about the bayonet andhad not planned to use it. Nevertheless, we have to assume the stabbing wascarried out by a strong person. The blade penetrated deep into the man's body,puncturing one lung and grazing some vital arteries – the forensics report saysthe killer held the victim and the bayonet until he was sure the victim wasdead. So there was no struggle. The murder victim was stabbed, held tight andthen let down gently onto the floor. There are no marks on the body to suggesthe was dropped. He was let down gently and left where he was. The crime sceneinvestigators made one vital point. There was not very much blood on the floorand so the assumption is that the killer's clothes must have been drenched withblood.'

Fristadnodded and his glasses fell onto his chest.

'KarstenJespersen has gone through the registered items in the shop and a uniform ismissing. It appears this had been sent to the shop anonymously a few days beforethe murder. The uniform was still in the box on the Friday when the man waskilled. If Karsten Jespersen is telling the truth – we have only his word forit that this uniform exists – then there is the possibility that the killerdonned the trousers and jacket, put his own soiled clothing in the box and madehis escape. So, if the killer sent the uniform to have a change of clothing inthe shop, it tends to suggest it was premeditated murder.'

'Doesn'tthat seem terribly complicated?'

'Premeditatedmurder is always complicated.'

Fristadnodded. 'But wouldn't a soldier wandering around attract a lot of attention?'

'Itwas very cold out. The killer could easily have hidden the uniform under awinter coat.'

'Atany rate the uniform offers a logical explanation for why no witnesses observeda man with bloodstained clothing,' Fristad said to himself. 'Has KarstenJespersen any documentation to prove the existence of a uniform? Has he got areceipt from the post office?'

Gunnarstrandalooked up. 'Would that stand up in court?'

Fristadsplayed his arms wide in a gesture of ignorance.

Gunnarstrandawent on: 'The killer then stripped the body.'

'Andthe bayonet?'

Gunnarstrandanodded. 'As I said, it was on display in the shop – it belonged to a rifle usedby an English soldier during the Napoleonic wars. We've got it, but there areno fingerprints on either it or the gun. At the time of the murder the shop wasin the dark, as every other night. By the way, we have an indelible pen – thebog- standard type sold in stationers up and down the country. We assume thekiller brought it with him, because it was used to write this strange messageon the body. The message also indicates that the murder was planned – if a mantakes a pen with him to write something on the body, it suggests premeditation.By the by, there are no prints on the pen either.'