There was something refreshingly direct about Klavs Arnold, Simonsen thought to himself. Despite his being new to the group, what he had to say was given full weight by the other members.
The Countess, however, wasn’t convinced.
‘If we’re supposed to hold off on questioning suspects until sufficient evidence is gathered, we’d never get anyone put away, would we? What do you all reckon? Not you, Simon, we know where you stand. It’s wide open again now, isn’t it?’
Pauline Berg sighed.
‘Oh, for fuck’s sake, can’t we agree on anything?’
Simonsen stared at her wearily. Her changing moods were getting to be a pain, though by now he’d at least learned to decode how she was feeling: if she swore a lot, it was a pretty good indication she was either in one of her… phases… or else well on her way to one. Earlier in the day he’d made an agreement with her and the woman from her annoying group – he couldn’t remember her name offhand – to meet with Arthur Elvang the following day over at the Department of Forensic Medicine, as he had promised them that day in the rain out at Melby Overdrev. Truth be told, he’d been hoping she’d lose interest by now, but his hopes were dashed. And here she was, swearing her head off, when she wasn’t in a sulk. He wondered if the two things might be connected – the appointment with Elvang and her sour mood. It seemed unlikely, but then again you never knew with Pauline. He glanced round the room and cut in authoritatively:
‘We’re bringing them in.’
Klavs Arnold accepted the decision without adverse comment. He wasn’t the moaning kind. The choice was made, for better or worse, and only time would tell.
What Simonsen had to do now was decide who was going to conduct the interviews. Pedersen would have to be ruled out, having too much on his plate as it was. That left the Countess, Pauline Berg and Klavs Arnold, unless he wanted to bring in others from beyond the inner circle, something he was rarely inclined to do.
Had he been obliged to choose between them a month ago the matter would have been simple, but word had begun to circulate around HQ that Homicide’s convalescent man-in-charge had a double killing on his hands. What had started out as a light-duty job wrapping up a report about a postman falling down the stairs had gradually morphed into every ambitious crime investigator’s dream. Getting to be a part of clearing up a forty-year-old murder case wasn’t the sort of thing that came round more than once in a blue moon. The Countess had even given him a couple of hints as to who she’d like to be brought in once they got round to questioning, mentioning the matter casually on several occasions without his needing to respond, even though her intentions were clear. Arne Pedersen had tried to rearrange his commitments in an effort to clear himself some space, albeit in vain.
It was not without excitement, then, that Simonsen’s audience awaited his word. For his own part, it was something to which he’d given a good deal of thought already, striving to use solely his professional judgement. His decision was not for discussion.
‘The Countess and I will deal with Hanne Brummersted and Helena Brage Hansen, if we can get her down here from Norway. Klavs and I are going to Aalborg the day after tomorrow, we need more of a hold on Pia and Jesper Mikkelsen. If we can question the two of them separately, the Countess and I will take care of Pia Mikkelsen and I’ll handle Jesper Mikkelsen on my own, unless Arne finds the time.’
Pauline protested vociferously:
‘That’s not fair! I’ve been on this investigation from day one, and what do I get when the fun starts? Sod all, is what. And I’m slogging away at home reading all sorts of books on the dreary sixties.’
Simonsen endeavoured to calm her down.
‘Pauline, it’s not like that at all. It’s crucial you keep yourself one hundred per cent abreast of the investigation in case anything untoward happens and one of us has to be pulled out. What’s more, if there’s going to be a second round I may want to switch you and the Countess. You could even step in for me.’
Pauline’s obscene gesture told him in no uncertain terms what she thought of that. Klavs Arnold brought her back to earth.
‘Calm down and hold your horses, Pauline. Simon’s got a point, the way he’s suggesting we do this, so let’s discuss it like adults, shall we?’
The Countess grinned, though Simonsen himself stared at the man in bewilderment. Suggesting? Discuss? There was nothing more to talk about, he’d already told them how it was going to be.
‘Er, Klavs, you’ve not been a part of these deliberations. As yet, I know nothing about your interview techniques, and this isn’t a case where I want to experiment. What’s more, you still don’t know any of us well enough to understand how best to play off each other in an interview situation.’
Again, Arnold took this on the chin.
‘No problem. I’d have made the same selection myself. And it does free up Pauline and me to dig a bit deeper into Hanne Brummersted, if you agree? And of course Pauline’s going to Aalborg, too, you just forgot to say.’
‘Did I? Oh…’
Arnold’s argument was hard to counter. The Aalborg couple, and Jesper Mikkelsen in particular, were heavily involved in the nightclub business centred on the area around Jomfru Ane Gade in the middle of the city. It seemed they owned fifty per cent of the Rainbow Six club, a popular dancing and drinking place for young people from all over northern Jutland, but they were possibly involved in other ways, too, drugs and vice perhaps… that was what they needed to get up there and find out. And in that case they’d be daft not to have Pauline Berg with them, given the fact that she could so easily blend in to the nightclub environment, in rather stark contrast to Simonsen and Arnold himself.
Or that was Klavs Arnold’s take on the matter.
Simonsen climbed down: yes, quite right… he’d forgotten to mention that Pauline would be going to Aalborg, too.
Her attitude was immediately transformed: from sullen to smiles in one second. Simonsen found himself wondering if now and then she took advantage of her illness, or whatever it was, to play the sulky schoolgirl. He resolved to have a word with her once the opportunity arose.
The Countess turned to Klavs Arnold.
‘What was that about digging deeper into Hanne Brummersted? And why her especially?’
‘She was in Sweden with Jørgen Kramer Nielsen, and of the four she’s got most to lose.’
The Countess came back at him straight away.
‘How come? The Aalborg couple own a thriving business with a takeover in the millions of kroner.’
‘They can sell their records from their living room without hardly ever needing to get out and meet people. But our consultant doctor’s got her image to think of, not to mention the respect of her daughters, maybe even her job, so she’s hardly going to want to see herself on the front page of the tabloids. The effect it’d have on her two board positions alone would be disastrous.’
‘Perhaps, but I think you’re underestimating what the Mikkelsens have to gain. That is, assuming they weren’t involved in killing either the girl or their former classmate.’
‘Gain? Where’s the gain in this?’
‘Everything so far tells me they’re stuck in a dead-end relationship. What’s keeping them together?’
Klavs Arnold yielded.
‘So you reckon they’d talk if they got the chance? To make amends, clear up in the past and present? It’s not a bad take, I’ll buy that.’
Simonsen probed further:
‘Perhaps Jørgen Kramer Nielsen broke some kind of covenant or pact that the others have upheld. Perhaps they are in touch, all four of them.’
‘Guesswork,’ Klavs Arnold retorted.
Pauline Berg shook her head in resignation, rather than annoyance.