‘All over the country!’ snorted Suijderbeck ‘This is where the bastard’s lying in wait. He’s riding a bike, have you forgotten that?’
‘We have twenty-five officers in place here,’ continued Kluuge, not to be deterred. ‘And twenty more on their way. Two helicopters have already scrambled.’
‘And the summer camps warned,’ said Lauremaa.
‘How many of those are there?’ wondered Jung.
‘Far too many,’ said Kluuge with a sigh. ‘At the moment we have between three and four hundred girls of about the right age in various camps.’
‘Good God!’ said Reinhart.
‘But they’ve been given strict instructions,’ said Lauremaa.
‘That’s no guarantee,’ said Servinus.
‘No,’ said Reinhart. ‘There are never any guarantees in our line of business, dammit.’
Inspector Lauremaa stood up in irritation and walked over to the window.
‘Anyway,’ she said, ‘if he turns up on the streets of this town, he’s had it. Every man jack will recognize him. We’ll catch him all right, it’s just a matter of time.’
‘There’s something else that’s just a matter of time,’ said Reinhart.
‘I know,’ said Lauremaa. ‘I don’t need reminding.’
The door opened and Van Veeteren came in, a toothpick sticking out of each side of his mouth. He flopped down onto Lauremaa’s empty chair and looked around.
‘The forest,’ he said. ‘His mother thinks he’s in the forest.’
Nobody spoke for a few seconds.
‘Okay,’ said Suijderbeck ‘That sounds plausible. We can tell the helicopters to do a sweep over the forest. Around the lake first and foremost, that’s probably where he thinks he’ll get a bite.’
‘Most probably,’ said Jung. ‘What kind of communications set-up do we have access to?’
‘The cars parked outside,’ said Suijderbeck, pointing. ‘Servinus and I will see to that right away. What are the twenty-five officers who’ve already arrived doing?’
‘Waiting for orders,’ said Kluuge.
‘Right, out into the forest with them,’ said Suijderbeck. ‘Long lines of them scouring the other side of the lake, or what do you think?’
‘Yes,’ said Kluuge. ‘That’s probably the best plan.’
‘Oh hell!’ said Jung. ‘Do you know what? Something’s just occurred to me. I saw a guy with a bike when we were driving to Waldingen. Last night, that is. He was having a pee against a tree trunk, his bicycle on the ground beside him. I only saw his back, but it could well have been him…’
‘Oh my God!’ groaned Reinhart. ‘And they’ve made you an inspector?’
Jung shook his head and muttered something.
‘Weren’t you driving along the same road as well?’ asked Van Veeteren.
‘Enough of that,’ said Lauremaa. ‘If it was him, at least it shows that we’re searching in the right place.’
‘It’s a quarter to eight,’ said Suijderbeck. ‘Let’s get out there and catch this bastard!’
He woke up and looked at his watch.
Five minutes to eight.
He’d managed to snatch a few hours’ sleep. It felt good, and he’d needed it.
Not a bad place either. Protected and warmed up by the sun. He could just see the lake beyond the fir trees, and in the distance he could hear the voices of young girls playing away merrily. Presumably he’d been able to hear them while he was asleep – his insides were in tumult already, and his erection was as hard as his baton.
He realized he was holding the baton in his hand. Gave a laugh, took hold of his own with his other hand and compared them.
A blonde, he thought. Ten points for a blonde.
But anything else would also be okay, of course.
He raised himself up on his elbows and gazed down the slope towards the water.
‘I lost it yesterday,’ explained Helene Klausner. ‘When we were up there.’
She pointed into the trees.
‘It must be still there. Are you coming with me?’
Ruth Najda shook her head.
‘It’s breakfast in ten minutes. And they told us not to go anywhere. Something’s happened. They’re having a meeting now.’
‘It’ll only take five minutes.’
‘I don’t want to.’
‘You can borrow my diving mask.’
‘I’ve already said, I don’t want to.’
‘Will you wait here then while I go and look myself?’
Ruth Najda clambered down from the rock.
‘I think we should go to the dining room now. The rest are there already. You can fetch it later. It’s only a hairslide, for goodness sake!’
Helene Klausner shook her long, fair hair.
‘Maybe, but I need it now. I’m going anyway. Will you wait for me?’
‘Okay,’ said Ruth Najda with a sigh. ‘But you’d better hurry up. I’m hungry.’
‘Five minutes!’ shouted Helene as she hurried into the trees.
39
Jung settled down behind Suijderbeck and Servinus in the radio patrol car. Felt how exhaustion was slowly taking possession of him as he stared at the red digital figures, slowly ticking out the ponderous minutes of morning.
08.16
08.17
How many more minutes? he thought. Before something happens. A hundred? A thousand?
Was there really anything to suggest that Wim Fingher really was still here in Sorbinowo? And not somewhere else? Anywhere else in the world?
If he’d happened to hear the radio for just one minute that morning, he must have known that they were on his trail. That he was a hunted quarry – and even if he was a mad murderer, he must have had enough sense to get the hell out of there.
By bike or on foot.
Through the forests.
Surely even a lunatic like him must have a certain kind of logic?
‘What do you think?’ he asked.
‘Hmm, I’m damned if I know,’ said Servinus. ‘What do you think?’
‘Hard to say. Obviously it would be most convenient if-’
‘Shut up!’ roared Suijderbeck, adjusting his earphones. ‘What did you say?… Okay!… Good!… Where exactly?… After the bridge? Which fucking bridge?… Yes, I understand. I’ll inform the others. Over and out.’
‘Ha!’ he said as he slid down his earphones so that they hung round his neck. ‘They’ve found his bike. The bastard can’t be far away now!’
‘Where?’ said Jung.
