“Answering a question with a question. Interesting. . ”
“You too answered my cult question with a question.”
“So we’re even. . at a stalemate.”
“A good old-fashioned deadlock. . Sometimes a deadlock is not a bad thing. It gives you time to think things over. . figure things out.”
Sohlberg nodded and observed the koldtbord carefully. He shook his head when Fru Sohlberg pointed at the farikal which he could never digest not even when he was a teenager. The heavily peppered cabbage-and-mutton stew was always served with boiled potatoes and it left him bloated for hours. Unlike most Norwegians he disliked meat including the ever-popular kjottkaker or meatballs. In addition to the grilled salmon he desperately wanted his wife to bring him a heaping plate of Norway’s heavenly muiter or cloudberries. He also wanted a plate of lingonberries piled on top of the mouth-watering Jarlsberg cheese that he missed so badly when living abroad.
“Here,” said Matthias Otterstad who took pity on the famished Sohlberg and offered him his untouched plate.
Sohlberg snatched the plate full of flatbrod or paper-thin crisp rye bread topped with brunost or carmelized goat cheese. “Ah. . heavenly.”
“Are you staying here in Norway for good this time?”
“No. Just for a conference. Then back to the United States.”
“It’s too bad,” said Matthias Otterstad with a melancholy look. “I wish you’d move back here.”
“Why?. . Are you getting sentimental?”
“Maybe. But as you know almost everyone with brains leaves Norway for better jobs and opportunities. Look at your brother. . a top-notch petroleum engineer who should be helping his own country find more oil. Instead of staying at Statoil he’s now helping British Petroleum find oil in America.”
“Well. . they need all the help they can get since a lot of their oil has been spilling and floating on and polluting the Gulf of Mexico.”
Matthias Otterstad laughed. “Ja. Those crazy British idiots. Unbelievable. And not one of those rats have been prosecuted. Interesting how the enviro-radical Obama people turn a blind eye when it comes to one of their biggest corporate campaign donors. I wish I could buy off politicians that easily and thoroughly in Norway.”
“It would be too expensive.”
“Ja,” said Matthias Otterstad. “As the old saying goes. . politicians don’t sell their integrity. . they just rent it. And it figures that the rent for a politician would be much more expensive in good old Norway. . as with everything else.”
“Norway’s gotten too expensive. Remember the good old days?. . I still remember our law school days and going to your Nora’s apartment so I could get some food when I was low on funds. . which was almost always.”
“Nora always had good food in her refrigerator. I think she earned more money in one month as a registered nurse than both of us together made during all of our years in law school.”
“Ja,” said Matthias Otterstad with a chuckle. “I think we both married our wives because they made so much more money as nurses than we did back then as lawyers. By the way. . I’m glad to see you and Emma are so happy together. That’s getting to be a rarity nowadays.”
“Ja.”
“I think Sohlberg that you owe me a lot. . because Nora and I introduced you to Emma. I’m so glad you married her. . Nora and I were so worried about you those two years after Karoline died.”
“Thank you my friend,” said Sohlberg who quickly switched the topic. “But you owe me more for vouching for you and recommending you to your first clients when they asked for references.”
The men laughed.
Karl Haugen did not understand why his father no longer looked for him. Several times his father had come so close to him but his father had not seen or heard him. He now felt so far away from his father.
“Daddy!” he yelled.
Silence. As always. The silence sometimes overwhelmed him. Other times he felt happy when he heard the pretty music. He wondered how long he would be kept away from his father.
Sohlberg looked carefully at Matthias Otterstad and his immense estate and wondered how all this had happened for a man who had never practiced law. Shortly before graduating from law school Matthias Otterstad inherited $ 200,000 kroner or less than $ 40,000 U.S. dollars from an elderly aunt. Within a year he had quadrupled his inheritance by investing in out-of-favor stocks and commodities and currencies from his home.
“Ja ja my good friend the Sohlbergmeister. I owe you. And that’s why I’ve asked you many many times to come work with me. Thanks to your references and recommendations I soon had wealthy investors in Norway and abroad begging me to manage their money.”
Sohlberg nodded. He remembered the fawning newspaper and magazine Arcticles about his friend. Within four years of starting his investment fund Matthias Otterstad was managing large amounts of Other People’s Money for a hefty percentage of profits. Over a ten year period his take-home income added up to tens of millions of dollars and kroner and euros.
Matthias Otterstad moved closer to Sohlberg and said:
“Any regrets over not joining me in the business?”
“No. None.”
“Really?”
“No. I truly love what I do.”
“Why?”
“Because nothing excites me more than outsmarting the criminal mind. Nothing. I also love finding out how people really live their life in private. . away from the public eye. Their choices fascinate me. . how they make choices for the better or for the worse.”
“But a policeman’s pay is so little compared to what you could’ve earned in business.”
“Material possessions never attracted me.”
“How lucky. You know. . it’s always a fight to own things and not let them own you. My five children all know that they will get very little when I die. . just as I got very little when my father died. See those fancy Beneteau boats floating out there?”
“Ja.”
“Those boats are not a rich man’s toys but rather the principal assets for three of my children who own small businesses that charter and rent the boats. No sir. . my children will not to grow up to be weak degenerates like the royals of Europe or all those trust fund babies.”
“Good for you. I’ve seen so many disasters when parents spoil their children. You have no idea how many of my worst criminals became just that thanks to a father or mother who coddled and spoiled them and encouraged them to do whatever they felt like doing.”
“Ja! That’s why all of my children have to work if they want to eat.”
“So they get nothing?”
“Practically nothing. Just seed money to start a business or get an education or learn a trade. Almost everything will go to foundations and charities and think-tanks and political causes when Nora and I kick the bucket. More than anything else we want to make sure that Norwegians stay Norwegians. . that Norway stays out of the European Union racket and stops all this social engineering nonsense of immigration and other insanities.”
“I’m surprised you haven’t moved to Switzerland to avoid taxes.”
“We did for a time after I sold the company to those idiots in New York. But we couldn’t stand being in Switzerland. . it’s the money laundering capital of the world. . after a while the stench of dirty money starts clinging to you. You know what I mean?”
“I think so.”
“Sooner or later you start smelling like a filthy pig from all those dirty billions of euros and dollars parked in Switzerland from drug bosses and corrupt Third World dictators. I’m sure most of Interpol’s targets have all or most of their money in Switzerland.”
Sohlberg smiled and switched the topic to avoid even the remotest chance of accidentally mentioning any
