Don't Look Back

anything troubled you. Look for the smallest detail, even if it seems silly. A reaction you hadn't expected. Comments, hints, facts that have stayed with you. Annie had undergone a change in behaviour. I had the impression that it might have been due to something more than just puberty. Can you confirm that?'

'Ada says-'

'But what do you say?' Sejer held his gaze. 'She rejected Halvor, quit the handball team, and then withdrew into herself. Did something happen at that time, something out of the ordinary?'

'Have you talked to Jensvoll?'

'Yes, we have.'

'Well, I heard some rumours, but maybe they're not true. Rumours spread fast around here,' he said, a little embarrassed, his cheeks slightly flushed.

'What are you getting at?'

'Just something that Annie mentioned. That he was once in prison. A long time ago. I don't know why.'

'Did Annie know?'

'So he was in prison?'

'That's correct, he was. But I didn't think anyone knew about it. We're checking everyone around Annie, to see whether they had an alibi. We've talked to more than 300 people, but unfortunately, no one is yet a suspect in the case.'

'There's a man who lives up on Kolleveien,' Holland said, 'who's not all there. I've heard that he's tried things with girls around here.'

'We've talked to him too,' Sejer said patiently. 'He was the one who found Annie.'

'Yes, that's what I thought.'

'He has an alibi.'

'If it's reliable.'

Sejer thought about Ragnhild and didn't tell Holland that his alibi was a six-year-old child.

'Why do you think she stopped baby-sitting?'

'I think she just grew out of it.'

'But I understand that she really loved taking care of children. That's why I think it's a little strange.'

'For years she did nothing else. First she'd do her homework and then she'd go outside to see if anyone on the block needed a ride in a pushchair. And if there was a fight going on, she'd calm everybody down. The poor child who threw the first stone would have to confess. Then he would be forgiven, and everything was fine again. She was good at mediating. She had authority, and everybody did what she said. Even the boys.'

'A diplomatic personality, in other words?'

'Exactly. She liked to work things out. She couldn't stand unresolved conflicts. If there was something going on with Solvi, for example, Annie would always find a solution for us. She was a kind of middleman. But in a way…' he said, 'she seemed to lose interest in that too. She didn't get involved in things the way she used to.'

'When was this?'

'Sometime last autumn.'

'What happened last autumn?'

'I've already told you. She didn't want to be part of the team any more, didn't want to be with other people the way she used to do.'

'But why!'

'I don't know,' he said in despair. 'I'm telling you that I don't understand it.'

'Try to look beyond yourself and your immediate family. Beyond Halvor and the team and the problems with Axel Bjork. Did anything else happen in the village at that time? Anything that might not have been directly related to you?'

Holland threw out his hands. 'Well, yes. Although it doesn't have anything to do with this. One of the children she baby-sat for died in a tragic accident. That didn't help matters. Annie didn't want to take part in anything after that. The only thing she thought about was putting on her trainers and running away from home and the street.'

Sejer could feel his heart take an extra beat.

'What did you just say?' He leaned his elbows on the table.

'One of the children she took care of died in an accident. His name was Eskil.'

'Did it happen while Annie was baby-sitting for him?'

'No, no!' Holland gave him a frightened look. 'No, are you crazy! Annie was extremely careful when she was caring for children. Didn't let them out of her sight for an instant.'

'How did it happen?'

'At his house. He was only about two years old. Annie took it really badly. Well, we all did, of course, since we knew them.'

'And when did this happen?'

'Last autumn, I told you. About the time that she withdrew from everything. In fact, a lot was going on then, it wasn't a good period for us. Halvor kept calling and Jensvoll did too. Bjork was putting on the pressure about Solvi, and Ada was almost impossible to live with.'

He fell silent, suddenly looking as if he were ashamed.

'When exactly did this death occur, Eddie?'

'I think it was in November. I don't remember the exact date.'

'Did it happen before or after she left the team?'

'I don't remember.'

'Then we'll keep going until you do. What kind of accident was it?'

'He got something caught in his throat and they couldn't get it out. He was in the kitchen alone, eating.'

'Why didn't you tell me about this before?'

Holland gave him an unhappy look. 'Because it's Annie's death you're supposed to solve,' he whispered.

'And that's what I'm doing. It's important to eliminate certain things.'

There was a long silence. There was sweat on Holland's high forehead, and he was constantly kneading his fingers, as if he had lost all sensation in them. Several idiotic pictures kept appearing in his mind, pictures of Annie wearing a red snowsuit and Russian cap, Annie wearing a wedding dress. Annie with an infant on her lap. Pictures that he would never take.

'Tell me about Annie, about how she reacted.'

Holland straightened up in his chair and paused to think. 'I don't remember the date, but I remember the day because we overslept. I had the day off. Annie was late for her bus, but she came home early from school because she wasn't feeling well. I didn't dare tell her right away. She went to her room to lie down, said she was going to have a sleep.'

'She was sick?'

'Yes, well, no, she was never sick. It was just something temporary. She woke up later in the day, and I sat in the living room, dreading having to tell her. Finally I went to her room and sat down on the edge of her bed.'

'Go on.'

'She was stunned,' he said thoughtfully. 'Stunned and frightened. Turned away and pulled the covers over her head. I mean, what can you say to that? Afterwards she didn't show much of her feelings; she grieved in silence. Ada wanted her to take some flowers over to the house, but she refused. She didn't want to go to the funeral either.'

'Did you and your wife go?'

'Yes, yes, we did. Ada was upset because Annie wouldn't go, but I tried to explain that's it's hard for a child to go to a funeral. Annie was only 14. They don't know what they're supposed to say, do they?'

'Did she visit his grave later?'

'Oh yes, she did. Several times. But she never went to their house again.'

'But she must have talked to them, didn't she? Since she had baby-sat for the boy?'

'I'm sure she did. She had spent a lot of time with them. Mostly with the mother. She moved, by the way; they were separated after a while. Of course it's difficult to find each other again after a tragedy like that. You have to start over with a new relationship. And none of us will ever be the way we once were.'

He seemed to have disengaged from the conversation and was sitting there talking to himself, as if the other