Calling Out For You aka The Indian Bride

comes crashing down and knocks you completely off… off…'

He bit his lip and gave them a terrified look.

'We're here because of your wife. Has she arrived safely?'

Gunder swallowed. 'My wife?'

'Yes,' Sejer said. 'Your Indian wife. We understand that you were expecting her to arrive aGardermoen on the 20th and that you sent a friend to collect her. Has she arrived?'

Sejer already knew the answer. Gunder hesitated. They were moved by his evident despair.

'Kalle called you?' he said feebly.

'Yes,' Skarre said. 'Perhaps we can help?'

'Help?' Gunder said. 'In what way? Everything's gone wrong lately. I haven't been to work either, not for several days. No-one knows if Marie will regain consciousness. Or how her head will be if she wakes up at all. She's all I have.'

'Yes,' Sejer said. 'And your wife. You were married recently, isn't that so?'

Gunder was silent once more. Sejer let him sit on in silence.

'I was,' came the almost inaudible reply.

'You were married on a holiday in India?'

'Yes.'

'What's her name?' said Sejer kindly.

'Poona,' Gunder said. 'Poona Bai Jomann.' His voice was tinged with pride.

'Have you any idea why she has not arrived as planned?'

Gunder looked out of the window for a moment. 'Not really.'

'What steps have you taken so far to find her?'

'I don't really know what to do. Should I go looking for her on the roads? And then there's my sister, there has been so much going on with her.'

'Perhaps your wife has relatives?'

'Only an older brother. In New Delhi. But I don't remember his name.' He felt ashamed. Imagine forgetting the name of his own brother-in-law.

Sejer recognised that feeling of unease in his stomach.

'What do you think has happened to her?'

'I don't know!' he shouted with sudden intensity. 'But this much I do know, you think that she's the one they found at Hvitemoen!'

Gunder began to shake uncontrollably. Skarre closed his eyes. Simultaneously he thought: we don't know this man. He's at the end of his wits, but we don't know why.

'We don't believe anything of the kind,' Sejer said. 'What we're trying to do at this stage is to eliminate her from our enquiries. Sometimes we work in this way. We don't know who the victim is and that troubles us. So we thought we would ask you a few questions. We can probably decide here and now if we need to undertake further enquiries.'

'Yes,' Gunder said. He was doing his best to be calm.

'Let's begin. Do you have a photograph of your wife?'

Gunder looked away. 'No,' he lied.

'Indeed?'

'We didn't have a proper wedding photograph taken. There's only so much you can do in a fortnight,' he said curtly.

'Yes, of course. I was thinking more of an ordinary photograph. One that you perhaps took of her on another occasion?'

'No, I have no such thing.'

He's not telling us the truth. He doesn't want us to see it.

'But naturally you can describe her. Perhaps that's all we need.'

Gunder closed his eyes. 'She's pretty,' he said and a broad smile creased his face. 'Very slim and light, not a large or a heavy woman. Indian women aren't as big. I mean, as big as Norwegian ones.'

'No, they're not.' Sejer smiled. He allowed himself to be charmed by this shy man and the simple way he expressed himself.

'She has brown eyes and black hair. It comes down to her waist, it's that long. It is always plaited in one long plait.'

The two men nodded. Sejer looked anxious.

'How would she normally be dressed?'

'Ordinary clothes. Like Norwegian women. Unless it was a special occasion. Then she wore sandals. That's all they wear there. Low-heeled brown sandals. She worked at a tandoori restaurant and needed sensible footwear. But for going out she wore different clothes and shoes. When we were married she wore a sari and gold sandals.'

There was a profound silence in Gunder's living room.

'On the other hand,' he said, quickly because the silence alarmed him, 'lots of Indian women have long plaits and gold sandals.'

'I quite understand,' Sejer said. 'Is there anything else?' he said. 'Do you want to tell us about your stay there?'

Gunder gave him a puzzled look. All the same it was good to talk about Poona to someone who was willing to listen to him.

'How did you celebrate your wedding?' Sejer said.

'It was a simple wedding. Just the two of us. We had dinner at a very smart restaurant, which Poona knew about. We had a main course, dessert and coffee. Then we walked round a park and made plans for all the things that needed doing to the house and the garden. Poona wanted to get a job. Her English is good and she is a hard worker. Not many Norwegian girls could keep up with her, believe you me.' Gunder felt hot and his face was flushed. 'She'd bought me a present. An Indian wedding cake, and I had to eat all of it. It was pretty awful, sweet and sticky, but I managed to get it down. Well, when it comes to Poona, I'd have eaten an Indian elephant if she'd asked me.'

This confession made him blush. Sejer felt a terrible sadness.

'What did you give her?' Sejer smiled.

'I have to admit that I had made arrangements in advance,' Gunder said. 'I thought I might meet someone. I knew what I would find, I know how beautiful Indian women are. After all, I've read books. I brought a piece of jewellery. A Norwegian filigree brooch.'

Not a sound in the small room.

'Jomann,' Sejer said gently, 'in order not to overlook any possibilities in this serious matter, I am going to ask you to come with us.'

Gunder went pale. 'But it's late in the evening,' he muttered. 'Surely we can do this in the morning?'

They asked him to bring a jacket. They waited outside the front door and called the station. Gunder Jomann was coming to look at the victim's jewellery. The earrings, the rings. And the brooch. The two men were standing outside when they saw a car drive slowly by. It stopped at Gunder's letterbox and they noticed the driver reading the name on it.

'Press,' Sejer said, his eyes narrowing. 'They don't miss much.'

'They sleep in their cars,' Skarre said grimly. Then he turned to Sejer. 'He was very proud of his Indian wife.'

Sejer nodded.

'Why didn't he call?'

'Because he refuses to believe it.'

Gunder came out of the house. He had put on a brown tweed jacket. For a moment as he stood there fumbling with the buttons he looked like an oversized, petulant child who did not want to leave home. So they wanted him to go look at some jewellery. He supposed he could not refuse. All the same, he was annoyed. Besides, he was tired and had so much on his mind. But of course it was awful that no-one knew who she was.

No-one said much during the half-hour it took them to drive from Elvestad to the police headquarters. When