'I daren't!'
'I'll wait. I won't hang up.'
Linda sneaked over to the window and peeked out into the garden. It was deserted. For a time she stood there, staring in confusion, then she came back to the kitchen.
'Was he there?'
'No.'
'Perhaps it's something you've imagined? Because you're scared?'
'You think I've lost it. But I haven't!'
'I don't think that. But what you're scared of won't happen, Linda.'
'Everyone knows what I've said,' she sniffled. 'Everyone in the area.'
'Are they unkind to you?'
'Yes!'
She gripped the handset as tightly as she could. He mustn't hang up. She wanted to talk to Jacob till dawn.
'Listen to me, Linda,' Skarre said urgently. 'Many people are too cowardly to call. They see all sorts of things, but don't want to get involved at any cost. You've been brave, you've told us what you knew. And provided us with the possible make of the car, nothing else. No-one can accuse you of anything.'
'No, but I'm thinking of Goran,' she said. 'I bet he's mad.'
'He has no reason to be,' Skarre said. 'D'you know what? I suggest you go to sleep now as quickly as possible. Tomorrow you'll see things in a more positive light.'
'Aren't you coming over to investigate?'
'There's probably no need. However, I can call the station and ask them to send over an officer if you really want me to.'
'I'd rather you came,' she said, meekly.
Skarre sighed. 'I'm off duty,' he said. 'Try to relax, Linda. People do go out for walks, you know. Perhaps it was a night wanderer taking a short cut through your garden.'
'Yes. I'm sorry.' She pressed the handset so hard against her ear that it felt like Jacob was inside her head. 'Well, I'm not going to say anything any more,' she said obstinately.
'But surely you've told us everything you know by now?'
'Yes,' she said.
'Then that's that. Go to bed. I understand that you're afraid. It was a terrible thing that happened,' Skarre said.
'Goodnight then, Linda.'
'Goodnight.'
Gunder's cheeks were sunken. He was unshaven and his shirt had a dark rim round the collar. Just as well Marie can't see me, he thought. He stared down at Poona's belongings, which were spread out on the table. The clothes were dry, but stained from the dirty water. You could still see how beautiful they were. These are my wife's clothes, he thought. The nightgown and the hairbrush. When he closed his eyes he could recall how she used to lift her hair forward across her shoulder to brush it.
'We'll bring them home to you as soon as possible,' Sejer said.
Gunder nodded. 'It'll be good to have something,' he said bravely.
'There's one more thing,' Sejer said. 'We've received a letter from the police in New Delhi. You can see it if you wish.'
He nodded and took the sheet of paper. Struggled a bit with the English wording.
'Mr Shiraz Bai, living in New Delhi, confirms one sister, Poona, born on June 1st, 1962. Left for Norway on August 19th. Mr Bai will come to Oslo on September 10th to take his sister home.'
Gunder gasped. 'Back? To India? But she's my wife! I've got the marriage certificate here. Surely I'm her closest relative? Can he do this?' Gunder was so upset that he stood on the floor shaking. The blue eyes shone with fear and the letter trembled in his hands.
Sejer tried to calm him down. 'We'll help you with this. I'm sure we'll find a solution.'
'I must have some rights. A marriage is a marriage.'
'It is,' Sejer said. He opened a drawer in his desk. 'However, at least I can let you take this home.' He handed Gunder a slim envelope. 'Her brooch.'
Gunder had to wipe away a tear when he saw the beautiful piece of jewellery.
'She'll be buried with this,' he said firmly.
Carefully he put the brooch in his inside pocket and hugged his jacket tightly around himself.
'We're chipping away at this case,' Sejer said. 'It will be solved.'
Gunder looked down at the floor.
'I know that you've other things on your mind,' Sejer said. 'You're a widower now.'
This made Gunder raise his head. Sejer had called him a widower. It felt like restitution. He drove home and called his brother-in-law to tell him about Marie. He always did that when he returned from the hospital. Though there wasn't much to tell.
'It's odd that someone can lie as still as that,' he said to Karsten. 'And not even blink. Imagine if she loses her voice.'
'It'll just be a bit hoarse,' Karsten said. 'They can probably rehabilitate it.'
'Everything will need rehabilitating,' Gunder said sadly. 'Her muscles are wasting away. They say that her body is turning soft. They say…'
'All right, all right. We'll just have to be patient. I don't want to hear any more. I don't understand a word of it anyway.'
Fear crept into his voice. Karsten had not mentioned Poona at all, though by now it had leaked out who she actually was. Gunder was deeply hurt. He stood there fiddling with the curly telephone cable. Karsten didn't come to the hospital. Gunder personally was happy to sit by his sister's bedside. He spoke quietly and sombrely to her about everything that had happened. They've found her suitcase now, Marie. With her clothes. And her brother's coming. I'm so worried. I took his sister from him. True, Poona said they weren't especially close, but all the same. He advised her against going. And he was right.
He sat there, talking in this way. Thus he coped with his thoughts, one by one.
He was still on sick leave and did not want to return to work. The days came and went, sometimes Bjornsson called to chat. He seemed perky. He had finally got the chance to show them what he was made of, now that their senior sales person was away. But Svarstad had asked for Jomann. And according to Bjornsson had stood there gawping in the doorway when he heard the lengthy story. He had never believed that Jomann had the courage to go abroad and find himself a wife.
'In an earlier interview with one of our officers, Jacob Skarre, you stated that you were with your girlfriend Ulla on the evening of August 20th.'
Sejer looked at Goran Seter, who smiled back at him. The scratches on his face were now reduced to faint lines.
'That's correct.'
'However, the interview with the young lady revealed the following: she's no longer your girlfriend and she didn't spend the evening with you. You worked out together at Adonis Studio from 6 p.m. to around 8 p.m. Thereafter she ended the relationship. At which point you drove off in anger, alone in the car. And subsequently passed Hvitemoen sometime between 8.30 p.m. and 9 p.m.'
Goran Seter's eyes widened. He was a heavily built man with blond hair with bright red stripes. His hair stood up. His eyes shone intensely. Sejer was reminded of pearls of mercury.
'So Ulla's ended it again?' He let out a bemused laugh. 'She tends to do that. It happens all the time, I've stopped taking it seriously.'
'I'm less interested in whether you're still in a relationship or not. You have previously stated that you were with her later that evening, at her sister's, and that's not correct.'
'It is. But excuse me, why do I have to answer this?'
'We're investigating a murder. A great many people have to answer a great many questions. You are, in other
