'I just need a break.' She looked up, lost in thought. Held the white garment up against the light. In her mind she could clearly see the blouse red and sticky from Jacob's blood. She would save it forever and ever as a token of her love. Suddenly she had to laugh. She shook her head giddily. It was a long way from thinking something to actually doing it, this much she understood. However, she enjoyed the game. It made her feel alive. Take the bus into town. Hide in the stairwell with the knife behind her back. Suddenly she spots Jacob as he comes in from the street. In the light from the streetlamp his curls shine like gold. She springs out of the darkness. His voice filled with wonder. The last words he would ever say: Linda. Is that you?
Chapter 24
Sejer stood in the hallway listening out. The dog came tottering round the corner.
'How are you, old boy?'
He squatted down and scratched behind its ear. It had put on a little weight. Its coat was regaining some of its former shine.
'Come here,' he said. 'I bought hamburgers for you, but they need frying first.'
The dog sat quietly by the cooker while Sejer clattered around with the frying pan and some butter.
'Seasoning?' he enquired politely. 'Salt and pepper?'
'Woof,' Kollberg said.
'You'll get draught beer today. Beer is nutritious. But only the one.'
The dog showed that he was listening by raising his floppy ears. Gradually the smell of cooking filled the kitchen and he started slobbering.
'It's strange,' Sejer said, looking at Kollberg. 'Before, you'd be impossible by now. Jumping and dancing and barking and yelping and making a fearful racket. Now you're sitting there peacefully. Will you ever be the same?' he wondered, flipping the burgers over. 'Not that it matters. I'll take you as you are.'
Later Jacob turned up with a bottle. He spent a long time saying hello to Kollberg. Sejer fetched glasses and his own bottle of Famous Grouse. They sat down by the window looking out over the city, which was slowly settling down for the night. The dog rested by Sejer's feet, sated with food and beer. A faint rustling crept through the windows.
'Sara not coming?' Skarre said.
'No,' Sejer said. 'Should she?'
'Yes,' Skarre said.
Sejer sipped his whisky. 'She's with her father. He's poorly.'
'What was wrong with him again? I've forgotten.'
'MS,' Sejer said. 'New cortisone treatment. It's rough for him. He becomes difficult.'
'I know all about difficult fathers,' Skarre said. 'And mine didn't even get the cortisone treatment. He just got high on the holy trinity.'
His remark made Sejer look searchingly at his young colleague.
Skarre got up and rummaged around. Went through the CD stand. Hundreds of different artists, all female.
'Aren't men allowed to sing in here, Konrad?' he teased.
'Not in my house.'
Skarre took something out of his pocket.
'Many happy returns, Konrad.'
'How did you know about that?' He took the CD.
'You're fifty-one today.'
Sejer studied the present and thanked him.
'Do you approve?' Skarre asked.
'Judy Garland. Heavens, yes.'
'Speaking of presents,' Skarre said. 'I've had another greeting. No stamp. Someone's been to my flat again.'
Sejer stared at the yellow envelope. It was sealed with a paper clip. Skarre tipped the contents on to the table.
'What are those?' Sejer said.
'Buttons,' Skarre said. 'Two heart-shaped gold buttons strung together with a piece of thread.'
Sejer held them under the lamp. 'Pretty buttons,' he mused. 'From an expensive garment. A blouse, perhaps?'
'But I don't care for it. When they lie there on the table in the light of the lamp they acquire some sort of significance. Which I don't understand.'
'A proposal,' Sejer said. 'I bet the two buttons came from Linda.' He smiled. 'Don't read too much into it. People who call or send things are generally incapable of action.'
He had a steady way of talking which calmed Skarre.
'Bin them,' he said lifting his glass of red wine to his lips.
'The pretty buttons? Are you serious?'
'Throw them in the bin. I don't want them.'
Sejer went out into the kitchen where he opened and then slammed a cupboard door and at the same time put the buttons in his pocket.
'They're garbage now,' he said.
'Why did Goran withdraw his confession?' Skarre said. 'It really bothers me.'
'Goran's fighting for his life,' Sejer said. 'And it's his right. It will be a long time before this case is closed.'
'Has Jomann been told?'
'Yes. He didn't say much. He is not a vindictive man.'
Skarre smiled at the thought of Gunder. 'Jomann is an oddball,' he said. 'Simple as a child.'
His remark earned him a stern look from Sejer. 'You should never equate eloquence with intelligence.'
'I thought there was a link,' Skarre muttered.
'Not in this case.'
For a while they drank in silence. Skarre fished out his bag of jelly babies. He took a yellow one and dipped it in the red wine. Sejer shuddered. The whisky began to take effect. His shoulders relaxed and his body felt warm. Skarre's jelly baby turned orange.
'You can see only the tragedy here,' Skarre said.
'What else is there to see?'
'Jomann has become a widower. Not the worst status for a man like him. In some way he seems so proud of her. Even though she's dead. Now he can live on this for the rest of his life. Wouldn't you agree?'
Sejer snatched the bag of jelly babies from his hand. 'Your blood sugar's too high,' he said.
Silence once more. The two men took turns raising their glasses.
'What are you thinking about?' Skarre said eventually.
'I'm thinking about how things happen,' Sejer said. 'Quite independently of one another. So that terrible events like this one can occur.'
Skarre filled his glass and listened.
'Why did Poona die? Because Goran murdered her. But also because Marie Jomann was a terrible driver. She had her accident and so Jomann didn't get to meet Poona at the airport. Or, she died because Kalle Moe didn't find her at Gardermoen. She died because Ulla broke up with Goran. Because Lillian said no. There are so many elements. So many incidents which pave the way for evil.'
'I'm thinking about Anders Kolding,' Skarre said.
'He panicked and ran away to his sister's. But not because of a murder. He fled from a screaming kid and a marriage he probably wasn't ready for.'
'The girl in the garage said he turned left.'
'Everyone can make a mistake,' Sejer said.
