He was really impressed.
“Where on earth did you learn how to do that?”
“Huh, I once contemplated studying maths. Numbers are fascinating. This can’t just be chance. Look up Lavik’s number.”
She used the same method, with complete success. The number was in code on page eight of the notebook. Billy T. started the car with as triumphant a roar as it was possible to get out of a tired Opel Corsa and sped off into the grey afternoon.
“Either Jorgen Lavik buys lots of secondhand cars, or this is the most promising lead we’ve got so far,” said Hanne with new confidence.
“You’re a genius, Hanne,” said Billy T., grinning from ear to ear. “A bloody genius!”
They drove for a while in silence.
“I actually quite fancied that Kadett,” Hanne murmured wistfully as they juddered into the garage beneath police headquarters.
THURSDAY 12 NOVEMBER
Jorgen Ulf Lavik was just as confident as last time. Hakon Sand felt ill-at-ease in his baggy corduroy trousers and a five-year-old sweater adorned with a threadbare, crumpled crocodile that hadn’t adapted well to life in the washing machine. The lawyer’s suit starkly negated any suggestion that he was a miser.
“Why is he here?” Lavik asked, turning to Hanne Wilhelmsen with a nod towards Hakon. “I thought it was the real police officers who did the donkey work.”
Both of them felt offended. Which was presumably the intention.
“So what’s my status today then?” he went on, without waiting for an explanation of Hakon’s presence. “Am I a suspect, or still just a ‘witness’?”
“You’re a witness,” Hanne replied curtly.
“May I enquire what I’m supposed to be a witness to? This is the second time I’ve been asked here. I’m well- disposed towards the police, as you know, but I’m afraid I’ll have to decline further meetings of this nature if you don’t soon come up with something more specific to question me about.”
Hanne stared at him for several seconds, and he had to avert his gaze-which he turned disdainfully on Hakon.
“What’s the make of your car, Lavik?”
The man didn’t even need to think about it.
“As if you didn’t know! The police saw me meet my client the other night! A 1991 Volvo. My wife has an old Toyota.”
“Were they bought new or secondhand?”
“The Volvo was bought new. Standard estate model. The Toyota was bought a year old, as far as I recall. Maybe eighteen months.”
He still seemed very sure of himself.
“I presume you bought the Volvo from the main dealership,” said Hanne.
That was correct. And the Toyota had been bought privately through a colleague.
The window was only about a centimetre ajar; at intervals the gale raging outside made a long plaintive whistle, almost like a faint howl, as it blew across the metal sill and into the room. In its way it was quite soothing.
“Do you know a guy who sells cars up in Sagene?”
She regretted it the moment she’d spoken. She should have been more circumspect, should have laid a more sophisticated trap. This wasn’t a trap at all. What a novice! Was she losing her grip? Had her head injury affected the cunning she had been so proud of? The gaffe made her bite her nail. The lawyer had the time he needed to collect his thoughts-in fact, he considered at length, obviously more than was strictly necessary.
“I don’t normally reveal my clients’ names, but since you ask-I have a long-term client called Roger who runs a small car firm, and it may well be in Sagene. I’ve never been there myself. I’d rather not say any more. Discretion, you know. You have to be discreet in this business, otherwise you don’t keep your customers.”
He crossed his legs and clasped his hands round his knee. Victory was his. They all knew it.
“Funny that he keeps your telephone number in code,” Hanne tried, but in vain.
Jorgen Lavik switched his smile back on.
“If you only knew how paranoid some people are, it wouldn’t surprise you in the least. I once had a client who insisted on going over my office with a bug detector every time he came for a consultation. I was helping him with a tenancy agreement. A tenancy agreement!”
His laughter was loud and boisterous, but not infectious. Hanne had no further questions. She had taken no notes. She had to admit defeat. Lavik was free to go. As he was putting his coat on she stood up quickly and thrust her face right up to his.
“I know that you’ve got a lot of irons in the fire, Lavik. And you know that I know. You’re enough of a lawyer to realise that we in the police know much more than we ever use. But I promise you one thing: I’ll be watching you. We still have our sources, information already gathered, and facts we haven’t revealed. Han van der Kerch is in our custody. You’re aware that he’s not saying much at the moment. But he has a lawyer he’s talked to, a lawyer of a totally different ethical calibre from your wretched hole-in-the-corner activities. You haven’t a clue how much she’s heard, nor the faintest idea of what she’s told us. That’s what you’ve got to live with. So keep looking over your shoulder, Lavik, I’m out to get you.”
His face had turned crimson, but deathly pale around his nose. He had not retreated even slightly from Hanne, but his eyes seemed to have sunk into their sockets as he hissed:
“Those are threats, Constable. Those are threats. I shall submit a formal complaint. Today!”
“I’m not a constable, Lavik. I’m a detective inspector. And this detective inspector is going to haunt you like a shadow till you break. So complain away.”
He looked almost as if he was going to spit at her, but he brought himself rigidly under control and left the office without a word. The door slammed behind him. The bang reverberated through the walls for several seconds afterwards. Hakon’s jaw dropped and he was stunned into silence.
“You look mongoloid with that expression!”
He pulled himself together and closed his mouth with a snap.
“What was the point of that? Do you want to put Karen’s life in danger? He will file a complaint, you know!”
“Let him.”
Despite her serious error of judgement, she seemed pleased with herself.
“I’ve given him a severe fright, Hakon. And frightened people make mistakes. It wouldn’t surprise me if your friend Karen were to get yet another criminal lawyer among her suitors. If so, that would be a major blunder on his part.”
“But what if they do something to her?”
“Karen Borg won’t be harmed. They’re not that stupid.”
For a brief instant she felt a cold tingle of doubt, but dismissed it equally fast. She rubbed her temple and drank the remains of her coffee. From the top drawer of the desk she took out a handkerchief and a resealable polythene bag, and picked up the coffee cup Lavik had drunk from very carefully by its handle.
“He wrapped his hands round the whole cup,” she said gleefully. “It pays to keep the office rather on the chilly side. He must have wanted to warm his poor little fingers.”
The cup went into the bag, and the handkerchief back into the drawer.
“Something bothering you?”
“You don’t deserve your reputation. That’s not the way we take fingerprints.”
“Article 160 of the Penal Code,” she retorted off pat. “No court order needed for taking fingerprints if he’s suspected of criminal activities. I suspect him. You do too. So we’ve complied with the law.”
Hakon shook his head.
