‘Tell me he was a good boy,’ Ingerid begged. ‘Tell me that he was a good person.’
‘Yes,’ Axel Frimann said. ‘Jon was a good person.’
‘It’s possible that Jon Moreno took his own life,’ Sejer said.
Axel and Reilly looked at him in amazement. His words were so unexpected that they gawped. Was he considering other options? Why would he do that? Was it an automatic response? Perhaps he instinctively thought they were dishonest because in the course of his work he was unaccustomed to meeting honest people? It struck them that this man never made assumptions, not even about an obvious suicide. And if he decided Jon’s death had been a suicide, he would still want to know why it had happened and if it could have been prevented. If Jon had tried to kill himself before, if there had been warning signs, if they had ever discussed the subject of death and what, if anything, Jon had expressed. Anxiety, relief, longing. If he was taking something in addition to his prescribed medication, if he had said anything during the evening which had made them wonder.
‘Think back,’ he said. ‘Go through everything that happened. What about the drive there in the car: did something happen on the way, did you stop anywhere?’
They had not expected such attention to detail. Calmly and methodically Sejer worked through the events of the past two days and Skarre noted down everything that was said.
‘In cases such as this,’ Sejer went on, ‘we follow a procedure. It consists of a series of questions. We will come back to you when we have more information such as the autopsy report, and after other friends and relatives have been interviewed.’
Skarre had pushed his chair towards the wall. He exuded a boyish enthusiasm as though these routines had not yet started to affect or bore him.
‘Let’s talk about last night,’ Sejer said. ‘His final hours. Was he in a particular mood or had anything about him changed?’
‘It was a quiet evening,’ Axel said. ‘We just discussed stuff as friends do.’
‘Such as?’
‘You want to know what we talked about?’
‘Yes, please.’
‘But why?’
‘It’s one of the questions we need to ask.’
Axel Frimann raised an eyebrow.
‘We talked about films,’ he said. ‘We go to the cinema a lot and we have strong views about what we see.’
‘Are you interested in acting?’
‘I’m fascinated by it,’ Axel admitted. ‘All the roles we need to play. If we’re good, we’ll go far.’
‘Are you good?’ Sejer wanted to know.
Axel smiled a patronising smile.
‘I do all right,’ he said.
Skarre’s pen raced across the pad. From time to time he looked up, alert.
‘What about Jon?’ Sejer asked. ‘Could he play a role? Was he capable of acting?’
Axel hesitated.
‘Jon was quite helpless,’ he said. ‘What can I say? He was at the mercy of reality. No shield. So I suppose the answer is no.’
‘Can you tell me anything about Jon’s reality?’ Sejer asked.
Axel glanced towards Reilly for support, but he had lowered his head so that his long hair concealed his face like a curtain.
‘You had better ask at the hospital,’ Axel suggested. ‘Ask his doctor. She must have found out something during the last few weeks.’
‘I will talk to his doctor,’ Sejer said, ‘but I also need to ask his best friends. You were close, weren’t you? What else did you talk about?’
‘Ladegarden Hospital. Jon told stories from the ward. It was funny.’
‘How long was he there?’
‘Four weeks.’
‘You visited him there?’
‘Yes.’
‘Did he like it there?’
‘He didn’t have a choice,’ Axel said.
They talked about Jon for an hour. When it was all over, Axel held out his hand.
‘Please don’t hesitate to get in touch if there is anything else,’ he said.
CHAPTER 6
‘Well, who would have thought it?’ Jacob Skarre said. ‘Frimann, Reilly and Moreno are in our system. And they have been since last December.’
Sejer leaned forward and read the screen.
‘They were questioned as part of a missing person’s case,’ Skarre said, ‘but it was just a routine interview. An odd coincidence. Or perhaps there’s no such thing?’
‘I’ll have a look at the file,’ Sejer said. ‘But there’s no reason to suspect that a crime has been committed, so we’ll proceed on that basis. For now,’ he added. ‘And if there is a link, it’ll show up eventually, don’t you think?’
‘It’ll show up,’ Jacob Skarre agreed.
Three days later they visited Axel Frimann in his flat. Axel was convinced that he had made a good impression on the two men. There were several factors which contributed to his credibility; his attractive appearance and broad shoulders were only two of them. He was eloquent too. He spoke with concern and restraint and most of the time he felt on top of the situation. Concealing details about Jon’s suicide was a tiny act he had performed to spare Ingerid Moreno more painful knowledge. He directed Sejer and Skarre to the sofa while he pottered about because being active gave him a sense of control. Axel Frimann never relinquished power.
‘When it comes to Jon’s death,’ Sejer said, ‘there are a few details which baffle us. That’s why we are here.’
Axel looked at him, open and inquisitive, and thanks to his complete mastery of his features his face took on an expression of mild, indulgent patience. He moved closer to the window. As though he wanted to steal radiance from outside and appear in an innocent light.
‘We would like to talk to you about them,’ Sejer said.
Axel noticed that Skarre was already busy taking notes.
‘At some point during the night Jon got up and went outside,’ Sejer said. ‘He sneaked out of the cabin while you and Reilly were asleep. You heard nothing, so we don’t know what time that was.’
Axel had found a comfortable position leaning against the wall.
‘If we presume that he left with the intention of drowning himself in the lake,’ Sejer went on, ‘there are several things which are hard to understand.’
It grew silent in Axel’s living room. He rarely found himself with nothing to say and he realised that the very silence itself was revealing.
‘Jon was wearing very warm clothing,’ Sejer said. ‘If I hadn’t known better, I would have assumed he was dressed for a walk in the forest.’
Axel smiled a glum smile.
‘Surely it’s not very odd,’ he declared, ‘that he put on a jacket. It was just out of habit. Because he was going outside.’
‘He had buttoned all the buttons,’ Sejer said. ‘He laced up his boots and tied a double knot.’
Skarre looked up from his notepad. It was already covered with writing.
‘Jon was very neat,’ Axel said. ‘In absolutely every situation. Take the laces. We used to tease him about
