Punishment aka What Is Mine

would soon need treatment for her alcoholism that was no longer a joke, looked better than Johanne. More trendy, at least. Lina had given up taking her shopping ages ago.

It would be too simple.

And in any case, who would want to protect Asbjorn Revheim from persecution and punishment?

He was only sixteen in 1956, she thought, and filled her lungs with night air; she wanted to clear her head before she went to bed.

But in 1965? When Anders Mohaug died and his mother went to the police? When Aksel Seier was released without any comment other than that he should be happy?

Asbjorn Revheim would have been twenty-five by then and was already an established author. Two books, as far as she could remember. Already established, after only two books. Both had caused passionate debate. Revheim was seen as a threat at the time. He wasn’t someone people would want to protect.

Johanne was still holding the biography. She looked down at it, stroked the cover. Lina had insisted that she keep it. It was a good picture. Revheim’s face was narrow, but masculine. He had an open smile. Almost arrogant. His eyes were small, with astonishingly long lashes.

She went in but left the door to the terrace open. A whiff of vinegar teased her nose. She found herself feeling disappointed that Adam hadn’t called. When she got into bed, she decided to start reading the book. But before her head even hit the pillow, she was fast asleep.

FORTY-THREE

Aksel Seier had never been one to make quick decisions. As a rule, he liked to sleep on them. Preferably for a week or two. Even small, trivial things such as whether he should buy a new or a used fridge now that the old one had broken. He took his time. There were pros and cons with everything. He had to feel what was right. Be certain. The decision to leave Norway in 1966 should have been made the year before. He should have known there was no future in a country that had sent him to prison and kept him there for nine years without reason, a country so small that neither he nor anyone else would be allowed to forget what had happened. It just wasn’t in his nature to rush. Maybe it was a result of all those years in prison, when time passed so slowly it was difficult to fill it.

He was sitting on the stone wall outside his house, between the small garden and the beach. The granite was red and still warm from the sun; he could feel it through the back of his pants. The tide was out. Half-dead horseshoe crabs lay stranded along the water’s edge, some with their shells facing up, like tanks with tails. Others had been thrown on their backs by the breakers and were dying slowly in the sun with their claws in the air. The crabs reminded him of prehistoric monsters in miniature, a forgotten link in an evolution that should have made them extinct long ago.

He felt a bit like that himself.

All his life he had waited to have his name cleared.

Patrick, the only one in the U.S. who knew anything about his past, had urged him to contact a lawyer. Or perhaps even a detective, he said as he polished a gold-plated bridle. Patrick’s carousel was the best in New England. There were plenty of detectives in America. A lot of them were extremely good, said Patrick. Surely if that woman had come all the way from Europe to tell him that she believed he was innocent, after so many years, the long trip all the way from Norway, well, then it must be worth finding out more. Patrick knew that lawyers were expensive, but it would be easy enough to find someone who would only take payment if they won the case.

The problem was that Aksel had no case.

At least, not here in the U.S.

He had no case, but still he had always been waiting. In quiet resignation, he had never given up the hope that someone would discover the injustice that had been done. This never came to more than a silent prayer at bedtime that tomorrow would bring good news. That someone would believe him. Someone other than Eva and Patrick.

Johanne Vik’s visit was important.

For the first time in all the years he’d been away, he considered going home.

He still thought of Norway as home. His whole life was in Harwich Port. His house, his neighbors, the few people he could call friends. Everything he owned was there, in a small town on Cape Cod. But Norway had always been home.

If Eva had asked him to stay, way back then when he left, he would perhaps never have boarded the MS Sandefjord. If she’d asked him to come back later, during the first years in the States, he would have jumped on the first boat. He would have gotten temporary jobs in Norway and lived frugally. Moved to a new town, where it would be possible to keep a job for a year or two before the story caught up with him and he had to move on. If Eva was with him, he could have gone anywhere. But he only had himself to offer, and Eva was not strong enough. Aksel’s shame was too great. Not for him, but for her. She knew he was innocent. She never seemed to doubt that. But she couldn’t cope with other people’s judgement. Friends and neighbors nudged and whispered, and her mother made everything worse. Eva bent her head and let herself be cowed. Aksel would have managed to stand strong with Eva, but Eva was too weak to cope with a life with him.

Later, when she was free, it was too late for them both.

Now, perhaps, the time was right. His life had taken a turn in an unexpected direction and there was someone who needed him at home. Eva hadn’t exactly asked him to come in the letter she sent, out of character and out of the blue. She was desperate.

Aksel had Johanne Vik’s business card. If he went, he could contact her. Patrick was right; the woman had come all the way from Norway to talk to him, so she must really be convinced of his innocence. His dream of being cleared might finally come true. The thought frightened him and he got up stiffly and rubbed his back.

The real estate agent had said a million dollars. That was some time ago. Cape Cod was at its prettiest now. As any potential buyer was hardly likely to be interested in the house, cleaning and maintenance were not that important.

Aksel Seier turned over a horseshoe crab with the tip of his boot. It lay there, like a deserted German helmet from World War I. He picked the crab up by the tail and threw it into the water. Even though he never decided to do something without thinking it through in detail first, he realized that he was well on the way to making an important decision. He wondered if it would be possible to take the cat with him.

FORTY-FOUR

Well, you were wrong as far as the half sibling theory goes,” said Sigmund Berli.

“Good,” said Adam Stubo. “Did you manage to get the blood tests without too much trouble?”

“Don’t ask. I’ve told more lies in the last few days than I have in my whole life. Don’t ask. At the moment we only have the results of old-fashioned paternity tests. The DNA results will take longer. But everything indicates that all the other children involved are really their fathers’ children.”

“Good,” repeated Adam. “I’m happy to hear that.”

Sigmund Berli was taken aback.

“Jesus,” he said and put down the papers in front of his boss. “You don’t seem particularly surprised. Why were you so eager to get it checked if you didn’t really believe it was the case?”

“It’s been a long time since I’ve been surprised by anything. And you know just as well as I do that we have to investigate every possible avenue, whether we believe or not. Right now it seems that everyone has been caught in a collective short-circuit, where everything is focused on…”

“Adam! Stop!”