‘There’s something…’
Kristen Faber burst in through the door leading to the lobby.
‘I need something to eat,’ he puffed. ‘The lunch break will be over in half an hour, and I’ve got to sort out some documents. A baguette or something, OK?’
The secretary nodded, keeping her hand over the mouthpiece.
‘I’ll nip out right away,’ she said.
As soon as his office door closed, she went back to her conversation.
‘There’s absolutely no need to speak to Kristen, darling.’
‘But I have to-’
‘Look, we’ll talk about this when I get home, all right? I’m up to my eyes in work today. We’ll have a chat this afternoon.’
She hung up without waiting for an answer.
As she pulled on her coat as quickly as possible, she felt a pang of guilt for once. Perhaps taking confidential papers home wasn’t entirely legal. She had never really looked at it that way; after all, she had unrestricted access to all the papers here, and her husband could almost be regarded as a part of her after all these years.
However, it probably wasn’t quite the right thing to do, she thought, picking up her bag before dashing off to Hansen’s bread shop. At any rate, she didn’t want any contact whatsoever between her husband and Kristen Faber.
Bjarne had a habit of letting his tongue run away with him.
‘Have you been running, sweetheart? You’re all sweaty!’
Johanne hugged her daughter, who flung her arms around her and didn’t want to let go.
‘All the way from Tasensenteret,’ she said. ‘And I had a really good week at Dad’s. Did you manage OK without me?’
‘I did,’ nodded Johanne, kissing the top of her head. ‘And how are you?’
The last remark was directed at Isak. He had put Kristiane’s bag down on the hall floor and was standing with his hands in his pockets. He looked tired. His smile didn’t quite reach his eyes, and he looked as if he couldn’t decide whether to stay around or leave straight away.
‘Not too bad,’ he said hesitantly.
‘Do you want to come in for a while?’
‘Thanks, but…’
He took his hands out of his pockets and gave Kristiane a hug. ‘Could you pop up and see Ragnhild, chicken? I just want a word with Mum. Love you. Thanks for coming.’
Kristiane smiled, picked up her bag and dragged it up the steep staircase.
‘I’m going out on the mountains at the weekend,’ said Isak. ‘Is it OK if I hang on to Jack?’
‘Of course.’
The yellow mongrel sat down on the steps and shook his head.
‘What is it?’ asked Johanne. ‘Is something wrong?’
‘No, but…’
He took a deep breath and started again.
‘I really don’t want to worry you, but…’
Johanne took his hand. It was ice cold.
‘Is it something to do with Kristiane?’ she asked sharply.
‘No,’ he said. ‘Well… not really. She’s had a really good time. It’s just that…’
He shifted his body weight from his right to his left foot, and leaned against the opposite side of the door frame.
‘It’s so cold with the door open,’ Johanne said. ‘Come inside. Stay there, Jack. Stay.’
Both the dog and Isak did as they were told. He leaned against the wall, and Johanne sat down on the stairs opposite him.
‘What is it?’ she said anxiously. ‘Tell me.’
‘I think…’
He broke off again.
‘Tell me,’ Johanne whispered.
‘I’ve had a strange feeling that somebody is watching me. Or rather… that someone is watching…’
He looked like a little boy, standing there. His jacket was too big for him and he couldn’t stand still. His gaze flickered here and there before he looked her in the eye. She was just waiting for him to start scraping one foot on the floor.
‘You’re not going anywhere,’ she said calmly, getting up.
He took his hands out of his pockets again and spread them helplessly.
‘I can’t really explain it,’ he said in a subdued voice. ‘It’s so kind of-’
‘You’re staying here,’ she said, letting Jack in and locking the door.
She pushed the handle to double-check that the lock had clicked into place.
‘You need to speak to Adam.’
‘Johanne,’ he said, reaching out to grab her arm. ‘Does that mean I’m right? Do you know something that-?’
‘It means exactly what I say,’ she said, without trying to free herself from his grasp. ‘You need to tell Adam about this, because he wouldn’t believe me.’
He let go, and she turned and led the way up the stairs.
He was probably furious.
She was so frightened she was having difficulty walking in a straight line.
The man in the dark-coloured hire car had had no difficulty finding his way. It was actually just a matter of following the same road all the way from Oslo to Malmo, then taking a right turn across the sound to Denmark.
Even though it got dark at such an ungodly hour in this country, and in spite of the fact that the snow had been coming down thick and fast ever since Christmas, it was easy to maintain a good speed. Not too fast, of course; a couple of kilometres over the speed limit aroused the least suspicion. The traffic had been heavy coming out of Oslo, even at three o’clock, but as soon as he had travelled a few kilometres along the E6, it eased off. The map showed that he was essentially following the coastline, so he assumed that Friday afternoons brought traffic chaos on this particular road in the spring and summer. Evidently, the sea wasn’t quite so appealing at minus eight and in a howling gale.
He was approaching Svinesund, and the time was ten to five.
He would drive to Copenhagen and leave the car with Avis on Kampmannsgade. Then he would walk a few blocks before asking a taxi driver to take him to a decent hotel on the outskirts of the city centre. He was too late to catch the last flight to London anyway. He had got rid of the dark clothes. It had taken him more than two hours to cut them into strips, which he divided into small piles and stuffed in the pockets of the capacious red anorak. It made him look fatter, which was good. In the space of just over an hour he had got rid of a bundle here and a bundle there in the public rubbish bins he passed on his stroll through Oslo.
He had had to leave at short notice.
He didn’t speak much Norwegian, just enough to send simple text messages. However, a passing glance at the newspaper stand next to the small reception desk this morning had made him realize there was no time to lose. Not that he rushed anything, but the instructions were clear.
