by Samuel Bjork
‘Ahem, Mia?’
Gabriel had appeared in the incident room. Mia went back inside to join him. Suddenly, she felt bad for the guy, new to working with the police. Had anyone bothered showing him the ropes? Told him what he was here to do?
‘How are you, Gabriel? she said, sitting down on the big table.
The young hacker looked away and then down at the floor. he was definitely blushing. He really was a delicate little petal, Mia thought, and produced a packet of lozenges from her pocket.
‘Oh, I’m all right,’ Gabriel said.
‘You’re settling in? Do you have everything you need?’
‘I’ve just finished installing the equipment. Looks good. In fact, I’m going to a meeting in Grønland later. Induction. Someone called Møller?’
‘Ah, yes, we call him Hat-trick.’ Mia nodded. ‘He’s good.’
‘Excellent,’ Gabriel nodded. ‘I haven’t seen police databases before; it’ll be fun to see how they work.’
Mia smiled.
‘You’re a hacker and you’ve never had a look at our databases? I find that hard to believe. Or sneaked a peek at Interpol? Come on, you must have done that?’
Gabriel reddened again and looked tongue-tied.
‘I don’t know …’
‘I’m just pulling your leg. Relax. I don’t care. Do I look as if I care?’
Mia winked at him and offered him a lozenge. Gabriel took one and sat down on a chair. Mia liked this boy. Nice and clever. Polite and shy. It was good to be around such people again. In fact, she was starting to feel better. Her brain was recalibrating.
‘What can I do for you?’
‘Those two,’ Mia said, pointing to the laptop and the mobile that were currently charging.
‘Who do they belong to?’
‘Roger Bakken. The guy who ordered the dresses the girls were wearing.’
‘The one with the tattoo?’ Gabriel asked.
‘Yes. You’re well informed?’
Gabriel smiled.
‘I record all the unit’s phone calls, text messages and conversations. Everything shows up on my computer.’
Mia took another lozenge.
‘Really? Anything new?’
Gabriel gave her a strange look.
‘Are you asking me? I haven’t been here long.’ he smiled.
‘It’s been a while since I was here last.’ She winked. ‘But, seriously? Everything anyone says and all our text messages?’
‘Yep.’ Gabriel nodded. ‘Plus, all our mobiles have a tracker so I can see where you all are. Security and hyper-communication.’
‘Good God. Quite useful, though.’
‘Absolutely.’ The young man nodded.
‘So when Curry calls gay chatlines at night we’ll know about it the next day, is that right?’
Gabriel looked uncomfortable. He was not sure if she was joking or if she was up to something.
‘In theory, yes,’ he said, his cheeks rather red once more.
‘I’m just kidding.’
She got up and gave him a pat on the shoulder. Gabriel went over to the laptop and the mobile, sat down on the floor and turned on both devices. He continued to stare at them while they slowly came to life. The iPhone was up and running first, asking for a pin code. The laptop followed soon after; that too was password protected.
‘Will it be easy to access it?’
‘Yes.’
‘Can you do it?’
‘Now?’
‘Yes, please.’
‘Sure.’
Gabriel got up, went to his office and returned with a memory stick. Mia watched as the young hacker went to work on the computer.
‘I have a program called Ophcrack on this,’ Gabriel said as he inserted the memory stick into the laptop.
He pressed and held down the start button on the laptop until it turned off. He turned it back on again.
‘All I have to do is change the start-up sequence so that it reads the memory stick before it reads the hard drive. Do you understand?’
Mia nodded. She was not the sharpest person in the world when it came to computers, but this much she understood. Gabriel turned off the laptop and turned it back on again.
‘There. As it starts up, it’ll start by reading the memory stick and then it’ll load Ophcrack.’
Mia watched while Gabriel worked.
‘Right, as you can see, this machine has two users, Roger and Randi.’
‘Who is Randi?’
Gabriel shrugged.
‘Perhaps he had a girlfriend?’
‘Remind me to check that out. Randi.’
‘OK.’ Gabriel nodded. ‘Which password do you want me to crack?’
‘Let’s start with Roger.’
‘OK,’ Gabriel said, pointing to the screen. ‘Take a look at the columns saying LM Pwd 1 and LM Pwd 2. If the password is more than seven characters long, and it probably is, the first seven characters will appear in the column LM Pwd 1 and the rest in LM Pwd 2. Now all I have to do is select the user.’
Gabriel selected ‘Roger’ and clicked a command in the program, ‘Crack’.
‘And hey presto.’
Mia waited in tense anticipation for a few seconds while the program ran. Soon, the password appeared on the screen in front of them.
‘FordMustang67.’
The car in the photograph. If she had not had this young genius to help her, she could probably have cracked it herself. Not in a few seconds, obviously, but eventually.
‘Is this something everyone can do?’ Mia wanted to know.
‘Ophcrack is freeware, it’s available on the Net, so as long as you know what you’re looking for, yes, then everyone can do it.’ Gabriel nodded and turned the computer on and off again.
The login screen appeared and Gabriel was about to type in the password when Mia’s phone rang. The display read ‘Holger Munch’. She went out on the smoking terrace to answer it.
‘Mia here.’
‘Hi, Mia. It’s Holger.’
‘Where are you?’
‘In the car. Listen, there’s something we need to talk about.’
‘OK, right. Go on, then.’
‘Not on the phone. Let’s go for a beer.’
‘You want a beer?’
‘No, I don’t want a beer, but I do need to talk to you. It’s personal. Not work. You can have a beer; I’ll have a Farris.’
‘OK,’ Mia said. ‘Where do you want to meet?’
‘Are you at work?’
‘Yes.’
‘How about Justisen in a few minutes?’
‘No problem, Holger. See you there.’
‘See you soon,’ Holger said, and ended the call.
How strange. Holger had never minded discussing problems on the phone before, Mia thought. Then she remembered what Gabriel had just told her. Their phones were being monitored, for their own safety, of course. Once again she hoped that nothing serious had happened.
‘I’m afraid I need to leave,’ Mia said to Gabriel when she came back inside.
‘OK.’ The hacker nodded. ‘The laptop is up and running now. You want me to crack the iPhone as well?’
‘That would be super.’ Mia smiled. ‘Will you be working late?’
‘I’ll stick around for a while,’ Gabriel said. ‘I prefer to work nights anyway, and there’s a lot for me to learn.’
‘If something spectacular crops up, then call me, OK? If not, we’ll go over it tomorrow.’
‘Understood,’ Gabriel said.
‘Thanks for your help,’ Mia said.
She walked down the steps, pulled the jacket around her more tightly and made her way to Møllergata.
Chapter 26
Holger Munch was sitting under one of the heating lamps in Justisen’s beer garden. He had just lit a cigarette and was looking anxiously at his phone, typing a message, but put it down the moment Mia appeared.
‘Hello, Mia.’
‘Hello, Holger.’
&n
bsp; ‘Is it all right with you that we’re outside? I’ve already ordered.
‘Sure,’ Mia said, pulling out a chair.
It was an Oslo evening at the end of April and, truth be told, still too cold to be sitting outside, but the heating lamp helped. Mia knew there was very little point in sitting indoors with Holger; he smoked non-stop, so she might as well make herself comfortable outside from the start. She took a rug and covered her legs.
‘What have you ordered?’
‘Just a Farris and a sandwich and a beer for you; I didn’t know if you wanted anything else.’
‘No, thanks, a beer would be great,’ Mia said.
Holger glanced around the charming, rustic beer garden.
‘I haven’t been here for ages.’
‘Me neither.’ Mia smiled.
They both knew when the last time had been, but neither was prepared to say. A glance and a nod was enough. They had sat here, at the same table, two years ago, while the allegations against her were being investigated. Mia had been down in the dumps and Holger was the only person she could talk to. Somehow, a photographer from Dagbladet had found them, started taking photographs, refused to leave them alone. Holger had politely but very firmly escorted the photographer out of the bar. Mia had to smile at the memory. He really had been very chivalrous. She had needed him then. This time, he needed her.
‘I wasn’t trying to make a drama out of it, I just haven’t got the energy to do this on the phone. It’s not serious – I mean, it’s not as important as the case,– but, all the same, I would like your advice,’ Holger said.
A waitress appeared with their order. A bottle of mineral water and a prawn sandwich for Holger, a beer for Mia.
‘Hope you enjoy it. Just let me know if you need anything else,’ the girl said with a smile before she disappeared.
‘And, besides, we haven’t yet celebrated that we’re back.’ Holger smiled and raised his glass. ‘Cheers.’
‘Cheers.’ Mia smiled and took a sip of her beer.
She was loath to admit it, but it tasted wonderful. It hit just the right spot. She had to be careful, she was only too aware of it, but at this moment in time it was the way it was going to be. She deserved to relax. Holger ate his prawn sandwich without saying very much. He pushed his plate aside when he had finished and lit another cigarette.
‘Did you find anything useful among Bakken’s belongings?’
‘A laptop and an iPhone.’ Mia nodded.
‘Good. Anything of interest?’
‘Don’t know yet. Gabriel is checking them out as we speak.’
‘What do you make of him?’
Mia gave a light shrug and took another sip of her beer.
‘I haven’t had time to talk to him all that much, but he seems like a nice guy. Young, of course, but that’s not necessarily bad.’
‘I have a good feeling about him,’ Holger said, blowing smoke up into the air. ‘Sometimes, it can be wise to recruit from the outside. A fresh pair of eyes not tainted by police thinking. We tend to develop tunnel vision, don’t you think?’
‘You might be right.’ Mia nodded. ‘Certainly seems like he knows his stuff.’
Holger smiled.
‘He-he, yes – he’s not underqualified, to put it mildly. I got his name from MI6 in London; he cracked the code – you know, that challenge they posted on the Net last year?’
Mia shrugged her shoulders again.
‘No, of course not, you haven’t been part of the world for a while. Do you know who the prime minister is?’
Mia shrugged her shoulders a third time.
‘Does it matter?’
Holger Munch chuckled and waved the waitress over.
‘Can I get you anything else?’ the smiling girl said.
‘I do believe I need a slice of apple cake with ice cream, and another beer?’
Mia nodded.
‘Apple cake and beer it is,’ the girl said, and disappeared again.
‘Anyway, he knows what he’s doing when it comes to computers. The question is, will he make a good police officer?’
‘Well, does anyone?’ Mia smiled.
‘No, you may be right.’ Holger nodded. ‘Anyway, for my part, I’m glad to be back in the city, and that you’re here. I spoke to Mikkelson earlier today. This case has put everyone under a spotlight. National security, the reputation of the police force and, well, you know, there’s fierce pressure from on high to get it cleared up as quickly as possible. I believe the Ministry rings him every day for an update.’
‘Nothing wrong with him feeling the heat,’ Mia said.
She drained her glass and took a lozenge from a packet in her pocket. The waitress brought the apple cake and another beer. Mia held off drinking it until Holger had had some of his cake. She didn’t want to seem too keen on the alcohol. After all, she had not come here to get drunk, but because Holger had something he wanted to talk about.
‘So you went to see your solicitor?’
‘Yes, damn the bugger.’ Holger heaved a sigh. ‘Don’t really know where to start. Like I said, it’s not difficult, but even so, I’ve had a lot on recently. Miriam is getting married, and …’
‘Good God, that’s wonderful, I didn’t know.’
Mia realized it made her really happy. She liked Miriam enormously. They had hit it off the moment they met. She knew that the relationship between Miriam and her father was strained, but she had always imagined that it would work itself out, given time.
‘Oh, yes, it’s great.’ Holger nodded.
‘Am I right in thinking she’s still with Johannes? Has he finished medical school now?’
Holger nodded.
‘He’s a house officer these day. One year at Ullevål Hospital.’
‘Wow, that was a stroke of luck. I thought most of them ended up in the far-flung corners of Norway.’
‘Yes, he’s landed on his feet.’ Holger smiled wryly. ‘No, it’s great. Really. Nice guy. We hope that some of his luck will rub off on Miriam.’
‘What do you mean?’
Holger Munch hesitated.
‘Well, I don’t know. First she started reading English, then she dropped it. Then it was Norwegian Literature, but that turned out not to be her thing either.’
‘Didn’t she start reading journalism as well?’
Holger nodded and helped himself to some more cake.
‘She almost completed the course, but now she’s on a break from that as well. I don’t really know what she’s doing.’
‘I think you should cut her some slack,’ Mia said, taking a sip of her beer. ‘You and Marianne split up when she was fifteen. She had a child at nineteen. What do you expect of the girl? Give her time.’
‘You’re probably right.’ Holger sighed and lit another cigarette.
‘Has anything happened to her?’
‘What, no, why?’
‘Well, I don’t know, aren’t we playing twenty questions?’ Mia smiled.
‘What do you mean?’
‘Don’t you want me to guess what it is you wanted to talk to me about? Isn’t that how it works?’
Holger chuckled to himself.
‘You haven’t changed much, have you? Just as lippy, still not showing respect, eh? I’m still your boss, you know that, don’t you? The way this works is that you shut up and do whatever I tell you.’
‘That’s not going to happen.’ Mia smiled.
‘It’s a bit awkward; I don’t know how to say it. It really bugs me.’
‘OK, start at the beginning,’ Mia said.
‘Right,’ Holger said, taking another drag of his cigarette. ‘You know my mother?’
‘Yes, what about her?’
‘You know I moved her into a care home a few years ago?’
‘Yes, what about it? Is she not well?’
‘Oh, no, there’s nothing wrong with her. Her legs aren’t so good, so at times she uses a wheelchair, but that’s not the problem.’
‘Doe
s she not like it up there?’
‘Not to begin with, but that changed quickly. She met other people in the same situation, made friends, joined a sewing club, so no, that’s not it. Only, she’s suddenly got into her head that she’s a Christian.’
‘What do you mean? Christian Christian? Has she found God?’
Holger nodded.
‘Wow, I thought you came from a family of atheists?’
‘That’s what’s so strange. I’ve never heard her talk about religion or anything like that, but then she changed from one day to the next. Started to attend services every week at some church, along with friends of hers from the sewing circle.’
‘It might be her age,’ Mia said. ‘What would we know about getting old? I mean, she’s sprightly and all that but, even so, you can’t hide the fact that she has more runway behind her than in front of her. Perhaps there’s no harm in it? Having something to believe in?’
‘Yes and no. To begin with, I saw it as completely harmless, I mean, she’s nearly eighty and can make up her own mind, but …’
Holger hesitated.
‘But what?’
‘Turns out there’s more to it than I first thought. That was the reason Kurt called me.’
‘Kurt is your lawyer?’
Holger nodded.
‘And what’s the problem?’
Holger stubbed out the cigarette and lit another one.
‘She’s decided to leave all her money to the church.’
‘No shit?’
‘Quite.’
Holger threw up his hands.
‘So do I go along with it?’
‘Are we talking about a lot of money?’
‘No, not a whole lot, but even so. There’s her flat in Majorstua. Her cabin in Larvik. And she has plenty in the bank – she hasn’t spent any of the money my father left her. It’s not that I care about the money, but I’d always imagined that it would be passed on, you know, to Marion, so that she’s provided for. Family inheritance and all that.’
