He picked up the laptop, connected it to the projector, and brought the document he had prepared up on the big screen.
«Let’s do the overview first,» he said. «And please jump right in if anything gets overlooked, or if there are things I haven’t included.»
Everyone nodded.
«What do we know? Idunn Olsen from Tranby, age fifteen, was found dead by the obelisk in Tranby the night of Thursday, November 27. According to the preliminary autopsy report, she did not die from a fall, but from suffocation. Two witnesses have been held on remand and interviewed extensively. The two are, slash were, Kristian Skage, age forty-seven, and Fredrik Paulsen, age sixteen.»
«Have they already been released?» Ida Madsen asked in surprise.
«Kristian Skage was released yesterday evening, but Fredrik Paulsen is still in custody. There are biological findings that link him more closely to the case, and there is danger of loss of evidence if he is released. Semen was found in the victim’s vagina. DNA cannot be established with certainty, as there is some danger of mixture from the victim’s epithelial cells, but there are strong indications that the semen originated from Fredrik Paulsen. Fingerprints and DNA have also been found on a vodka bottle found in the vicinity.»
«Has that person been identified and located?» asked Heiki Stenvald.
«Yes, it turns out we’re dealing with an ex-con. Agnar Eriksen. He has prior convictions for assault against a close relative, in addition to several other less serious violations. The interesting thing about this is that Agnar Eriksen is the son of the woman who was found dead in the fire that started Thursday morning. The autopsy results show that Erna Eriksen was stabbed with a knife. This may indicate that the fire was arson. The murder weapon has not been found. That is...»
Verner made a stage pause and met the gaze of each member of the team. «We are no longer investigating one homicide, but two, and from here on we have to see them in context. Agnar Eriksen has admitted that he was in the house before the fire. He can describe his mother in a pool of blood, but he has not admitted guilt. He was presented for remand custody yesterday. We’ve received a search order and will go through his apartment immediately. That probably won’t take long, since he just barely moved in.»
There was a faint murmur around the table.
«In other words, we have several possibilities,» Verner Jacobsen continued as the murmur subsided. «We must be careful about locking the investigation in a certain direction, but in my view Fredrik Paulsen and Agnar Eriksen are the two prime suspects, given the circumstantial evidence.»
«But,» Ida Madsen interjected. «If I’ve understood things correctly, Fredrik had a close relationship with the girl who was killed, while Agnar didn’t know her. Agnar on the other hand has a prior conviction for assault and battery of his mother, but Fredrik hasn’t done anything other than tease her dog. Is this correct?»
Verner Jacobsen was impressed at Ida’s quick deductions.
«You’re quite right,» said Verner. «The problem is that these two possibly have a motive for each murder, but neither of them has a motive for both. It’s completely possible that we’re actually faced with a coincidence of two very different tragedies. To put it another way: Where the murder of Idunn is concerned, there may be others besides Fredrik Paulsen. It could be Agnar Eriksen. Or Kristian Skage. It could actually also be Marte, Kristian’s daughter. She has a motive, and she was in the area at the relevant time. She’ll be questioned today. Or it may be an unknown person. We have also received an anonymous inquiry asking us to speak with Idunn’s father. A woman rang the tip line yesterday evening. She said: ’Ask Gustav Olsen.’ Nothing else. Then she hung up.»
Verner Jacobsen took a sip of coffee. It had gotten cold and he shuddered.
«Pastor Gustav Olsen has previously stated,» Verner continued, «that he drove around the area earlier in the evening to search for his daughter. He didn’t see anything other than spruce trees, according to him. It is obviously a theoretical possibility that he had his daughter in the car and dumped her by the obelisk.»
There was more murmuring around the table. The obelisk and a possible religiously motivated murder were mentioned. Verner interrupted the speculations.
«There’s just one problem,» he said.
«Two,» Ida Madsen corrected him. «Lack of motive and lack of evidence.»
«Quite correct,» said Verner.
«Where the murder of Erna Eriksen is concerned,» he said, pushing the cup away, «we still have only one candidate: Agnar Eriksen.»
There was a brief pause before Heiki Stenvald spoke up. «You haven’t mentioned the tagging.»
«Thanks, Heiki,» said Verner Jacobsen. «I’ll do that now.»
He tipped the computer and brought up the pictures that had been taken of the obelisk.
«So, the obelisk has been tagged. Forensics is doing some investigation, and it appears that the paint is relatively fresh. A spray can of the same type as used here was found in the garage at Fredrik’s home. It’s now being checked for fingerprints. Paint specks have also been found on Marte’s boot. Fredrik had no trace of paint on him when he was examined, but obviously a little time had passed, so it’s possible he was able to scrub it off if he was the one behind the tagging.»
«What did it say on the obelisk? It’s a bit difficult to read at a distance,» said Hildegunn Ebbestad, pushing her glasses up against the bridge of her nose.
Verner clicked ahead, and a close-up of the text came up.
«Whore,» said Hildegunn Ebbestad.
«Look again,» said Verner Jacobsen. «It says ’Whore I’.»
«Whore number one?» Hildegunn asked. «Does that mean there may be whore number two?»
Verner Jacobsen shrugged his shoulders, suddenly feeling very tired. He had hoped that the summary would clarify things for himself. Often, a brief review was what was needed to see the case in a new light. There were no revelations today; on the contrary. The attempt at a summary just spun around in his head and made tangles.
«What we do know,» he said, «is that Fredrik and his friends had an encounter with Erna Eriksen earlier in the evening, and that she said they smelled like spray paint. Erna Eriksen called the police to warn about tagging. For those who still haven’t read it, the transcript of the call is attached with the other interviews.»
«Do we have a plan for what should be done going forward?» Thomas Lindstrand asked, looking at the clock.
«I propose that I do the interview with Marte myself,» said Verner. «And Agnar must be questioned again. Otherwise we need to have a review of all forensic traces, and what we’ve gathered from cell phone traffic. Someone has to speak with Gustav Olsen, Idunn’s father, and we have to find out if it’s possible to trace the call that alerted us to him. The press will want information. I think we should ask the general public for help. There may be witnesses out there we haven’t been in contact with yet. Besides, I think we should assess whether a reconstruction of the course of events may be appropriate with key witnesses. Everything has to be reviewed again in light of the fact that we now have two homicides on the same road. Can anyone contact the fire investigators and hear what they have to say about the cause of the fire?»
«Sure, I can do that,» said Heiki, standing up.
«Yes, can I assume that the meeting is over?»
«Just one moment,» said Lindstrand. «Bitte Røed is still on the fire, but from now on we’re shielding that case too.»
Lindstrand looked at Verner, who nodded and took his coffee cup with him to pour out the contents. He made a mental note to himself to speak with Bitte later and find out what she’d learned from Finn.
65
Finn stepped into an interview room that had no camera or microphone. It looked like an ordinary, neutral office, and seen that way it did not count as a formal interview either.
«Coffee?» asked Bitte Røed.
Finn was standing in the middle of the room with his arms at his sides,
but he said yes.
«Just sit down for now, I’ll be right back,» she chirped. She was in a better mood than in a long time.
She came back with coffee for him and a cup of hot chocolate for herself, and thought that Verner had been strange when she saw him out by the coffee machine. Embarrassed, almost. No, crestfallen, she decided. It looked like he mostly wanted to console her. As if she needed consolation! After she’d been in Kristian’s arms last night. It was that rare type of out-and-out happiness. Kristian loved her. Her! The feeling was great, it was as if it was brimming over and she wanted to tie a knot so that it wouldn’t run out. She had seen it in the bathroom mirror that morning too, how her eyes had a different light.
«Thanks for taking the time to come here, Finn,» Bitte said with a smile, fully aware of the tangible joy right under her skin.
«I should thank you for letting me come here instead of doing this at home.»
Finn rubbed a finger over an invisible spot on his trouser leg in repetitive movements.
«Elin doesn’t know everything about my past,» he said. «And I don’t see any reason to worry her now when she’s expecting... we’re expecting, I mean. A child that is. We’re expecting a child.»
«Yes, you told me that last time. That’s very nice,» said Bitte Røed. «And this conversation is confidential,» she said to soothe him.
«What do you want to know?»
«I want to know,» she said, «what you know about Agnar that you don’t want your wife to know. And I need to find out as much as possible about Agnar. You can start by telling me how you got acquainted, for example.»
Finn put his head in his hands and rubbed his face as if he was leaning over a sink and washing himself. Then he raised his head abruptly.
«We were childhood friends. Outsiders, both of us. I was the son of a minister, I had a strict upbringing, and my father didn’t like me associating with Agnar. According to my father, Agnar was from a bad family. Agnar’s mother and father drank. And Agnar drank. My parents were teetotalers. Maybe it was the contrasts that brought us together. We were outside at either end of the scale.»
Finn had a distant look in his eyes. He spoke quietly. Bitte pulled the chair closer.
«I wish I’d known back then that things turn out fine anyway. Then maybe it wouldn’t have happened.»
«What wouldn’t have happened?»
Finn did not look at her. He held firmly onto the cup, but didn’t drink from it.
«I’m so damned scared of what Agnar might do. He threatened my son.»
«You have a son?»
«No, or yes, I don’t know if it will be a son, but I have a feeling that it will be a boy.»
«Has Agnar threatened the baby who’s not born yet?»
«Not exactly threatened, but he hinted that something could happen if I didn’t cooperate.»
«Cooperate about what?»
«What we should say.»
Bitte waited. Finn sat restlessly on the chair, looked around, got up, went over to the window, and stood there with his back to her as he continued.
«He wanted me to give him an alibi. That Elin and I should give him an alibi.»
Bitte Røed felt something rising, it resembled being in love. A kind of itching expectation.
Here comes the final evidence. Agnar Eriksen had lost his alibi. A childish delight at being able to smell new facts on the table made laughter bubble in her throat. She looked at Finn and the laughter died away before it could break out.
«Exactly when did Agnar come to you and Elin?»
«Thursday, a little later in the day, I don’t remember exactly, but it was the middle of the day. We were going to have dinner early, because Elin had a shift at the nursing home. A double shift. They’re always short on people.»
Like in the police, Bitte thought.
«Did he say anything about where he’d been?» she asked.
«No, and I didn’t ask either. It was only later, when we discovered that his mother’s house had burned, that something about him seemed dangerous. I probably thought he was the one who set it. He likes to burn things. He was guilty of more than a few grass fires when we were younger.»
«What did he ask you to do then?»
«He asked us to shut up. At first. But then he wanted us to contact the authorities. You were there of course to pick him up. He had instructed us to say exactly what we said. We didn’t dare do anything else, and he promised that he wouldn’t bother us anymore afterward. But Elin in particular, she was anxious that we held things back. Now you know. We lied. We gave Agnar an alibi he didn’t have.»
He looked relieved and fiddled with the zipper on his jacket as if he was getting ready to leave.
«Sit down a little longer,» said Bitte Røed. «I really want to hear what it was you couldn’t tell me yesterday. What you didn’t want Elin to hear.»
Finn sat down again, but he did not look at her.
«What happened in your childhood that you can’t say, Finn?»
«To put it briefly,» Finn said, taking a breath. «Agnar was abused.»
«I see...»
«His father, he was an asshole. Agnar never said anything, but I guessed what was going on.»
«Why can’t you say anything about this to your wife? Is it dangerous to say that something bad happened to a friend?»
«No,» said Finn, breathing heavily through his nose.
Bitte Røed waited. It was only when she thought that the silence was starting to feel awkward that he whispered.
«I was in love. With Agnar. And Agnar knows that I was.»
66
«I want Agnar Eriksen brought in for questioning,» Bitte Røed almost shouted into the phone while she hurried down the corridor.
«Bitte Røed,» said Thomas Lindstrand, and she heard the condescending tone. «You are not on the case.»
«No, not on the Idunn case, but I’m still working on the fire, aren’t I?»
There was silence on the other end.
«I’m still on the fire,» Bitte stated, and continued with a rare self-confidence. «Besides, Kristian Skage is no longer under suspicion. So, I don’t see any problem if I get involved in both of these cases. Listen, I think there may be a connection. Has Fredrik Paulsen been subjected to any form of abuse? Has anyone asked him about that? Were there traces of a struggle or anything, bruises, scratches, semen, anything at all on his body or his clothing?»
«Bitte Røed, stop,» Lindstrand said in despair. «Point one, Kristian Skage is still a key witness. For that reason, you can’t be involved, is that understood?»
Bitte Røed did not say anything.
«Point two,» Lindstrand continued. «The Idunn case possibly has a connection with the fire, and for that reason, starting today, we will also shield that case. We have a burglary in a house in Konnerud. You can spend the rest of the day on that.»
Chunks of ice were running down her back, inside her sweater. That was how it felt.
«I have new information—are you interested in what I’ve found out about Agnar Eriksen?» asked Bitte.
«Yes?»
She noticed that the superintendent’s tone was a bit gentler.
«Agnar Eriksen no longer has an alibi. His friend, Finn, says that—»
«Fine,» Lindstrand interrupted her. «But evidence from the scene has already shown that his alibi has gone up in smoke. You know that,» he continued in the same gentle voice. «The burglary, Røed. Take that on. And the hearse theft, that’s still not cleared up.»
Bitte Røed went back to her office, surfed discontentedly on the Internet for a while before she checked the day’s Facebook messages. She had an urge to post a new status: I have the world’s dumbest boss. She logged off and told herself to stop being so childish. Thomas Lindstrand was only doing what he had to do. She understood that in her head, but she still felt the disappointment in her body. She logged on to the fire case to see whether she still had a valid password. What luck! They hadn’t had time
to shield it yet. She started reading through the documents to see whether there was anything she had overlooked.
It must be Agnar who killed his mother. Anything else was illogical. And her instinct told her that he was not completely innocent where Idunn was concerned either. There was proof that the man had been near the scene, and he had a criminal record that smelled bad. Wasn’t it often those who have been abused who become abusers themselves? Maybe he had run into both Idunn and Fredrik. It was even worse for boys to admit that they had been victims of rape than girls. She tried to picture what might have happened, but that would be nothing but speculation.
She brought up the report from the fire investigators, which had just been posted. By Heiki Stenvald! So now it was clear to everyone that she no longer had responsibility. The conclusion was that the fire started in the kitchen, and remnants of a wick were found. The fire investigators could say with great probability that this was the source. A candle.
She browsed further, really wanting to find something or other that meant she could be of help, or to be completely honest, prove that she was indispensable. The last document that was added to the case contained a list of what had been found in the ruins. Among these was a freezer of the really old-fashioned type, made back when electrical products were made to last a lifetime. The freezer had been in the cellar and was almost undamaged by the fire. The investigators had documented the fact that it was secured with a padlock and had entered a separate note about what it contained. Bitte skimmed the list of marked objects that were sent for analysis and clicked on the images. Between pouches of frozen vegetables and meat patties there were two packages in tinfoil. The packages were marked with pen that was so faint that the text was almost illegible. She enlarged the picture and did not understand why a cold shiver ran through her body. Soup bone. Why should that worry her?
67
Marte was sitting on the very edge of the chair. Her mother pulled her chair right next to hers. Marte felt nervous. It was the same feeling you had sitting in the waiting room at the dentist when you knew you had cavities. But here there were no old gossip magazines or a toy box with Legos. White walls with no pictures and only a desk with a computer. The man who called himself Verner seemed nice. He was skinny and kind of ugly, but something in his eyes made her think that he was okay.
The Girl With No Heart Page 19
