by Karin Fossum
Even though I’d been expecting it, even though I’d been imagining everything that would happen from now on, I started when the key turned in the lock. I sat up. A man appeared in the door, dressed in a well-fitting suit, and with a rather stylish briefcase under his arm. He was young, in his mid-thirties perhaps, with a large head of curly hair, and a deep red tie like a stripe of blood from his neck. He was lean, with long slender hands, and bright, dark eyes behind his oval glasses.
‘De Reuter,’ he said, holding out his hand. ‘How are you? Have you got everything you need?’
I took his hand; it was thin and dry. He pulled the chair away from the window, moved it to the middle of the floor and sat down, laying the briefcase on his lap. He adjusted his glasses and sent me one of those quick glances I would come to know so well. Suddenly I felt my anger rising.
‘Have I got everything I need? You’re not being serious, are you? I’ve been picked up by two policemen and hauled off to the station, and then thrown into this cramped cell. And they’re claiming I’ve killed an old woman. And you ask if I’ve got everything I need? What kind of question is that?’
De Reuter didn’t bat an eyelid. He sat calmly on his chair and gazed at me with his dark eyes. I noticed the creases of his trousers, they were as sharp as knives.
‘We’ll put a defence together,’ he said. ‘But you’ll have to co-operate.’
‘Of course,’ I said, trying to calm down. ‘But you must get me out of this. I didn’t kill Nelly Friis. We found her dead in her bed. She was eighty-seven, and I had nothing to do with it. I just want to make that clear—’
‘Who was it who found her?’ de Reuter cut in.
‘Dr Fischer. He’d gone in to give her an injection. He came to fetch us from the ward office to make the report. But there was nothing unusual about the death, I can’t understand where these rumours have sprung from. What are they saying? The police. About how she died?’
De Reuter touched his hair with his slim, delicate hand.
‘They suspect that a pillow was used,’ he said. ‘That’s the way it’s usually done, in murders of this type. You know, the pillow is lying there to hand, and it’s all over in a minute. Randers is really on the warpath, he thinks they’ve got a case. It was the funeral directors who raised the alarm. Well, in consultation with Dr Fischer. They discovered some abnormalities and contacted the police.’
‘What sort of abnormalities?’
‘Her face seemed compressed. And there was some extravasation – leakage of blood – in her eyes. They’re indications of suffocation.’
He removed his glasses and looked at me intently.
‘Is there anything I ought to know?’
‘I’ve worked at Løkka for more than eleven years,’ I explained. ‘And I’ve never been in the habit of killing the patients. Why should I do such a thing?’
De Reuter folded his arms. Once again I was struck by his neat hands, they were like the hands of a girl, clean and white.
‘At the moment they’re not saying a lot about motive. They assume that will become clear later on. As for Randers, he’s the cocksure type, as I’m sure you’ll have noticed. They say he can smell guilt a long way off. And without trying to be demoralising, he does have a very high success rate. But then, so do I. So don’t worry.’
I rose from the bed and took a couple of short steps, but immediately ran into the desk and had to turn.
‘Randers thinks he’s on top of the situation,’ I said dejectedly. ‘But he’s wrong. If you only knew just how wrong he is!’
‘Sit down,’ de Reuter said calmly. ‘Don’t fret, you’ll only make yourself anxious. We’ll go through everything, you and I, so that we understand one another. Do you want to plead not guilty to the charge?’
‘Yes. I’m pleading not guilty,’ I said. ‘This is a conspiracy. The other members of staff have turned against me, and I have no idea why. But I’ve noticed that something’s been going on. There’s been an odd feeling of ill will on the ward for a long time, that’s the only way I can describe it. And I couldn’t understand it. But now it’s become crystal clear. They’ve all been plotting to get me, it’s totally reprehensible.’
De Reuter took out a pad and pen. He came over to the bed and put them on my lap.
‘Write down the names of the people you want me to alert,’ he said.
‘What do you mean, alert?’
‘I’m thinking of friends and relatives who need to know what’s happened. And where you are.’
‘I have no friends or relatives,’ I said.
‘Surely you’ve got someone?’
‘No. Nobody.’
‘Neighbours, perhaps?’
‘I don’t speak to them. No one needs to be alerted. This is a huge mistake. And if someone has killed Nelly Friis, I’ll find out who did it. I work there, I know them all. There’s something evil going on here. Did you hear what I said? Evil!’
De Reuter seated himself again. He seemed thoughtful.
I patted my empty trouser pockets.
‘They took my keys. Will they ransack my house?’
‘Will they find anything if they do?’ he asked glibly.
‘Of course not,’ I said. ‘A few sickly house plants. An old computer. A bit of food in the fridge. I have no secrets in the house. When will the case come up? Will I have to spend weeks of uncertainty in here?’
‘It does happen,’ de Reuter said. ‘But for your sake, I hope not. Remand is tough, it’s a no-man’s-land.’
‘There were plenty of other people besides me who visited Nelly Friis the day she died,’ I explained. ‘People are always dying on our ward. They’re old and sick.’
De Reuter shook his head. He stared down at the small, blank pad.
‘Not even one relation?’
Janson came to my cell that evening.
I liked Janson immediately, because he was strong and solid, and he didn’t seem concerned about what I’d been charged with, but only with me and my welfare. He wanted to know if I’d got on with my lawyer. And if there was anything I needed. I had something to eat and drink and then settled on the bed. The light was beginning to fade, the sky had turned dark blue outside my cell window. There were twenty of us on the block, Janson had told me, and muffled sounds were coming from some of the other cells. It wasn’t sufficient to disturb me, but was more like a soothing background hum, and I imagined I was a passenger in a great ship that was steaming steadily through the night. Having lain there a good while, and pondered the strange state of my affairs, I finally fell asleep.
I awoke a little later in the night to hear a feeble moaning; it seemed to be coming from the adjacent cell. It was a sad whimpering sound, and I hoped the duty officers would deal with it and calm him as quickly as possible, because the noise was increasing and getting on my nerves. It sounded as if he was begging for his life. The whining was remarkably familiar, and I listened to it with my whole being. I was also disturbed by something else. Something which gradually became all-pervasive. A ghastly smell filled the room. I thought that the smell, too, was coming from the next cell, that it was seeping in through the ventilator I’d noticed high up on the wall. A sweet, cloying smell, the smell of something rotting.
Chapter 24
MORNING CAME, AND with it the rattling of the key in the door.
Randers entered and stood there studying me, hands on hips. I saw Janson behind him take a sideways step.
‘Well, we’re on the move,’ he said, ‘and your defence is up and running. De Reuter doesn’t hang about, you’ll find that out soon enough. But neither do we. How was your night? A bit sleepless?’
I shook my head emphatically.
‘I slept like a baby,’ I lied. ‘An innocent baby.’
Randers crossed to the window. He stood waiting while I put my shoes on. He clasped his hands behind his back and gazed out.
‘A cell with a view,’ he said, ‘that’s not so bad. D’you see that large yellow building ove
r there on the hillside? That’s an old sanatorium. Some people say it’s haunted. Rather a charming idea, don’t you think?’
I said nothing. I was busy tying my shoelaces.
‘In the evening,’ he continued, ‘when the sun goes down, all the windows glow, and then it looks as if the whole building’s on fire. Did you notice that yesterday evening?’
I rose and walked over to him. I took in the yellow building.
‘I had other things to think about yesterday evening. But I’ll bear it in mind for the next sunset. Why are you here? What’s happening?’
‘You’re going to be questioned,’ he said. ‘Come on, let’s go.’
We descended through the building to a bare, cellar-like room, with two chairs and a table, and nothing else in its windowless interior. It could have been a mountain cave. The walls were rough and grey, the light unpleasant, but once we were seated, he switched off the strip lights in the ceiling and turned on a small desk lamp.
‘I think I’ve got the right to have my lawyer present,’ I protested.
Randers sent me a broad, agreeable grin.
‘Why yes, you have,’ he conceded. ‘But de Reuter is busy elsewhere, so there’s just you and me. Let’s try to get a bit of momentum into this case; that will reduce the length of remand. And that’s what you want, isn’t it? To get it all over quickly? Shall we begin?’
I made no reply. I tried to understand the extraordinary situation I found myself in, and attempted to rise above it, but it didn’t work. Randers seemed so certain, and that made me deeply nervous, I’d never met a man with so much self-confidence. He knew something, something I’d overlooked, but I couldn’t fathom what it was. I felt a little off balance and continually perplexed. Randers now had control over everything. Over the questions he would ask, the time it would take until I was again led back to my austere cell.
‘You chose to work with old people,’ he began. ‘You chose to use your nurse’s training on the most sick and helpless patients. Tell me why that was.’
I folded my hands on the table, while a heaviness spread through my whole body. I thought about Arnfinn constantly, and whether they’d find him beneath the rhododendron bush I’d planted on the small mound of earth, if they went to the house. And how I’d explain what had happened.
‘I have a special way with the elderly,’ I said. ‘Not just the elderly, but people who are close to death. Those are the patients we take. I understand their requirements and their care needs. And I like the work at Løkka. It’s a quiet, peaceful place, most of the time at least. Not like the bustle of an accident and emergency department, or a large hospital.’
‘A special way,’ Randers said, scratching his chin. ‘I see. You know what they need? Well, it’s really wonderful you’ve got these talents. So, if I sent my old mum in, she’d be in safe hands with you?’
He looked directly at me.
‘In the very best of hands,’ I said, and returned his gaze.
‘And this talent for caring, how do you deploy it?’
I had to think. I had to weigh my mendacious words. ‘I like making a difference to people’s lives,’ I explained. ‘I like to feel significant, because I believe I am.’
‘You’re often in their rooms,’ said Randers. ‘Your colleagues mentioned that. Are you the type of nurse who likes sitting by patients’ bedsides? I mean, the sort we have so few of?’
He adjusted the lamp on the table a little. The light fell on my face, and I felt the heat from it.
‘Yes, I do like that.’
‘But have you got time? People who work with the elderly are always complaining that they don’t have enough time. I’m only asking because of what I’ve read. According to the newspapers, you’re almost too rushed to get your patients out of bed in the mornings.’
‘I don’t hang around the ward office, like a lot of the others,’ I said. ‘My job would be meaningless if I weren’t able to give them that bit of extra care. I’d have thrown in the towel and done something completely different. And anyway, hardly any of them even leave their beds. They’re too ill for that.’
Randers took notes. He sat biting the top of his pen then glanced up at me with narrowed eyes.
‘You’ve never started a family, Riktor. Was it a conscious decision?’
‘It’s just the way things have turned out,’ I explained. ‘Relationships and family life aren’t easy for me. It must be a talent I haven’t got.’
I stared down at the floor. He was getting close to my sore spot, that I’d never had a woman. Never in all my miserable life had I had a woman.
‘But what about children, Riktor? Someone as caring as you. Don’t you miss children?’
‘I don’t want children,’ I said. ‘Not at any price. I mean, you can never escape them once they’re born, it’s an endless responsibility. And I like being in control. There’s a lot wrong with living alone,’ I added, ‘but I can at least do what I want with my days and nights. I’m in charge of all the plans and decisions. I can go out when I like, and there’s no one expecting me back.’
‘In other words, no one places any demands on you.’
‘Correct,’ I said. ‘It’s called freedom.’
‘Or loneliness,’ he said. ‘But, OK. I can understand that. Would you say that you had a special relationship with Nelly Friis?’
I thought for some time, mulling the matter over a little.
‘I’ve got a special relationship with every one of my patients. And I regard them as adults and individuals deserving dignity. If I’d considered a mercy killing, I wouldn’t have chosen Nelly Friis. I’d have chosen Barbro Zanussi. Barbro lives in a torment of pain, she lies groaning all day long, it’s a strain on everybody.’
‘So the person who killed Nelly did it out of kindness. Is that what you think?’
I nodded. ‘And so do you. Such angels of death do occasionally turn up in old people’s homes and institutions. I’ve read about them in the papers, strange, distracted characters who are drawn to such work. But we only have one angel on our ward. That’s Sister Anna Otterlei, and she’s completely flawless.’
‘What’s your attitude to death, Riktor? Can you tell me a bit about that?’
‘I’m painfully aware of it,’ I said, ‘and I see it happening to others. But I keep hoping it won’t happen to me.’
Randers chuckled and wrote. I sat thinking about our conversation, and then wondered if my house was being turned upside down. There were some muffled thumping noises from out in the corridor, a voice and a door slamming.
‘So how did Nelly Friis die?’ I asked after a long silence.
Randers lowered his pen. He sat looking at me for a time, then clasped his hands on the table.
‘The post-mortem showed that she’d been suffocated. She had blood leakage in her eyes. There were tooth marks on the inner surface of her upper lip, something that occurs when a lot of pressure is applied to the mouth. Her nose had been pressed down hard. Considerable force was used.’
‘Nobody said anything about that at the time,’ I objected. ‘Dr Fischer pronounced her dead. There were no suspicions of that sort, no discussion. I don’t understand how this has arisen in the first place. If I was the suspect, why didn’t they say that immediately?’
‘You need time to build up a case,’ Randers said. ‘And now at last we’ve got a case. How are you feeling?’ he asked all of a sudden. ‘Obviously it’s quite a strain being questioned, with such a grave charge hanging over one’s head.’
‘It’s no strain on me,’ I said staunchly. ‘Because I didn’t kill Nelly Friis. I’m completely innocent.’
Randers was calm and collected, he was buoyant and self-assured, one of those thoroughly successful types. And I really did wonder what evidence he had. Surely they couldn’t condemn me on mere assumptions?
Although I’m reasonably articulate and did quite well in this first interview, it was a relief to be escorted back to my cell. Janson locked the door behind me
, and I immediately sat down at the window. I laid my arm on the desk in front of me and looked at my own hand, and the way it was slightly flexed. It was as if time were standing still. All sounds from the block seemed far away, and I tried to relax. But my thoughts kept racing the whole time, like a mill churning incessantly, round and round.
What was really happening?
After a while I stretched out on the bed, with my hands cradling my head. I tried to breathe calmly. I imagined the park by Lake Mester, which I missed so sorely, its splashing water, its green benches. Woman Weeping and Woman Laughing. Ebba’s crocheting needle flashing in the sunlight. I thought about Anna’s brother, who was still at the bottom of the lake. Perhaps the eels had gnawed deep holes in the dissolving flesh. And eaten his eyes. Occasionally I dozed. But all the time a part of me was waiting for Janson’s key.
Chapter 25
DE REUTER APPEARED the next afternoon, this time in a dark blue suit and stylish turquoise tie, perfectly knotted. He sat down at the desk. He wanted to know if I was abreast of things and understood what was happening.
‘I simply want justice,’ I said, ‘like everyone else. I don’t mind being judged for the small things I’ve done, but not for this. I really do find it hard to grasp that this is even happening. Why have they all turned against me? I thought they were decent colleagues. Not to put too fine a point on it: I feel thoroughly betrayed.’
De Reuter unzipped his briefcase with verve. Papers rustled.
‘There’s just one thing I’ve got to get straight, if you don’t mind,’ he said, his dark eyes resting on me.