On the other side of the street carefree youngsters were running around the school yard at St. Sunniva. Their shouts ricocheted between the walls.
Milo went out on Akersveien. Behind him he heard a door open, and he turned around automatically. The priest came out and lit a cigarette. He caught sight of Milo, and they nodded silently to each other.
Milo could not bear to talk with him about his mother. About the fact that he was a result of a plan that had gone wrong. He could have told the priest that everything felt accidental, that coincidences governed our lives, but he knew that the priest would have responded by talking about God’s plan.
There was also another reason he did not drill deeper into that. It was time to let his mother rest. Not everything was appropriate to discuss with strangers. No matter how great an obligation of confidentiality they had.
There was a reason they were called family secrets.
He did not expect anyone else to understand.
It was enough if he did.
He turned left up Akersveien. His car was parked by the St. Olav bookstore, and he got in without starting the engine. The rain was drumming on the roof, and he stared at the slate-gray sky.
He remembered something he had overheard his grandfather say once in Sardinia. Antonio and Maria had been discussing Uncle Marco’s indecisiveness in relation to something or other. Maria had been irritated, while his grandfather smiled indulgently.
“In caso di dubbio, mio caro, non fare nulla.” When you are in doubt, my dear, do nothing.
It was Leo Tolstoy who put these words in the mouth of General Kutuzov, during the Napoleonic wars. And his grandfather had taken it as one of his rules of life.
But it was not a war Milo was fighting. He was only faced with a decision.
And regardless he was bad at doing nothing.
He glanced at the backseat to assure himself that his luggage was there. Then he started the engine and let the windshield wipers remove the raindrops.
He used the turn signal and left the parking space, setting a course for the airport at Gardermoen.
He could buy a ticket when he got there.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thank you to Special Investigator Isak Mjølhus, for answers to questions related to Financial Crimes.
NN, for insight into the world where steroids and growth hormones are becoming increasingly common, in increasingly younger age groups.
Cecilia Dinardi, for valuable information about the situation of refugee children.
Nina Rye, for answers to diabetes-related questions.
Dad, for unshakable optimism and everything you have done for me.
Ingvill, for invaluable support when I changed from executive to life as an author.
FOR FURTHER READING
About the pharmaceutical industry
Angell, Marcia. The Truth About the Drug Companies: How They Deceive Us and What to Do About It (Random House, 2004)
Elliott, Carl. White Coat, Black Hat: Adventures on the Dark Side of Medicine (Beacon Press, 2010)
Hawthorne, Fran. The Merck Druggernaut: The Inside Story of a Pharmaceutical Giant (Wiley, 2005)
About economics and finance
Chang, Ha-Joon. 23 Things They Don’t Tell You About Capitalism (Bloomsbury Press, 2010)
Reinert, Erik S. How Rich Countries Got Rich and Why Poor Countries Stay Poor (Constable, 2007)
About Catholicism
Pasco, Rowanne. Svar på 101 spørsmål om den katolske kirkes katekisme (Answers to 101 Questions about the Catechism of the Catholic Church)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
ASLE SKREDDERBERGET is an author of fiction and nonfiction, and has written for television. He holds a master’s degree in business and finance from the Norwegian School of Economics in Bergen and the prestigious Università Bocconi in Milan. He lives in Oslo with his wife and two kids. You can sign up for email updates here.
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CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Epigraph
Prologue
Monday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Monday
Acknowledgments
For Further Reading
About the Author
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
THOMAS DUNNE BOOKS.
An imprint of St. Martin’s Press.
THE OSLO CONSPIRACY. Copyright © 2013 by Asle Skredderberget. Translation copyright © 2016 by Paul Norlen. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
www.thomasdunnebooks.com
www.stmartins.com
The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:
Names: Skredderberget, Asle, 1972– author.|Norlen, Paul R., translator.
Title: The Oslo conspiracy: a thriller / Asle Skredderberget; translated by Paul Norlen.
Other titles: Smertehimmel. English
Description: First U.S. edition. | New York: Thomas Dunne Books, 2016. | “First published in Norway as Smertehimmel by Gylendal” [2013] — Verso title page. | Includes bibliographical references.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016007863 | ISBN 9781250049612 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781466850583 (e-book)
Subjects: LCSH: Private investigators—Fiction. | Women scientists—Fiction. | Murder—Investigation—Fiction. | Conspiracy—Fiction. | Pharmaceutical industry—Fiction. | Rome (Italy)—Fiction. | Oslo (Norway)—Fiction. | GSAFD: Mystery fiction. | Suspense fiction.
Classification: LCC PT8952.29.K73 S6413 2016 | DDC 839.823/8—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016007863
e-ISBN 9781466850583
Our e-books may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at 1-800-221-7945, extension 5442, or by e-mail at [email protected].
First published in Norway as Smertehimmel by Gyldendal
First U.S. Edition: October 2016
The Oslo Conspiracy Page 30