The Fourth Man
Page 27
‘That woman has been dead once before, Frølich!’ Gunnarstranda stood up and went to the door. He turned before leaving. They faced each other. ‘The case is closed,’ Gunnarstranda announced. ‘Are you happy?’
Frank Frølich didn’t answer. He absentmindedly watched the door closing. In his mind he had one single image: the figure of a sun-tanned woman in a blue bikini leisurely wading further and further out into the sea without looking back. He raised his hand to scratch his cheek again. It wouldn’t stop itching. He continued scratching. It began to smart. He put his hand on his thigh. His cheek still smarted. He couldn’t get the idea out of his head. It smarted and burned precisely where she had touched his cheek with her lips before turning to wade into the sea.
CENTRAL OSLO
There will be time to murder and create
And time for all the works and days of hands
That lift and drop a question on your plate;
Time for you and time for me,
And time yet for a hundred indecisions
And for a hundred visions and revisions,
Before the taking of a toast and tea.
In the room the women come and go
Talking of Michelangelo.
T. S. ELIOT
(from The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock)
Praise for K. O. Dahl and The Fourth Man
“A crime master of style.”
—Aftenposten (Norway)
“An absorbing study of sexual enthrallment, dogged police work, and a harrowing twist or two: Fans of procedurals … will snap this one up.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“Effective and entertaining crime … . We let ourselves be both mesmerized and entertained.”
—Adresseavisen (Norway)
“Elite crime writing … Dahl is one of the big names of Norwegian crime fiction, and The Fourth Man shows why.”
—Stavanger Aftenblad (Norway)
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.
THE FOURTH MAN. Copyright © 2005 by K. O. Dahl. Translation copyright © 2007 by Don Bartlett. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
A THOMAS DUNNE BOOK FOR MINOTAUR BOOKS.
An imprint of St. Martin’s Publishing Group.
www.thomasdunnebooks.com
www.minotaurbooks.com
First published as Fjerde raneren in Norway by Kagge Forlag
eISBN 9781429989237
First eBook Edition : January 2011
The Library of Congress has catalogued the hardcover edition as follows:
Dahl, Kjell Ola, 1958—
[Fjerde raneren. English]
The fourth man / K. O. Dahl.—1st U.S. ed
p. cm.
ISBN-13: 978-0-312-37569-0
ISBN-10: 0-312-37569-7
I. Title.
PT8951.14.A443 F5413 2007b
839.82’38—dc22
2007042565
ISBN-13: 978-0-312-54057-9 (pbk.)
ISBN-10: 0-312-54057-4 (pbk.)