Karin Fossum - Eva's Eye

It was nine o’clock on the morning of October 3. Eva slept on in the cold bath water. She was in the middle of a disturbing dream. As she squirmed in the water to escape it, she slipped forward a little in the bath. Her face submerged. She gasped and inhaled soapy water, coughed and spluttered, attempted to sit up, but the sides of the ceramic tub were slippery; she slid down again, spat and dribbled until the tears flowed, before she finally managed to get herself into a sitting position. She was cold again. Then she heard the doorbell.

Alarmed, she got up and stepped out of the bath. She’d forgotten her injured foot and yelped, staggered a bit because she’d risen so quickly and reached for her dressing gown. Her watch was on the shelf under the mirror, she looked at it quickly and wondered who it could possibly be at this time of day. It was too early for salesmen and beggars, her father didn’t go out, and Emma hadn’t given notice of her arrival. The police! she thought, and tied the belt of the dressing gown. She hadn’t prepared herself, hadn’t had time to think about what she’d say if he actually came again, and now he was here, she was quite certain it was him. That inspector with the searching glance. Of course, she didn’t have to open the door. She was the mistress of her own house, she was in the middle of a bath, and it was an ungodly hour to come asking questions. She only had to remain in the bathroom until he went. He would think she hadn’t got up yet, or perhaps that she’d gone away. Except that the car was outside, but she might have taken the bus, as she sometimes did when she had no money for petrol. What did he want now? At least he knew nothing about Maja’s money, unless she’d left a will which he’d found, perhaps that was precisely what she had done, left all her money to the Women’s Refuge! The thought made her reel. Of course she could. She hadn’t put her money in a safe-deposit box, she had put her will in there instead, a small red book containing the truth about her life. The doorbell rang again. Eva came to a swift decision. There was little point in hiding in the bathroom, he wasn’t going to give up. She made a turban out of her towel, went out into the hall in her bare feet, limping and gasping at each step.

“Mrs. Magnus,” he said smiling, “I’m disturbing you in the middle of your bath, it’s unforgivable of me. I should have come later.”

“I’ve finished anyway,” she answered tersely, standing on the doorstep. He was wearing a leather jacket and jeans and looked like a normal man, not like the enemy at all, she thought. The man by the lake was the enemy, whoever he might be. Perhaps he’d taken the number of her car. She almost had a fit at the thought of it. If so, it wouldn’t be long before he turned up at her door. She hadn’t considered that. A deep furrow appeared in her brow.

“May I come in for a moment?”

She said nothing, just backed against the wall and nodded. In the living room she nodded again at the sofa; she just stood there, stood there like a wall of resistance, he thought, as he seated himself with a studied calm on her black sofa. His trained eye made an almost imperceptible sweep of the black and white room, he noted the bag of raspberry drops on the table, the car keys, her handbag, open, a packet of cigarettes.

“Hurt your foot?” he asked abruptly.

“Only twisted it a bit. Was there anything in particular?” Reluctantly she sat down in the chair facing him.

“Just a few things. I’d like to go through the statement you made last time, from start to finish. There are some details I need more information about.”

Eva was nervous. She fumbled for a cigarette right away and wondered suddenly if she could refuse to answer. She wasn’t suspected of anything after all. Or was she? “Tell me,” she said in a cocky tone, “am I actually obliged to make a statement about this?”

Sejer stared open-mouthed. “No,” he said in surprise, “certainly not!” His eyes, gray in reality, took on an innocent blue tint. “But does that mean you’ve got something against making one? I thought, as she was your friend, that you’d be only too willing. So that we can find the perpetrator. But if you’ve got objections...”

“No, no, I didn’t mean it like that.” She recoiled quickly, regretting her question.

“The first of October,” he went on, “Thursday. Let’s begin at the beginning. You took a taxi to Tordenskioldsgate. The taxi got here at six P.M.?”

“Yes, as I said.”

“From what you told me, you spent roughly an hour at Ms. Durban’s apartment.”

“Yes, I must have. Not much longer anyway.” How long had it really been, she thought — two hours?

He’d opened a notebook and was reading from it. It was horrible. Everything she’d said was written down, now he could use it against her. “Can you tell me what you did during that hour? In as much detail as you can?”

“What?” She stared uneasily at him.

“From the time you entered the apartment until she closed the door behind you. Absolutely everything that happened. Just begin at the beginning.”

“Well, er, I had a cup of coffee.”

“Did you wash it up afterwards?”

“Uh?” She felt her head begin to spin.

“I ask because there was no used coffee cup found. But there was a glass which had obviously contained Coke.”

“Oh yes! Of course! Coke. I’m getting mixed up. Does that really matter?”

He gave her a sharp look. And she fell silent again just like the last time. Eva sat staring and waiting, she knew she was sinking in deeper and deeper, there were so many things she hadn’t thought of, far too many.

“Yes, I had a sandwich and a Coke. Maja made me a sandwich.”

“Yes. A tuna sandwich?”

Eva shook her head in wonder. She couldn’t keep up anymore, maybe he’d been there when it happened, she thought, maybe he’d been hiding in a cupboard and seen everything.

“Can you tell me,” he asked all at once, as he changed position on the sofa, he was looking thoughtful and inquisitive, “can you tell me why you vomited that sandwich up again?”

Eva felt like passing out. “Well, I felt ill,” she stammered. “I’d had a couple of beers, and fish doesn’t really agree with me all that much. We’d had such a late night the evening before. And I hadn’t eaten much, I’m not that bothered about food, so I hadn’t eaten anything, and she absolutely insisted I had it, she thought I was thin.” She stopped and drew breath. What was that about saying as little as possible, why couldn’t she remember!

“Was that why you took a shower while you were there? Because you felt ill?”

“Yes!” she replied quickly. Now she was the one who was silent. He saw the beginnings of rebellion in her eyes. Quite soon she would clam up completely.

“You managed to do quite a lot while you were there. In only one hour. Did you also take a little nap, too, in the guest room?”

“A nap?” she asked wanly.

“Someone had lain on the bed in there. Or is the simple truth, Mrs. Magnus, that you were really Durban’s partner, and that you shared the apartment? Just like her, you had a little sideline in prostitution to ease the finances?”

“No!” Eva screamed and stood up. Her chair shot back. “No, I did not! I didn’t want anything to do with it. Maja was the one who tried to persuade me, but I wouldn’t!” She was shaking like a leaf and her face was chalky white. “Maja was always trying to persuade me, she had the oddest ideas. Once, when we were thirteen...” Then she began to sob.

Somewhat taken aback, he stared at the tabletop and waited. Outbursts like these embarrassed him. Suddenly she looked so pathetic. Her turban had come undone and had fallen to her shoulders, her hair was wringing wet.