Karin Fossum - He Who Fears The Wolf

They were watching each other like dogs.

Sejer took his mobile phone out of his jacket pocket and punched in a number.

Skarre answered. "What's going on?"

He looked around. "Not much."

He gazed out of the car window at the hazy woods. If only he could dive straight into the sea. Get out of this dusty heat.

"Did anyone call?" he asked.

Skarre was silent. Over the last 24 hours he'd begun to have his suspicions.

"What do you mean by anyone?"

"Good Lord, anyone at all."

"Nobody called," Skarre said.

"OK."

They were both silent for a moment.

"Has something happened?" Skarre asked.

"Errki wasn't the one who killed Halldis."

"Oh, great. That's all I needed to hear right now. So we'll have to start from scratch. Tell me something else, I'm in no mood for jokes."

"I'm not joking. It wasn't him."

"Right, boss!"

There was silence. Skarre thought about it for a long time.

"All right," he said at last. "I think I'm starting to understand what you're getting at. A girl called the station. A cashier from Briggen's Grocery. She'd thought of something enormously important that I absolutely had to know."

"Tell me what she said."

"One of the children from Guttebakken had gone up to Halldis's farm several times with Oddemann Briggen to help him out. Can you guess who it was?"

"Kannick," Sejer said.

"Yes. He used to get paid in chocolate. He might have known where she kept her wallet."

Sejer nodded.

"By the way, someone was here."

"What do you mean by 'someone'?"

"Dr Struel."

"Is that so? What did she want?"

"I have no idea. She asked for some paper and an envelope so she could write a message. It's on your desk."

Sejer started the engine. His thoughts were whirling.

"Jacob," he said, with a gleeful tone. "You know what this means, don't you?"

"What are you talking about now?"

"You're going to have to do that parachute jump."

"Yes, well, I suppose I am."

There was a long pause.

"But having said that, I don't really approve of betting. It doesn't matter to me one way or the other. I won't lose any respect for you if you decide not to do it."

"But your respect for me won't increase, either, will it?"

"I have the greatest respect for you already."

"Of course I'll jump."

"Your faith is strong, isn't it?"

"I'm sure this won't be the first time that I put it to the test, but I suppose it's about time I did."

Sejer opened the door to his office and went in. A white envelope was lying on his desk, on top of the blotter, which was a world map. It lay in the Mediterranean, like a boat with white sails. He picked up the envelope, and slipped a finger under the flap. His hands shook as he pulled out the piece of paper.

Skarre came barging in. He stopped abruptly at the sight of his boss standing there, shaking, with a piece of paper in his hand.

"I am so sorry," he said, embarrassed. "What's going on?"

Karin Fossum made her literary debut in Norway in 1974. The author of poetry, short stories and several novels, her Inspector Sejer series has been published in twenty-six countries.