Hans Lahlum - The Human Flies

George Adams gave a sharp nod to indicate that he understood the problem and then leaned forward over the desk. It was clear that he was wracking his brains to find a solution. I still had an ace of spades up my sleeve and saw no reason to save it, given the way things had gone.

‘However, the misunderstanding is all the more regrettable as I have, in the course of the investigation, got wind of information that could indicate a degree of cooperation between Harald Olesen and American intelligence agencies in the past, which may also have involved certain leading politicians in both Norway and the USA. There may be details of activities in Norway and lists of who was involved. As far as I can tell, this is of little significance to the murder investigation, and I had hoped that it would be possible to exclude it from my reports. But should the press decide to take a more critical look at the case, this may be difficult. And that would be extremely unfortunate, given the upcoming election in the USA and the already excessive anti-American feeling abroad in Norway…’

I had obviously hit the jackpot. George Adams’s head immediately dropped noticeably, and his gaze was almost fearful. It was impossible not to be impressed at how well he continued to express himself even though the tension in his voice was now obvious.

‘The embassy would like to thank you for informing us immediately, and we will of course do our best to avoid a situation in which sensitive personal information falls into the wrong hands and creates any extreme reactions. Could you please advise us on how best to avoid such a situation?’

I nodded with exaggerated willingness.

‘Well, let us hope first of all that Mr Williams has not yet boarded the flight to Mauritius and that it will be possible to get him a return ticket to Oslo as soon as possible. If he was back in his flat in Oslo by four o’clock tomorrow afternoon, for example, we should be able to control the situation. Otherwise, the situation could become very dramatic and uncomfortable should it be necessary to issue a warrant through Interpol. It is only reasonable to assume that enemies of the USA here in this country and elsewhere would soon notice such a warrant for an American diplomat. In which case, the situation could quickly spiral out of control in both political circles and the press. In the worst-case scenario, a list of Harald Olesen’s contacts in Norway and America and information about what they have done may get out.’

George Adams immediately nodded three times, his head sinking with every nod. By the third, his chin almost hit the desk.

‘Then I won’t take up any more of your time and will myself immediately review the situation and investigate ways in which to get Darrell Williams back to Oslo as soon as possible in order to avoid any further complications. On behalf of the American Embassy, I would once again like to thank you for your goodwill, and I will inform you immediately when we have an overview of the situation.’

This time the embassy counsellor’s hand was definitely sweaty. I managed to keep a straight face until I had left the building and was back in my car driving away – but no longer.

A new howl of laughter was triggered that afternoon in my office when a secretary came in at half past two with an urgent telegram from the American Embassy. The message was short:

DARRELL WILLIAMS LANDING AT FORNEBU TOMORROW 2.30PM AND WILL IMMEDIATELY BE DRIVEN TO HIS FLAT STOP THANK YOU FOR COOPERATION AND AGAIN APOLOGIES FOR MISUNDERSTANDING STOP GEORGE ADAMS

My irritation at Williams’s disappearance had definitely now turned into joy at the way the case was progressing. I was filled with childish delight and pride at the fact that I had forced the mighty American Embassy to retreat. Just then, my secretary came in with another urgent telegram. I asked, not without trepidation, if it was also from the embassy, but was told that it was from the Swedish Police. I ripped open the telegram immediately. It was longer than the one from the American Embassy, and even more dramatic:

SARA SUNDQVIST TAKEN IN CHARGE AT A SMALL POLICE STATION IN SÄLEN FEBRUARY 1944 STOP CHIEF OF POLICE HANS ANDERSSON STILL IN SERVICE AND REMEMBERS MANY DETAILS STOP HAS MET HARALD OLESEN AND DEERFOOT BUT DOES NOT KNOW HIS NAME STOP ANDERSSON ASKS YOU TO COME TO SÄLEN IN PERSON AS SOON AS POSSIBLE STOP SWEDISH POLICE STOCKHOLM

I looked at my watch and saw that as it took four to five hours to get to Sälen, it was too late to drive there and back today. So I hastily wrote a return telegram in which I confirmed that I would get to Sälen around lunchtime tomorrow. And then I phoned Patricia to hear if she had any good advice to help me on my way.

My afternoon meeting at the White House lasted no longer than an hour – even though it included an excellent three-course meal of onion soup, salmon and rice cream. It felt a little as though we were celebrating the imminent closure of the case. However, the atmosphere was far from riotous. Patricia laughed, as I had hoped, at the story of my new and far more productive meeting with the embassy counsellor, but soon became deadly serious again.

‘Well, let us hope that your intuition is right and that Darrell Williams is not the murderer. Otherwise it may in fact be difficult to avoid a public scandal.’

A piece of potato got stuck in my throat.

‘I think it is safe to say that he is not. I did seriously start to wonder if Darrell Williams was the murderer when he was given help by the embassy to leave the country. But in that case, they would hardly have agreed on the spot to have him sent back…’

Patricia chewed her salmon thoughtfully.

‘This is a slightly risky situation. Darrell Williams is a truly cold-hearted player if he did commit the murders and comes back all the same, and there is already much to indicate that he is a cool player. What has happened is that the embassy now trusts you, and you trust the embassy. Your successful tactic today more or less knocks one of the remaining theories on the head, namely that Harald Olesen was murdered by Darrell Williams because of the old information and things that had to be kept secret. Which in turn reinforces the impression given in the diary that the situation had already been resolved and the papers burned before Harald Olesen was murdered. But the embassy must have totally misjudged the situation and believed that if Darrell Williams disappeared from the scene, the negative focus would not be as great. Or they knew about his old conflicts with Harald Olesen and were afraid that he may have actually murdered him. Which cannot be entirely ruled out, can it?’

For a moment I lost my appetite and pushed the rest of the delicious salmon to one side. We could unfortunately not rule this out, and it would be a very embarrassing scenario, especially given my performance at the American Embassy today. I comforted myself with the thought that if Darrell Williams should prove to be the murderer, the situation would be more embarrassing for the embassy. Practically everything I had said or done in the course of the investigation could be justified in relation to the general public and my superiors. However, the idea of being accused of hoodwinking the embassy of Norway’s most powerful ally in connection with a murder case was not an attractive one, it had to be said. I hastily replied to Patricia that it seemed highly unlikely and she gave a sombre shake of the head.

‘There are several other theories that would imply other murderers that I, at present, find more plausible. But this one is still not impossible. Hopefully, we will be in a better position to judge this tomorrow evening – if you are able, in the meantime, to establish whether Deerfoot is Williams or not.’