Jo Nesbo - Phantom

Harry stood in the middle of the hotel room, bathed in the morning light. Apart from the phone covering his right ear he was naked. In the room across the yard a woman sat watching him with sleepy eyes, her head angled as she slowly chewed a slice of bread.

‘Hans Christian wasn’t told until he turned up at work fifteen minutes ago,’ Rakel said. ‘They released Oleg late yesterday afternoon. Someone else has confessed to the murder of Gusto Hanssen. Isn’t that fantastic, Harry?’

Yes indeed, thought Harry. It was fantastic. As in un-believe-able.

‘Who confessed?’

‘Someone called Chris Reddy, alias Adidas. He’s a junkie. He shot Gusto because he owed him money for amphetamines.’

‘Where’s Oleg now?’

‘We don’t know. We’ve only just been told.’

‘Think, Rakel! Where could he be?’ Harry’s voice sounded sterner than he had meant.

‘What… what’s the matter?’

‘The confession. The confession’s the matter, Rakel.’

‘What about it?’

‘Don’t you understand? The confession’s a fabrication!’

‘No, no, no. Hans Christian says it’s detailed and extremely credible. That’s why they’ve already released Oleg.’

‘This Adidas says he shot Gusto because he was owed money. So he’s an ice-cold, cynical murderer. Who suffers pangs of conscience and simply has to confess?’

‘But when he saw the wrong person was about to be convicted for-’

‘Forget it! A desperate drug addict has one thing in his head: getting high. There isn’t any room for a conscience, believe me. This Adidas is so desperate that, for suitable compensation, he’s more than willing to confess to a murder and then withdraw his confession later, after the main suspect has been released. Don’t you see the plot here? If the cat knows it can’t get close to the caged bird-’

‘Stop!’ Rakel screamed, in tears now.

But Harry didn’t stop. ‘-the bird has to come out of the cage.’

He heard her crying. Knew that he had probably put into words what she had half considered herself.

‘Can’t you say something to reassure me, Harry?’

He didn’t answer.

‘I don’t want to be frightened any more,’ she whispered.

Harry took a deep breath. ‘We’ve managed before, and we’ll manage again, Rakel.’

He rang off. And it struck him again. He had become a brilliant liar.

The woman in the window on the other side waved lazily to him with three fingers.

Harry ran a hand over his face.

Now it was just a question of who found Oleg first, Harry or them.

Think.

Oleg had been released yesterday afternoon, somewhere in Ostland. A drug addict with a craving for violin. He would have made a beeline for Oslo, Plata, if he didn’t have reserves stashed away. He wouldn’t be able to get into Hausmanns gate, the crime scene was still sealed off. So where would he sleep, with no money, no friends? Urtegata? No, Oleg knew he would be seen there, and rumours would fly.

There was only one place Oleg could be.

Harry glanced at his watch. It was vital he got there before the bird had flown.

The stadium was as deserted as the last time he was at Valle Hovin. The first thing Harry saw as he rounded the corner to the dressing-room area was that one of the panes at street level had been smashed. He peered in. Glass was scattered across the floor. So he strode to the door, unlocked it with the key he still had and entered.

And was struck by a goods train.

Harry gasped for air as he lay floundering on the floor with something on top of him. Something stinking, wet and desperate. Harry twisted away, tried to get out of the grip. He resisted his reflex action to hit out; instead he grabbed an arm, a hand, bent it backwards. Struggled to his knees while using this grip to force the assailant’s face to the ground.

‘Ow. Shit! Let go!’

‘It’s me. It’s Harry, Oleg.’

He let go and helped Oleg up, dropped him onto the dressing-room bench.

The boy looked dreadful. Pale. Thin. Bulging eyes. And he stank of an indefinable mixture of dental surgery and excrement. But he wasn’t high.

‘I thought…’ Oleg said.

‘You thought I was them.’

Oleg covered his face with his hands.

‘Come on,’ Harry said. ‘Let’s go outside.’

They sat in the sports stand. Sat with the pale light shining on the cracked concrete deck. Harry thought of all the times he had sat there watching Oleg skate, hearing the steel blades singing before they bit into the ice again, the floodlights’ reflections on the sea-green and eventually milky-white surface.

They sat close, as if there were a crush in the stand.

Harry listened to Oleg’s breathing for a while before beginning.

‘Who are they, Oleg? You have to trust me. If I can find you, so can they.’

‘And how did you find me?’

‘Process known as deduction.’

‘I know what it is. Eliminate the impossible and see what you’re left with.’

‘When did you get here?’

Oleg shrugged. ‘Last night sometime. Nine-ish.’

‘Why didn’t you ring your mother when you were released? You know it’s seriously dangerous for you out here now.’

‘She would only have taken me somewhere, hidden me. She and that Nils Christian.’

‘Hans Christian. They’re going to find you, you know.’

Oleg looked down at his hands.

‘I thought you’d come to Oslo for a fix,’ Harry said. ‘But you’re clean.’

‘I have been for more than a week.’

‘Why?’

Oleg didn’t answer.

‘Is it her? Is it Irene?’

Oleg looked at the concrete, as if he could see himself down there. Could hear the high singing tone as he pushed off on one skate. He nodded slowly. ‘I’m the only person who’s trying to find her. She has no one else but me.’

Harry didn’t say anything.

‘The jewellery box I stole from Mum…’

‘Yes?’

‘I sold it for dope. Apart from the ring you bought her.’

‘Why didn’t you sell that as well?’

Oleg smiled. ‘First of all, it isn’t worth much.’

‘What?’ Harry sat up with a horrified expression. ‘Was I conned?’

Oleg laughed. ‘A gold ring with a black nick in? That’s called verdigris copper. With a bit of lead added for weight.’

‘So why didn’t you leave it?’

‘Mum didn’t wear it any more. So I wanted to give it to Irene.’

‘Copper, lead and gold paint.’

Oleg shrugged. ‘It felt right. I remember how happy Mum was when you put it on her finger.’

‘What else do you remember?’

‘Sunday. Vestkanttorget. The sun angling down and us wading through rustling autumn leaves. You and Mum smiling and laughing at something. I wanted to hold your hand. But of course I wasn’t a little boy any more. You bought the ring at a stall where they sold house-clearance goods.’

‘You can remember all this?’

‘Yes. And I thought if Irene is only half as happy as Mum…’

‘Was she?’

Oleg looked at Harry. Blinked. ‘I don’t remember. We must have been high when I gave it to her.’

Harry gulped.

‘He’s got her,’ Oleg said.

‘Who?’

‘Dubai. He’s got Irene. He’s holding her hostage so I won’t talk.’

Harry stared at Oleg, who bowed his head.

‘That’s why I haven’t said anything.’

‘You know this? And they’ve threatened you with what will happen to Irene if you talk?’

‘They don’t need to. They know I’m not stupid. Besides, they’ve got to shut her up as well. They’ve got her, Harry.’

Harry shifted position. He remembered they used to sit exactly like this before important races. Heads bowed, in silence, in a kind of communal concentration. Oleg hadn’t wanted any advice. And Harry didn’t have any. But Oleg had liked just sitting there.