Jo Nesbo - The Redbreast

Harry's Old Office. 11 May 2000.

It took Harry twenty minutes to move back into his old office. Everything he needed found space in a bag from the 7-Eleven. The first thing he did was to cut out a picture of Bernt Brandhaug from Dagbladet. Then he pinned it on to the notice-board, beside the archive pictures of Ellen, Sverre Olsen and Hallgrim Dale. Four clues. He had sent Halvorsen up to the Department of Foreign Affairs to make enquiries and see if he could find out who the woman at the Continental was. Four people. Four lives. Four stories. He sat down in the wrecked chair and studied them, but they just stared past him, vacantly.

He rang Sis. She really wanted to keep Helge, at least for a while. They had become such good friends, she said. Harry said that was fine as long as she remembered to feed him.

'It's a her,' Sis said.

'Oh, yes. How do you know that?'

'Henrik and I checked.'

He was going to ask how they had checked, but decided he preferred not to know.

'Have you talked to Dad?'

She had. She asked Harry if he was going to meet the girl again. "Which girl?'

'The one you said you'd been for a walk with, I suppose. The one with a little boy.'

'Oh, her. No, I don't think so.' "Very stupid.'

'Stupid? You've never met her, Sis.'

'I think it's stupid because you're in love with her.'

Now and then Sis was capable of saying things Harry had no idea how to answer. They agreed to go to the cinema one day. Harry wondered if that meant Henrik would be joining them. Sis said it did. That was the way it was when you had a partner.

They rang off and Harry sat deep in thought. He and Rakel had never met in the corridors yet, but he knew where her office was. He made up his mind and got up-he had to talk to her now, he couldn't wait any longer.

Linda flashed him a smile as he came in the door to POT.

'Back already, handsome?'

'I was just going to nip in to see Rakel.'

'Just, was it, Harry? I saw you two at the office party, you know.'

To his irritation, Harry could feel her mischievous smile making his ears burn and could hear that his attempt at a dry laugh didn't quite come off.

'But you can save yourself the walk, Harry. Rakel is at home today. Off sick. One moment, Harry…' She picked up the telephone. 'POT. Can I help you?'

Harry was on his way out of the door when Linda called after him. 'It's for you. Do you want to take it here?' She passed him the telephone.

'Is that Harry Hole?' It was a woman's voice. She sounded out of breath. Or terrified. 'That's me.'

'This is Signe Juul. You have to help me, Inspector Hole. He's going to kill me.'

Harry could hear barking in the background. 'Who's going to kill you, fru Juul?'

'He's on his way here now. I know it's him. He… he…'

'Try to stay calm, fru Juul. What are you talking about?'

'He's distorted his voice, but this time I recognised it. He knew that I had stroked Olaf Lindvig's hair at the field hospital. That was when I knew. My God, what shall I do?'

'Are you alone?'

'Yes,' she said. 'I'm alone. I'm totally, totally alone. Do you understand?'

The barking in the background had become frenzied now. 'Can't you run over to your neighbour's and wait for us there, fru Juul? Who -'

'He'll find me! He finds me everywhere.'

She was hysterical. Harry placed his hand over the receiver and asked Linda to call the central switchboard to tell them to send the closest patrol car available to fru Juul in Irisveien in Berg. Then he talked to Signe Juul and hoped she wouldn't notice his own agitation.

'If you don't go out, then at least lock every door, fru Juul. Who -'

'You don't understand,' she said. 'He… he…' Beep. The engaged signal. The line was broken.

'Fuck! Sorry, Linda. Tell them the car is urgent. And they have to be careful. There may be an armed intruder.'

Harry rang directory enquiries, got Juul's number and dialled it. Still engaged. Harry threw the phone over to Linda.

'If Meirik asks after me, tell him I'm on my way to Even Juul's house.'

Irisveien. 11 May 2000.

When Harry swung into Irisveien he immediately saw the police car outside Juul's house. The quiet street with the timber houses, the puddles of melted ice, the blue light slowly turning, two inquisitive children on bicycles-it was like a repetition of the scene outside Sverre Olsen's house. Harry prayed the similarities would stop there.

He parked, got out of the Escort and walked slowly towards the house. As he closed the door behind him he heard someone come out on to the stairs.

'Weber,' Harry said in surprise. 'Our paths cross again.'

'Indeed they do.'

'I didn't know you were on patrol duty too.'

'You know bloody well I'm not. But Brandhaug lives nearby and we had only just got into the car when the message came through on the radio.'

'What's going on?'

'Your guess is as good as mine. There's no one at home. But the door was open.'

'Have you had a look around?’

‘From cellar to loft.'

'Strange. The dog isn't here, either, as far as I can see.'

'Dogs and people, all gone. But it looks as if someone has been in the cellar because the window in the door there is smashed.'

'Right,' Harry said, looking across Irisveien. He caught sight of a tennis court between the houses.

'She may have gone to one of the neighbours,' Harry said. 'I asked her to.'

Weber followed Harry into the hallway where a young police officer was standing looking at the mirror above the telephone table.

'Well, Moen, can you see any signs of intelligent life?' Weber asked sarcastically.

Moen turned and gave Harry a brief nod.

'Well,' Moen said. 'I don't know if it's intelligent or merely weird.' He pointed to the mirror. The other two came closer. 'Well, I'll be blowed,' Weber said.

The large red letters appeared to have been written with lipstick.

Harry's mouth felt like the inside of orange peel. The glass in the front door rattled as it was torn open. 'What are you doing here?' asked the silhouette standing in front of them with his back to the light. 'And where's Burre?' It was Even Juul.

Harry sat at the kitchen table with a clearly very worried Even Juul. Moen did the rounds of the neighbours, searching for Signe Juul and asking if anyone had seen anything. Weber had pressing things to do on the Brandhaug case and had to go off in the patrol car, but Harry promised Moen a lift.

'She usually told me when she was going out,' Even Juul said. 'Tells me, I mean.'

'Is that her writing on the mirror in the hall?'

'No,' he said. 'I don't think so, anyway'

'Is it her lipstick?'

Juul looked at Harry without answering.

'She was terrified when I talked to her on the phone,' Harry said. 'She kept saying someone was trying to kill her. Have you any idea who that could have been?'

'Kill?'

'That's what she said.'

'But no one wants to kill Signe.'

'No?'

'Are you crazy, man?'

'Well, in that case, I'm sure you'll understand that I have to ask you if your wife was unstable. Hysterical.'

Harry wasn't sure that Juul had heard him when Juul shook his head.

'Fine,' Harry said, getting up. 'You'll have to rack your brains for anything at all that might help us. And you should call all your friends and relatives to see if she has gone there for protection. I have started a search-Moen and I will check the immediate vicinity. For the time being, there's not a lot else we can do.'

As Harry closed the door behind him, Moen came walking towards him. He was shaking his head.

'No one even saw a car?' Harry asked.

At this time of day there are only pensioners and mothers with small children at home.'