“Where are we actually going with this?” she asked.
Harry threw up his arms in resignation. “I’d been hoping we could prove Brekke had left the office for the day when he and the ambassador left at five, taking the ambassador’s car. And that the recordings would show his Porsche was in the car park overnight. But I didn’t consider the possibility that Brekke didn’t drive his car to work.”
“Let’s forget the cars for now,” Liz said. “What we do know is that Brekke’s lying. So what do we do next?” She flicked Rangsan’s newspaper.
“Check alibis,” came the answer from behind.
25
Wednesday, January 15
People’s reactions to being arrested are as varied as they are unpredictable.
Harry thought he had seen most variants and was therefore not especially surprised to watch Jens Brekke’s sun-tanned face take on a grayish hue and his eyes wander like those of a hunted animal. Body language changes, and even a tailor-made Armani suit doesn’t sit as well anymore. Brekke held his head high, but it seemed as though he had shrunk.
Brekke hadn’t been arrested, he had just been brought in for questioning, but for someone who had never been picked up by two armed officers who didn’t even ask if the time was convenient, the difference was academic. When Harry caught sight of Brekke in the interview room the idea that the man before him had managed to perform a cold-blooded stabbing seemed absurd. However, he’d thought the same before and been wrong.
“I’m afraid we’ll have to do this in English,” Harry said, sitting down opposite him. “It’s being recorded.” He pointed to the microphone in front of them.
“I see.” Brekke tried to smile. It looked as if iron hooks were stretching his mouth.
“I had to fight to get this interview,” Harry said. “As it’s being recorded, strictly speaking, a Thai police officer should be doing it, but as you’re a Norwegian national, the Chief said it was fine.”
“Thank you.”
“Well, I’m not sure there’s much to be grateful for. You’ve been told you have the right to contact a lawyer, haven’t you?”
“Yes.”
Harry was about to ask why he hadn’t accepted the offer, but refrained. No reason to give him another chance to deliberate. What he had learned about the Thai legal system was that it was fairly similar to the system in Norway, and hence there was no reason to believe that lawyers were much different either. In which case, the first thing they would do would be to gag their clients. But regulations had been followed and now it was time to get moving.
Harry signaled that the recording could start. Nho came in, read out some formalities as an introduction to the tape and left.
“Is it true that you are having a relationship with Hilde Molnes, the wife of the deceased, Atle Molnes?”
“What?” Two wild, staring eyes met him from across the table.
“I’ve spoken to Mrs. Molnes. I suggest you tell the truth.”
A pause ensued.
“Yes.”
“Bit louder please.”
“Yes!”
“How long has this relationship been going on?”
“I don’t know. A long time.”
“Since the ambassador’s welcome party eighteen months ago?”
“Well …”
“Well?”
“Yes, I think that’s correct.”
“Did you know that Mrs. Molnes would have the right of disposal over a substantial fortune if her husband died?”
“Fortune?”
“Am I speaking unclearly?”
Brekke gasped like a punctured beach ball. “It’s news to me. I had the impression their capital was relatively limited.”
“Really? The last time I spoke to you, you told me the meeting you and Molnes had in your office on the seventh of January was about investment. We know, furthermore, that Molnes owed a large sum of money. I can’t get this to tally.”
A further silence. Brekke was about to say something, then stopped.
“I lied,” he said in the end.
“You have another chance to tell me the truth now.”
“He came to me to discuss my relationship with Hilde … with his wife. He wanted it to stop.”
“Not an unreasonable request, perhaps?”
Brekke shrugged. “I don’t know how much you know about Atle Molnes.”
“Assume we know nothing.”
“Let me say that his sexual orientation did not make for much of a marriage.”
He glanced up. Harry nodded for him to go on.
“His keenness for Hilde and me to stop meeting wasn’t motivated by jealousy. It was because rumors were apparently circulating in Norway. He said if the relationship became public these rumors would be stoked and that would hurt not only him but also, undeservedly, others in important positions. I tried to delve deeper, but that was all he would say.”