Nemesis(144)

Raskol's lips moved, but not a sound passed them.





Harry ran a hand across his face. 'The last brushstroke of the masterpiece was to pull the trigger of a gun.'





'But why?' whispered Raskol.





Harry shrugged. 'Anna was a person of extremes. She wanted to avenge herself on the people she thought had taken from her what she lived for. Love. The guilty parties were Albu, Gunnerud and me. And your family. In short: hatred won.'





'Bullshit,' Raskol said.





Harry turned and took down the photograph of Raskol and Stefan from the wall and placed it on the table between them. 'Hasn't hatred always won in your family, Raskol?'





Raskol knocked back his head and drained the glass. Then he beamed.





Harry recollected the seconds afterwards as a video on fast forward. When they were over, he was lying on the floor, held in a neck lock by Raskol, with alcohol in his eyes, the smell of Calvados in his nose and the jagged edge of the broken bottle against his neck.





'There's only one thing more dangerous than excessively high blood pressure, Spiuni,' Raskol whispered. 'And that's excessively low blood pressure. So keep still.'





Harry swallowed and tried to speak, but Raskol squeezed harder and it turned into a groan.





'Sun Tzu is absolutely clear on love and hatred, Spiuni. Both love and hatred win in wars. They're inseparable like Siamese twins. Rage and compassion are the losers.'





'Then we're both about to lose,' Harry groaned.





Raskol tightened his grip again. 'My Anna would never have chosen death.' His voice quivered. 'She loved life.'





Harry wheezed the words: 'Like–you–love–freedom?'





Raskol loosened his grip and with a whine Harry drank air down into his aching lungs. His heart hammered in his head, but the traffic noise outside returned.





'You made your choice,' Harry wheezed. 'You gave yourself up in order to do penance. Incomprehensible to others, but it was your decision. Anna did the same.'





Raskol pressed the bottle against Harry's neck as he tried to move. 'I had my reasons.'





'I know,' Harry said. 'Doing penance is almost as strong an instinct as taking revenge.'





Raskol didn't answer.





'Did you know Beate Lřnn also made a decision? She realised nothing would bring her father back. There is no rage left. She asked me to pay her respects and tell you she forgives you.' A spike of glass scraped against his skin. It sounded like a fountain-pen nib writing on rough paper. Hesitantly writing the last word. Only the full stop was missing. Harry swallowed. 'Now it's your turn to choose, Raskol.'





'Choose between what, Spiuni? Whether you live or die?'





Harry breathed in, trying to keep his panic at a distance. 'Whether you want to set Beate Lřnn free or not. Whether you will tell her what happened on the day you shot her father. Whether you will set yourself free.'





'Me?' Raskol laughed his soft laughter.





'I've found him,' Harry said. 'That is, Beate Lřnn found him.'





'Found whom?'





'He lives in Gothenburg.'





Raskol's laughter stopped abruptly.





'He's lived there for nineteen years,' Harry went on. 'Ever since he discovered you were Anna's real father.'





'You're lying,' Raskol yelled and raised the bottle over his head. Harry felt his mouth go dry and closed his eyes. On opening them again, he saw Raskol's glassy eyes. They breathed in unison; their chests rose and fell together.





Raskol whispered. 'And…Maria?'





Harry had to try twice before he got a sound from his vocal cords. 'No one has heard from her. Someone told Stefan they'd seen her with an itinerant group in Normandy several years ago.'





'Stefan? Have you spoken to him?'





Harry nodded.





'Why did he want to speak to a Spiuni like you?'





Harry tried to shrug, but was unable to move. 'Ask him yourself…'





'Ask…' Raskol stared at Harry in disbelief.





'Simon went to fetch him yesterday. He's sitting in the caravan next door. The police have a couple of issues outstanding, but the officers have been warned not to touch him. He wants to talk to you. The rest is up to you.'





Harry put his hand between the bottle and his neck. Raskol made no attempt to stop him as he stood up. He only asked: 'Why have you done this, Spiuni?'





Harry shrugged. 'You made sure the judges in Moscow allowed Rakel to keep Oleg. I'm giving you a chance to hold onto the only person you have left.' He took the handcuffs out of his jacket pocket and put them on the table. 'Whatever you decide, I consider we're quits now.'





'Quits?'





'You saw to it that mine returned. I have done the same for you.'





'I hear what you say, Harry, but what does it mean?'