‘This is Martin Pran, one of our best scientists,’ Nybakk said.
That, Harry thought, is the Hunchback of Notre-Dame.
‘Eh, Martin?’ Nybakk said.
‘What you call violin is not heroin but a drug similar to levorphanol.’
Harry noted the name. ‘Which is?’
‘A high-explosive opioid,’ Nybakk intervened. ‘Immense painkiller. Six to eight times stronger than morphine. Three times more powerful than heroin.’
‘Really?’
‘Really,’ Nybakk said. ‘And it has double the effect of morphine. Eight to twelve hours. If you take just three milligrams of levorphanol we’re talking a full anaesthetic. Half of it through injection.’
‘Mm. Sounds dangerous.’
‘Not quite as dangerous as one might imagine. Moderate doses of pure opioids like heroin don’t destroy the body. No, it’s primarily the dependency that does it.’
‘Right. Heroin addicts die like flies.’
‘Yes, but for two main reasons. First of all, heroin is mixed with other substances that turn it into nothing less than poison. Mix heroin and cocaine, for example, and—’
‘Speedball,’ Harry said. ‘John Belushi—’
‘May he rest in peace. The second usual cause of death is that heroin inhibits respiration. If you take too large a dose you simply stop breathing. And as the level of tolerance increases you take larger and larger doses. But that’s the interesting thing about levorphanol – it doesn’t inhibit respiration nearly as much. Isn’t that right, Martin?’
The Hunchback nodded without raising his eyes.
‘Mm,’ Harry said, watching Pran. ‘Stronger than heroin, longer effect, and little chance of OD’ing. Sounds like a junkie’s dream substance.’
‘Dependency,’ the Hunchback mumbled. ‘And price.’
‘Excuse me?’
‘We see it with patients,’ Nybakk sighed. ‘They get addicted like that.’ He snapped his fingers. ‘But with cancer patients dependency is a non-issue. We increase the type of painkiller and dosage according to a chart. The aim is to prevent pain, not to chase its heels. And levorphanol is expensive to produce and import. That might be the reason we don’t see it on the streets.’
‘That’s not levorphanol.’
Harry and Nybakk turned to Martin Pran.
‘It’s modified.’ Pran lifted his head. And Harry thought he could see his eyes shining, as if a light had just been switched on.
‘How?’ Nybakk asked.
‘It will take time to discover how, but it does appear that one of the chlorine molecules has been exchanged for a fluorine molecule. It may not be that expensive to produce.’
‘Jesus,’ Nybakk said. ‘Are we talking Dreser?’
‘Possibly,’ Pran said with an almost imperceptible smile.
‘Good heavens!’ Nybakk exclaimed, scratching the back of his head with both hands in his enthusiasm. ‘Then we’re talking the work of a genius. Or an enormous flash in a pan.’
‘Afraid I’m not quite with you here, boys,’ Harry said.
‘Oh, sorry,’ Nybakk said. ‘Heinrich Dreser. He discovered aspirin in 1897. Afterwards he worked on modifying diacetymorphine. Not a lot needs to be done, molecule here, molecule there, and hey presto, it fastens on to other receptors in the human body. Eleven days later, Dreser had discovered a new drug. It was sold as cough medicine right up until 1913.’
‘And the drug was?’
‘The name was supposed to be a pun on a brave woman.’
‘Heroine,’ Harry said.
‘Correct.’
‘What about the glazing?’ Harry asked, turning to Pran.
‘It’s called a coating,’ the Hunchback retorted. ‘What about it?’ He faced Harry but his eyes were elsewhere, on the wall. Like an animal hunting for a way out, Harry thought. Or a herd animal that did not want to meet the hierarchical challenge of the creature looking you straight in the eye. Or simply a human with slightly above-average social inhibitions. But there was something else that caught Harry’s attention, something about the way he was standing, his crooked posture.
‘Well,’ Harry said, ‘Forensics says that the brown specks in violin originate from the finely chopped glazing of a pill. And it’s the same … coating you use on methadone pills that are made here at the Radium Hospital.’
‘So?’ Pran riposted.
‘Is it conceivable that violin is made here in Norway by someone with access to your methadone pills?’
Stig Nybakk and Martin Pran exchanged glances.
‘Nowadays we deliver methadone pills to other hospitals as well, so quite a few people have access,’ Nybakk said. ‘But violin is high-level chemistry.’ He expelled air between flapping lips. ‘What do you reckon, Pran? Have we got the competence in Norwegian scientific circles to discover such a substance?’