‘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.
Harry coughed. This was not Oleg’s race.
‘If we’re to have a chance of saving Irene you have to help me find Dubai,’ Harry said.
Oleg looked at Harry. Tucked his hands under his thighs and fidgeted with his feet. The way he used to do. Then he nodded.
‘Start with the murder,’ Harry said. ‘Take all the time you need.’
Oleg closed his eyes for a few seconds. Then he opened them again.
‘I was high, I’d shot up violin by the river behind our place in Hausmanns gate. It was safer. If I had a fix in the flat and some of the others were desperate, they would jump on me to steal it. You understand?’