Phantom(90)

‘Oh?’

‘Cops like him rely on their false identity. They think it’s impossible to discover who they are. Who their family is. But you can find everything in police archives, provided you have the right passwords. Which you do if, for example, you hold a trusted position in Orgkrim. And how did we warn him?’

I answered without a second’s thought. ‘Bumped off his kids?’

The old boy’s face darkened. ‘We’re not monsters, Oleg.’

‘Sorry.’

‘Besides, he didn’t have any children.’ Chug-chug laugh. ‘But he had a sister. Or perhaps it was just a foster-sister.’

I nodded. It was impossible to see if he was lying.

‘We said she would be raped then put out of her misery. But I misjudged him. Instead of thinking he had other relatives to keep an eye on, he went on the attack. A very lonely, but desperate attack. He managed to break in here last night. We were not prepared for that. He probably loved this sister a lot. He was armed. I went down to the cellar, and he followed. And then he died.’ He tilted his head. ‘Of what?’

‘Water was coming out of his mouth. Drowning?’

‘Correct. But drowned where?’

‘Was he brought here from a lake or something?’

‘No. He broke in, and he drowned. So?’

‘Then I don’t know—’

‘Think!’ The word cracked like a whiplash. ‘If you want to survive you have to be able to think, draw conclusions from what you can see. That’s real life.’

‘Fine, fine.’ I tried to think. ‘The cellar’s not a cellar but a tunnel.’

The old boy crossed his arms. ‘And?’

‘It’s longer than this property. It could of course come out in a field.’

‘But?’

‘But you told me you own a neighbouring property, so it probably goes there.’

The old boy smiled with satisfaction. ‘Guess how old the tunnel is.’

‘Old. The walls were green with moss.’

‘Algae. After the Resistance movement had made four failed attacks on this house the Gestapo boss had a tunnel built. They succeeded in keeping it secret. When Reinhard came home in the afternoon he came in through the front door here so that everyone could see. He switched on the light and then walked through the tunnel to his real home next door and sent the German lieutenant everyone thought lived over there, over here. And this lieutenant strutted around, often close to windows, wearing the same kind of uniform as his Gestapo boss.’

‘He was a decoy.’

‘Correct.’

‘Why are you telling me this?’

‘Because I want you to know what real life is like, Gusto. Most people in this country don’t know anything about it, don’t know how much it costs to survive in real life. But I’m telling you all this because I want you to remember that I trusted you.’

He looked at me as if what he was saying was very important. I pretended to understand; I wanted to go home. Perhaps he could see that.

‘Nice to see you, Gusto. Andrey will drive you both back.’

When the car passed the university there must have been some student gig taking place on campus. We could hear the thrashing guitars of a rock band playing on an outdoor stage. Young people streamed towards us down Blindernveien. Happy, expectant faces, as if they had been promised something, a future or some such thing.

‘What’s that?’ asked Oleg, who was still blindfolded.

‘That,’ I said, ‘is unreal life.’

‘And you’ve no idea how he drowned?’ Harry asked.

‘No,’ Oleg said. ‘The foot-pumping had increased; his whole body was vibrating.

‘OK, so you were blindfolded, but tell me everything you can remember about the journey to and from this place. All the noises. When you got out of the car, for example, did you hear a train or a tram?’

‘No. But it was raining when we arrived, so basically that is what I heard.’

‘Heavy rain, light rain?’

‘Light. I hardly felt it as we left the car. But that was when I heard it.’

‘OK, if light rain doesn’t usually make much noise it might when it falls on leaves?’

‘Possibly.’

‘What was under your feet going towards the front door? Tarmac? Flagstones? Grass?’

‘Shingle. I think. Yes, there was a crunch. That’s how I knew where Peter was. He’s the heaviest, so he crunched most.’

‘Good. Steps by the door?’

‘Yes.’

‘How many?’

Oleg groaned.

‘OK,’ Harry said. ‘Was it still raining by the door?’

‘Yes, of course.’

‘I mean, was it in your hair?’