‘If she couldn’t have cared less, why would he?’ the Pelican burst out. ‘After all, it’s women who are stigmatised by this kind of looseness while men’s status is only enhanced. Among other men, mind you!’
‘Tony Leike had at least two good motives for stifling her cries,’ Harry said. ‘First of all, you would hardly wish to broadcast extra-curricular bonking if you’re a fiancé plastered across the tabloids, and especially not if your future father-in-law’s money is about to rescue your investments in the Congo. Secondly, Tony Leike is an experienced mountaineer who knows the area well.’
‘What the heck does that have to do with the case?’
A chuckle was heard, and everyone turned to the head of the table where Mikael Bellman was sitting.
‘Avalanche,’ he laughed. ‘Tony Leike was frightened Adele’s howls would set off an avalanche.’
‘Tony must have known that more than three-quarters of all avalanches provoking fatalities are triggered by humans,’ Harry said.
Guffaws of laughter spread around the table. Even the Pelican had to allow herself a smile.
‘But what makes you think Adele’s boyfriend saw them?’ she asked. ‘And that Adele didn’t care? Perhaps she was so enthralled that she forgot herself.’
‘Because,’ said Harry, leaning back in the chair, ‘Adele has done this before. She texted her boyfriend a picture of herself being screwed by another man. A heartless message that would leave no one in any doubt. Her friends said she didn’t meet the boyfriend again after the trip to Håvass.’
‘Interesting,’ Bellman said. ‘But where does it take us?’
‘To the motive,’ Harry said. ‘For the first time in this case we have a possible “why”.’
‘So we’re moving away from the theory of a crazy serial killer?’ Ærdal asked.
‘The Snowman also had a motive,’ said Beate Lønn, who had just walked in and taken a seat at the end of the table. ‘Insane, but definitely a motive.’
‘This is simpler,’ Harry said. ‘Good old-fashioned jealousy. Motive for two out of three murders in this country. And in most other countries. In this sense, we humans are quite predictable.’
‘It may explain the murder of Adele Vetlesen and Tony Leike,’ said the Pelican, ‘but what about the others?’
‘They had to be eliminated,’ Harry said. ‘They were all potential witnesses of the events at the cabin and could have told the police, and provided us with the motive we lacked. And maybe even worse: they had been witness to his total humiliation – he had been cheated on in public. For an unstable person that would be motive enough on its own.’
Bellman clapped his hands. ‘I hope we have some answers soon. I’ve spoken to Krongli on the phone and he says the weather in the search area has improved, so now they can send in the dogs and use helicopters. Any reason you didn’t mention why you suspected the body of being Tony Leike before, Harry?’
Harry shrugged. ‘I had assumed we would reach the body much more quickly, so I saw no reason to speculate aloud. After all, arthritis is not that unusual.’
Bellman rested his gaze on Harry for a second before addressing the rest. ‘We have a suspect, folks. Anyone want to christen him?’
‘The Eighth Guest,’ said Ærdal.
‘Prince Charming,’ declared the Pelican.
For a few moments there was total silence, as though something had come up that required time to digest before they went on.
‘Now I’m no strategist,’ Beate Lønn began, in the secure knowledge that everyone in the room knew that Beate Lønn never commented on anything she hadn’t researched thoroughly first, ‘but isn’t there something here that makes you sit up and wonder? Leike had an alibi for the times of the murders, but what about all these leads pointing to him? What about the call from his home phone to Elias Skog? What about the murder weapon that was acquired in the Congo? Furthermore from an area where Leike had financial interests. Chance?’
‘No,’ Harry said. ‘From day one Prince Charming has guided us towards Tony Leike. It was Prince Charming who paid Juliana Verni to go to the Congo because he knew that any clue pointing to the Congo would point to Tony Leike. And as far as his phone call to Elias Skog is concerned, today I checked something we should have checked long ago, but which we typically let go when we were getting close to a result. Because we resist any weakening of our evidence. Around the time the call went out from Leike’s house to Skog there were three calls made from Leike’s direct line in the Aker Brygge office block. Leike can’t have been in two places at the same time. I’d bet two hundred kroner he was in Aker Brygge. Any takers?’