‘Isn’t that a trifle hasty?’ Kaja said.
The other two looked at her.
‘I mean, we’ve still got a missing person here. Shouldn’t we try to locate her before we tidy up?’
‘And how were you going to go about that?’ Hagen asked.
‘As Harry said before. A search.’
‘You don’t even know where you should bloody search.’
‘Harry knows.’
They looked at the man who had just grabbed the jug from the coffee machine with one hand and was holding his cup under the mud-brown stream with the other.
‘Do you?’ Hagen said at length.
‘Yes, I do,’ Harry said.
‘Where?’
‘You’ll get into hot water,’ Harry said.
‘Shut up, and out with it,’ Hagen said, without noticing the contradiction. Because he was thinking, here I am, doing it again. What was it about this tall, fair-haired policeman who always managed to drag others along when he took headlong plunges?
Olav Hole looked up at Harry and the woman beside him.
She had curtsied when she introduced herself, and Harry had noticed that his father had liked that; he was always complaining that women had stopped curtsying.
‘So you’re Harry’s colleague,’ Olav said. ‘Does he behave himself ?’
‘We’re off to organise an operation,’ Harry said. ‘Just dropped by to see how you were.’
His father smiled wanly, shrugged and beckoned Harry to come closer. Harry leaned forward, listened. And flinched.
‘You’ll be alright,’ Harry said in a sudden hoarse voice and stood up. ‘I’ll be back this evening, OK?’
In the corridor Harry stopped Altman and motioned for Kaja to go on ahead.
‘Listen, I was wondering if you could do me a big favour,’ he said when Kaja was out of range. ‘My father’s just told me that he’s in pain. He would never admit that to you because he’s afraid you’ll give him more painkillers, and, well, he has a pathological fear of becoming dependent on … drugs. There’s a bit of family history here, you see.’
‘Thee,’ the nurse lisped and there was a moment of confusion until Harry realised that Altman had repeated ‘see’. ‘The problem is that I’m being shifted between wards at the moment.’
‘I’m asking this as a personal favour.’
Altman screwed up one eye behind his glasses, staring thoughtfully at a point between himself and Harry. ‘I’ll see what I can do.’
‘Thank you.’
Kaja drove while Harry was on the phone to the chief of operations at Briskeby Fire Station.
‘Your father seems like a nice man,’ Kaja said as Harry rang off.
Harry took that in. ‘Mum made him good,’ he said. ‘When she was alive he was good. She brought out the best in him.’
‘Sounds like something you’ve been through yourself,’ she said.
‘What?’
‘Someone made you good.’
Harry looked out of the window. Nodded.
‘Rakel?’
‘Rakel and Oleg,’ Harry said.
‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to . . .’
‘It’s alright.’
‘It’s just that when I came to Crime Squad everyone was talking about the Snowman case. About him trying to kill them. And you. But it was already over before the case began, wasn’t it?’
‘In a way,’ Harry said.
‘Have you had any contact with them?’
Harry shook his head. ‘We had to try to put it behind us. Help Oleg to forget. When they’re that young they still can.’
‘Not always,’ Kaja said with a sardonic smile.
Harry glanced at her. ‘And who made you good?’
‘Even,’ she answered without any hesitation.
‘No great romantic passions?’
She shook her head. ‘No XLs. Just a few smalls. And one medium.’
‘Got your cap set at someone?’
She chuckled. ‘Cap set at someone?’
Harry smiled. ‘My vocabulary is somewhat old-fashioned in that area.’
She hesitated. ‘I suppose I’m a bit hung up on a guy.’
‘And the prospects are?’
‘Poor.’
‘Let me guess,’ Harry said, winding down the window and lighting a cigarette. ‘He’s married and says he’ll leave his wife and kids for you, but never does?’
She laughed. ‘Let me guess. You’re the type who thinks he’s so damned good at reading other people’s minds because he only remembers the times he got it right?’
‘He said you’ve just got to give him some time?’
‘Wrong again,’ she said. ‘He doesn’t say anything.’