The Redbreast(107)

messages I’ve been left over the last two years fit

on to one thirty-minute tape. And they were all

from Ellen. Sad, isn’t it? Well, perhaps not so sad.

The only sad thing is that I wasn’t at home when

she made her last call. Did you know that Ellen

had found him?’

For the first time since Møller had come in Harry

turned round to face him.

‘You do remember Ellen, don’t you?’

Møller sighed.

‘We all remember Ellen, Harry. And I remember

the message she left on your answerphone, and you

telling Kripos you thought this was a reference to

the middleman in the arms deal. Because we

haven’t managed to catch the killer doesn’t mean

we’ve forgotten her, Harry. Kripos and the Crime

Squad have been on the go for weeks, we’ve

hardly slept. If you had come to work, perhaps you

would have seen how hard we were working.’

Møller immediately regretted what he had said. ‘I

didn’t mean . . .’

‘Yes, you did. And, of course, you’re right.’

Harry ran his hand across his face. ‘Last night I

listened to one of her messages. I have no idea why

she rang. The message was full of advice about the

things she thought I should eat and concluded by

reminding me to feed small birds, to do stretching

exercises after training and to remember Ekman

and Friesen. Do you know who Ekman and Friesen

are?’

Møller repeated his shake of the head. ‘They are

two psychologists who have discovered that when

you smile the facial muscles set off some chemical

reactions in your brain, which gives you a more

positive attitude towards the world around you,

makes you more satisfied with your existence.

What they did was to prove the old adage that if

you smile at the world, the whole world smiles at

you. For a while she got me to believe that.’

He looked up at Møller. ‘Sad or what?’

‘So sad.’

They broke into smiles and sat without speaking.

‘I can see from your face that you’ve come to tell

me something, boss. What is it?’

Møller jumped down from the desk and started

pacing the room. ‘The list of thirty-four baldie

suspects was reduced to twelve after we checked

their alibis. OK?’

‘OK.’

‘We can determine the blood type of the owner of

the cap from the DNA tests on the skin particles

we found. Four of the twelve have the same blood

type. We took blood samples from these four and

sent them for DNA testing. The results came

today.’

‘And?’

‘ Nada.’

The office went quiet. All that could be heard

was Møller’s rubber soles, which made a little

squeak every time he did an about-turn.

‘And Kripos have rejected the theory that Ellen’s

boyfriend did it?’ Harry asked.

‘We checked his DNA too.’

‘So we’re back to square one?’

‘More or less, yes.’

Harry faced the window again. A flock of

thrushes took off from a large elm tree and flew

west, towards the Plaza Hotel.

‘Perhaps the cap is meant to mislead us?’ Harry

said. ‘It doesn’t make sense to me that a man who

leaves no other traces and who covers over his

boot prints is so clumsy that he could lose his cap

just a few metres from the victim.’

‘Maybe. But the blood on the cap is Ellen’s. We

have established that much.’

Harry’s attention was caught by the dog returning,

sniffing at the same trail. It stopped roughly in the

middle of the lawn, stood for a moment with its

nose on the ground, undecided, before taking a

decision, going off to the left and disappearing

from view.

‘We have to follow the cap,’ Harry said. ‘As

well as the convictions, check anyone who has

been brought in for or charged with GBH. Over the

last ten years. Include Akershus too. And make

sure that —’

‘Harry . . .’

‘What is it?’

‘You don’t work for Crime Squad now. And

anyway, the investigation is being led by Kripos.

You’re asking me to tread on their toes.’

Harry didn’t say a word. Just nodded slowly. His

gaze was fixed on somewhere in Ekeberg.

‘Harry?’

‘Have you ever thought you should be somewhere

else, boss? I mean, just look at this shit spring.’

Møller stopped pacing and smiled. ‘Since you

ask, I’ve always thought that Bergen could be a

wonderful town to live in. For the kids and so on,

you know.’

‘But you’d still be a policeman, wouldn’t you?’

‘Of course.’

‘Because people like us are no good at anything