The Redbreast(26)

the idea to the back of his mind and sat down.

‘Thank you for being able to come at such short

notice,’ he began. ‘The confidential nature of this

meeting does not need to be emphasised, of course,

but I will do so anyway since not everyone has had

so much experience of the business in hand.’

He cast a swift glance at everyone except Rakel,

making it clear that the message was intended for

her. Then he turned towards Anne Størksen.

‘By the way, how is your man?’

The Chief Constable looked at him in some

confusion. ‘Your police man?’ Brandhaug hastened

to say. ‘Hole, isn’t that what he’s called?’

She nodded to Møller, who had to clear his throat

twice before he got going.

‘Fine, under the circumstances. He’s shaken of

course. But . . . OK.’ He shrugged to show that

there wasn’t a lot more to say.

Brandhaug raised a recently plucked eyebrow.

‘Not so shaken that there might be the risk of a

leak, I trust?’

‘Erm,’ Møller said. He saw the Chief Constable

quickly turn towards him with a sidelong glance. ‘I

don’t believe so. He’s aware of the delicate nature

of the matter. And of course he has been sworn to

secrecy about what happened.’

‘The same is true for the other police officers

involved at the scene,’ Anne Størksen added with

alacrity.

‘Let’s hope this is under control then,’ Brandhaug

said. ‘I’ll just give you a brief update on the

situation. I have just had a long conversation with

the American ambassador and I believe I may say

that we have agreed on the most important points in

this tragic matter.’

He looked at each of them in turn. They gazed at

him in an atmosphere of tense expectation. Waited

for what he, Bernt Brandhaug, could tell them. The

despondency he had felt a few seconds before

seemed to have been erased.

‘The ambassador was able to tell me that the

Secret Service agent whom your man’, – he

motioned towards Møller and the Chief Constable

– ‘shot at the toll barrier is in a stable condition

and he is off the danger list. His dorsal vertebrae

are damaged and there is internal haemorrhaging,

but the bulletproof vest saved him. I regret that we

were unable to discover this information earlier,

but for understandable reasons we have attempted

to keep all communication about this affair to a

minimum. Only the most essential details have

been exchanged between a small number of

involved parties.’

‘Where is he?’ Møller asked.

‘Strictly speaking, you don’t need to know that,

Inspector Møller.’

He looked at Møller, whose face had assumed a

strange expression. There was an oppressive

silence in the room for a second. It was always a

little embarrassing when someone had to be

reminded that they were not allowed to know more

than they needed for their job. Brandhaug smiled

and spread his hands in regret as if to say: I can

well understand you asking, but that’s the way it

is. Møller nodded and looked down at the table.

‘OK,’ Brandhaug said. ‘I can tell you this much –

after the operation he was flown to a military

hospital in Germany.’

‘Right.’ Møller scratched the back of his neck.

‘Erm . . .’

Brandhaug waited.

‘I assume it’s fine to let Hole know this? That the

SS agent is recovering, I mean. It will make the

situation . . . um . . . easier for him.’

Brandhaug looked at Møller. He had difficulty

working out the head of Crime Squad.

‘That’s fine.’

‘What was it that you and the ambassador agreed

on?’ It was Rakel.

‘I’m coming to that,’ Brandhaug said gently.

Actually it was his next point, but he disliked being

interrupted in this way. ‘First of all, I would like to

commend Møller and the Oslo police on their

quick appraisal at the scene. If the reports are

correct, it took a mere twelve minutes for the agent

to receive professional medical attention.’

‘Hole and his colleague, Ellen Gjelten, drove him

to Aker Hospital,’ Anne Størksen said.

‘Admirably quick reactions,’ Brandhaug

said.‘And that is a view which is shared by the

American ambassador.’

Møller and the Chief Constable exchanged

glances. ‘Furthermore, the ambassador has spoken

to the Secret Service and there is no question of

instituting proceedings from the American side.

Naturally.’

‘Naturally,’ Meirik chimed in.

‘We also agreed that the error resided in the main