could feel her eyes on him, measuring him up. All
sorts of thoughts scurried through his brain. She
had small laughter lines next to her eyes. Mosken’s
chalet was not far from where they had found the
empty cartridges from the Märklin rifle. According
to Dagbladet, 40 per cent of women living in
towns were unfaithful. He should ask Even Juul’s
wife if she remembered three Norwegian soldiers
in the Norge regiment being wounded or killed by
a hand-grenade thrown from a plane, and he should
have gone for it at the New Year menswear sales
Dressman advertised on TV3. But did he like what
he did?
‘Some days I do,’ he said.
‘What do you like about it?’
‘I don’t know. Does that sound stupid?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘I’m not saying that because I haven’t thought
about why I’m a policeman. I have. And I don’t
know. Perhaps I just enjoy catching naughty boys
and girls.’
‘So what do you do when you’re not catching
naughty boys and girls?’ she asked.
‘Watch The Robinson Expedition.’
She laughed again. And Harry knew he was
prepared to say the silliest things if there was a
chance he could make her laugh like that. He
pulled himself together and talked relatively
seriously about his current situation, but since he
took care not to mention the unpleasant aspects of
his life, there wasn’t a great deal to tell. When she
still seemed interested he went on to talk about his
father and Sis. Why did he always end up talking
about Sis when someone asked him to talk about
himself ?
‘Sounds like a nice girl,’ she said. ‘The nicest,’
Harry said. ‘And the bravest. Never afraid of new
things. A test pilot of life.’
Harry told her about the time Sis had put in a
spontaneous offer for a flat in Jacob Aalls gate –
because the wallpaper in the picture she had seen
on the property page in Aftenposten reminded her
of her childhood room in Oppsal – and had been
told the asking price was two million kroner, a
record square-metre price for Oslo that summer.
Rakel Fauke laughed so much she spilled tequila
on Harry’s suit jacket.
‘The best thing about her is that after a crash
landing she picks herself up, brushes herself down
and is immediately ready for the next kamikaze
mission.’
She dried the lapels of his jacket with a
handkerchief. ‘And you, Harry, what do you do
when you crash land?’
‘Me? Well. I probably lie still for a second. And
then I get up because there’s no other option, is
there?’
‘Good point.’
He looked up smartly to see if she was making
fun of him. Amusement was dancing in her eyes.
She radiated strength, but he doubted that she had
had much experience of crash landings.
‘Your turn to tell something about yourself.’
Rakel had no sister to fall back on, she was an
only child. So she talked about her work instead.
‘But we rarely catch anyone,’ she said. ‘Most
cases are settled amicably with a telephone call or
at a cocktail party at an embassy.’
Harry smiled sardonically.
‘And how was the matter of the Secret Service
agent I shot smoothed over?’ he asked. ‘Telephone
call or cocktail party?’
She studied him pensively while putting her hand
in the glass to fish out a lump of ice. She held it up,
between two fingers. A drop of melted water ran
slowly down her wrist, under a thin gold chain
towards the elbow.
‘Dance, Harry?’
‘As far as I remember, I’ve just spent at least ten
minutes explaining how much I hate dancing.’
She angled her head again.
‘I mean – would you dance with me?’
‘To this music?’
An almost inert pan pipe version of ‘Let it Be’
oozed like thick syrup out of the speakers.
‘You’ll survive. Look on it as a warm-up for the
great Linda test.’ She placed a hand lightly on his
shoulder. ‘Are we flirting now?’ Harry asked.
‘What did you say, Inspector?’
‘Sorry, but I’m so bad at reading hidden signals
that I asked if we were flirting.’
‘Highly improbable.’
He placed his hand around her waist and took a
tentative dance step.
‘It feels like losing my virginity, this does,’ he
said. ‘But it’s probably inevitable – sooner or later
every Norwegian male has to go through something
like this.’
‘What are you talking about?’ she laughed.
‘Dancing with a colleague at an office party.’
‘I’m not forcing you.’
He smiled. It could have been anywhere, they