Nemesis

17

Arabia's Tears

Halvorsen was very surprised to see Harry as he entered their office.

'Here already? You are aware it's only-'

'Couldn't sleep,' Harry mumbled, sitting in front of the computer screen with crossed arms. 'These machines are so bloody slow.'

Halvorsen peered over his shoulder. 'It all depends on the data transfer rate when you're on the Net. You're using a standard ISDN line now, but, rejoice, we'll soon be on broadband. Looking for articles in Dagens Nжringsliv?'

'Eh?…Yes.'

'Arne Albu? Did you talk to Vigdis Albu?'

'Yes.'

'What have they actually got to do with the bank robbery?'

Harry didn't look up. He hadn't said it was anything to do with the robbery, but he hadn't said it wasn't either, so it was quite natural for his colleague to make the assumption. Harry was spared answering him as at that moment Arne Albu's face filled the screen. By far the broadest smile Harry had seen today presided over the tightly knotted tie. Halvorsen smacked his lips and read aloud:

'Thirty million for family business. Today Arne Albu can salt away thirty million kroner after the hotel chain Choice bought up all the shares in Albu AS yesterday. Albu says he wants to devote more time to his family, which was the biggest reason for him selling his successful company. "I want to see my children grow up," Albu said when interviewed. "The family is my most important investment." '

Harry pressed PRINT.

'Don't you want the rest of the article?'

'No, I just want the picture,' Harry said.

'Thirty mill in the bank and now he's started holding up banks, too?'

'I'll explain later,' Harry said, rising from his chair. 'In the meantime, I wonder if you could explain to me how you find out who sends an e-mail.'

'The address is in the e-mail.'

'And that's in the telephone book, is it?'

'No, but you can find out which mail server sent it. That's in the address. The server has a list of which clients own which addresses. Very simple. Have you received an interesting e-mail?'

Harry shook his head.

'Give me the address and I'll find it for you in no time,' Halvorsen said.

'OK. Have you heard of a server called bolde. com?'

'No, but I'll check it out. What's the rest of the address?'

Harry hesitated. 'Forgotten,' he said.

Harry requisitioned a car from the garage and drove slowly through Grшnland. A biting wind swirled the leaves which had dried on the pavement in yesterday's sun. People walked with their hands buried in their pockets and their heads drawn in between their shoulders.

In Pilestredet Harry tucked in behind a tram and found the NRK news broadcast on the radio. They didn't say anything about the Stine Grette case. There were fears that hundreds of thousands of refugee children would not survive the tough Afghan winter. An American soldier had been killed. There was an interview with his family. They wanted revenge. Bislett was closed to traffic and there was a diversion.

'Yes?' One syllable on the door intercom was enough to establish that Astrid Monsen had a bad cold.

'Harry Hole. Thank you for your help so far. I wondered if it would be possible to ask a couple more questions. Have you got time?'

She sniffled twice before answering. 'What about?'

'I would prefer not to stand out here and ask.'

Two more sniffs.

'Is this not a convenient time?' Harry asked.

The lock buzzed and Harry shoved open the door.

Astrid Monsen was standing in the corridor with a shawl over her shoulders and her arms crossed as Harry came up the stairs.

'I saw you at the funeral,' Harry said.

'I thought at least one of her neighbours should put in an appearance,' she said. She sounded as if she was talking through a megaphone.

'I wonder if you recognise this person?'

Reluctantly she took the dog-eared photograph. 'Which one?'

'Any of them, in fact.' Harry's voice resounded up and down the stairwell.

Astrid Monsen stared at the picture. At length.

'Well?'

She shook her head.

'Sure?'

She nodded.

'Mm. Do you know if Anna had a partner?'

'One?'

Harry breathed in deeply. 'Do you mean there were many?'

She shrugged. 'You can hear every sound in this house. The stairs creaked, let's put it that way.'

'Anything serious?'

'I have no idea.'

Harry waited. She didn't pause for long: 'A note with a name on was stuck next to her post box this summer. I don't know if it was serious though…'

'No?'

'I think it was her handwriting on the note. It just said ERIKSEN.' There was a hint of a smile on her thin lips. 'Perhaps he had forgotten to tell her his Christian name. At any rate, the note was gone after a week.'

Harry looked down over the banisters. The stairs were steep. 'A week's better than nothing, though, isn't it?'

'For some maybe,' she said, resting her hand on the door handle. 'I have to go now. I've just received an e-mail, I can hear.'

'It's not going anywhere, is it?'

She was overpowered by another fit of sneezing. 'I have to answer it,' she said with tear-filled eyes. 'It's the author. We're discussing my translation.'

'Then I'll be quick,' Harry said. 'I just want you to look at this, too.'

He passed her a sheet of paper. She held it, cast an eye over it and looked up at Harry suspiciously.

'Just have a good look,' Harry said. 'Take all the time you need.'

'Quite unnecessary,' she said, returning the sheet.

It took Harry ten minutes to walk from Police HQ to Kjшlberggata 21A. In its time the run-down brick building had been a tannery, a printing press, a forge and probably several other things too. A reminder that Oslo had once had industry. Now Krimteknisk had taken it over. Despite new lighting and a modern interior, the building still had an industrial feel to it. Harry found Weber in one of the large, cold rooms.

'Shit,' Harry said. 'Are you absolutely sure?'

Weber gave a tired smile. 'The fingerprint on the bottle is so good that if we had had it on our files, the computer would have found a match. Of course, we could search manually to be one hundred and ten per cent sure, but it would take weeks and we wouldn't find anything, anyway. It's definite.'

'Sorry,' Harry said. 'I was just so sure we had him. I reckoned the chances of a guy like him never having been arrested for anything were microscopic.'

'The fact that we don't have him in our archives just means we have to look elsewhere. But now at least we have tangible evidence. This fingerprint and the fibres from Kirkeveien. If you can find the man, we have conclusive proof. Helgesen!'

A young man passing by pulled up smartly.

'I was given this cap from the Akerselva in an unsealed bag,' Weber grumbled. 'This isn't a pigsty we're running. Have you got that?'

Helgesen nodded and sent Harry a knowing look.

'You'll have to take it like a man,' Weber said, turning to Harry again. 'At least you didn't have to put up with what Ivarsson went through today.'

'Ivarsson?'

'Haven't you heard what happened in the Culvert today?'

Harry shook his head and Weber chuckled and rubbed his hands. 'In that case, I'll tell you a good story to help you on your way, Hole.'

Weber's presentation was a lot like the police reports he wrote. Brief, rough-hewn sentences sketching out the action taken without any florid descriptions of feelings, tone of voice or facial expression. Harry had no problem filling in the gaps though. He could visualise PAS Rune Ivarsson and Weber going into one of the visitors' rooms in A-Wing and could hear the door being locked behind them. Both rooms were next to the reception desk and kitted out for families. Inmates could enjoy a few moments of peace with their nearest and dearest in a room which someone had even tried to make cosy-basic furnishings, plastic flowers and a couple of pale watercolours on the wall.

Raskol was standing when the two of them arrived. He had a thick book under his arm, and on the low table in front of them there was a chessboard with the pieces set up and ready. He didn't say a word, just beheld them with his pained brown eyes. He was wearing a white coat-like shirt hanging almost down to his knees. Ivarsson was ill at ease and brusquely told the tall, thin gypsy to take a seat. Raskol obeyed the order with a slight smile.

Ivarsson had taken Weber with him instead of the younger officers in the investigation team because he thought that the old fox would be able to help Ivarsson 'size Raskol up', as he put it. Weber placed a chair against the door and took out a notebook while Ivarsson sat face to face with the infamous prisoner.

'Please, Politiavdelingssjef Ivarsson,' Raskol said, displaying an open palm to invite the policeman to start the game.

'We have come here to gather information, not to play games,' Ivarsson said and placed five photographs of the robbery in Bogstadveien beside each other across the table. 'We would like to know who this is.'

Raskol picked up the photos one after the other and studied them with loud 'hm's.

'May I borrow a pen?' he asked, after looking at all of them.

Weber and Ivarsson exchanged glances.

'Take mine,' Weber said, passing him a fountain pen.

'I prefer the usual kind,' Raskol said without taking his eyes off Ivarsson.

The PAS shrugged, took out a biro from his inside pocket and gave it to him.

'First of all, I would like to explain the principle behind dye cartridges,' Raskol said, beginning to unscrew Ivarsson's white pen, which happened to bear the Den norske Bank logo. 'As you know, bank employees always add a dye cartridge to the money in case they are raided. The cartridge is attached to money dispensers in an ATM. Some cartridges are connected to a transmitter and are activated by movement, being put in a bag for example. Others are activated when they pass a portal which may be secured above the main door of a bank. The cartridge may have a micro-transmitter connected to a receiver which triggers an explosion when it is a certain distance from the receiver, say, a hundred metres. Others explode after an inbuilt time delay post-activation. The cartridge itself can have all sorts of formats, but it has to be so small that it can be hidden between notes. Some are this small.' Raskol held his thumb and forefinger two centimetres apart. 'The explosion is not dangerous to the robber; the problem is the dye, the ink.'

He held up the ink cartridge from the biro.

'My grandfather was an ink maker. He taught me that in the old days they used gum arabic to make iron gallus ink. The gum comes from the acacia tree and is called Arabia's tears because it trickles out in yellowish drops this size.'

He made a circle with his thumb and forefinger, about the size of a walnut.

'The point about the gum is that it thickens and reduces the surface tension of ink. And it keeps iron salts liquid. You also need a solvent. Long ago rainwater or white wine were recommended. Or vinegar. My grandfather said you should add vinegar to the ink when you were writing to an enemy and wine when you were writing to a friend.'

Ivarsson cleared his throat, but Raskol continued regardless.

'At first, the ink is invisible. It becomes visible when put on paper. In the dye cartridge there are red particles which perform a chemical reaction when they come into contact with the paper of banknotes and this makes it impossible to remove. The money will be forever marked as robbery money.'

'I know how a dye cartridge works,' Ivarsson said. 'I would rather know-'

'Patience, dear Politiavdelingssjef. The fascinating thing about this technology is that it is extremely simple. So simple that I could make a dye cartridge myself, put it wherever I liked and make it explode at a certain distance from the receiver. All the equipment required would fit into a lunch box.'

Weber had stopped taking notes.

'But the principle of the cartridge is not the technology, PAS Ivarsson. The principle is incrimination.' Raskol's face lit up into a huge smile. 'The ink also attaches itself to the clothes and skin of the robber. And the ink is so strong that once it is on your hands you will never be able to wash it off. Pontius Pilate and Judas, right? Blood on his hands. Blood money. The agony of the arbiter. The punishment of the informer.'

Raskol dropped the ink cartridge on the floor behind the table and while he bent to pick it up, Ivarsson signalled to Weber that he wanted the notebook.

'I would like you to write the name of the person in the photos,' Ivarsson said and put the pad on the table. 'As I said, we are not here to play games.'

'Not to play games, no,' Raskol said, slowly screwing the pen together. 'I promised I would give you the name of the man who took the money, didn't I?'

'That was the agreement, yes.' Ivarsson said. He leaned over as Raskol started to write.

'We Xoraxans know what an agreement is,' he said. 'I'm not just writing his name, but also the prostitute he uses regularly and the man he contacted to shatter the knee of a young man who recently broke his daughter's heart. The person in question refused the job by the way.'

'Ah…excellent.' Ivarsson turned quickly to Weber and gave an excited grin.

'Here.' Raskol handed the pad and pen to Ivarsson, who hurriedly read the note.

The elated smile died. 'But…' he stammered. 'Helge Klementsen. He's the branch manager.' A light of illumination revealed itself to him. 'Is he involved?'

'Very much so,' Raskol said. 'He took the money, didn't he?'

'And put it in the robber's holdall,' came Weber's deep growl from the door.

Ivarsson's expression slowly changed from questioning to furious. 'What is this twaddle? You promised to help me.'

Raskol studied the long, pointed nail of the little finger on his right hand. Then he nodded gravely, leaned over the table and waved Ivarsson closer. 'You're right,' he whispered. 'Here's a tip. Learn what life is about. Sit down and observe your child. It isn't easy to find the things you've lost, but it is possible.' He patted the PAS on the back and motioned towards the chessboard. 'Your turn, Politiavdelingssjef.'

Ivarsson was fuming with anger as he and Weber traipsed through the Culvert, a three-hundred-metre-long underground tunnel connecting Botsen prison with Police HQ.

'I trusted one of the race who discovered lying!' hissed Ivarsson. 'I trusted a bloody gypsy!' The echo ricocheted along the brick walls. Weber was racing along; he wanted to get out of the cold, damp tunnel. The Culvert was used to transport prisoners to and from questioning at Police HQ, and many were the rumours circulating about what had happened down here.

Ivarsson pulled his suit jacket tighter around him and stepped out. 'Promise me one thing, Weber: you won't breathe a word of this to anyone. Alright?' He turned towards Weber with a raised eyebrow: 'Well?'

The answer to Ivarsson's question was a qualified 'yes' inasmuch as they had just reached the point in the Culvert where the walls are painted orange and Weber heard a little 'pooff' sound. Ivarsson let out a terrified scream and fell to his knees in a pool of water, holding his chest.

Weber spun round and looked up and down the tunnel. No one. Then he turned back to the PAS, who was staring at his red-stained hand.

'I'm bleeding,' he groaned. 'I'm dying.'

Weber could see Ivarsson's eyes growing in his head.

'What is it?' Ivarsson asked, his voice tremulous with fear as he looked into Weber's open-mouthed stare.

'You'll have to go to the dry cleaner's,' Weber said.

Ivarsson cast his eyes downwards. The red dye had spread across the whole of his shirt front and parts of the lime-green jacket.

'Red ink,' Weber said.

Ivarsson pulled out the remains of the Den norske Bank pen. The micro-explosion had sheered it down the middle. He stayed on his knees with his eyes closed until his breathing was normal again. Then he fixed his eyes on Weber.

'Do you know what Hitler's greatest sin was?' he asked, stretching out his clean hand. Weber grabbed it and pulled Ivarsson to his feet. Ivarsson squinted down the tunnel the way they had come. 'Not doing a more thorough job on the gypsies.'

'Not a word to anyone about this,' Weber mimicked, with a chuckle. 'Ivarsson went straight to the garage and drove home. The ink will stain his skin for at least three days.'

Harry shook his head in disbelief. 'And what did you do to this Raskol?'

Weber shrugged. 'Ivarsson said he would have him put in solitary. Not that that would help in the slightest, I reckon. The man is…different. Talking about different, how are you and Beate getting on? Have you got any more than this fingerprint?'

Harry shook his head.

'That girl is special,' Weber said. 'I can recognise her father in her. She could be good.'

'She could. Did you know her father?'

Weber nodded. 'Good man. Loyal. Shame it all ended as it did.'

'Strange that such an experienced policeman would slip up like that.'

'I don't think it was a slip-up,' Weber said, rinsing a coffee cup in the sink.

'Oh?'

Weber mumbled.

'What did you say, Weber?'

'Nothing,' he growled. 'He must have had a reason. That's all I'm saying.'

'Bolde. com will be a server,' Halvorsen said. 'All I'm saying is that it isn't registered anywhere. It might be in a cellar in Kiev for example and have anonymous clients who send specialised porn to each other. What do I know? We mere mortals won't find people who don't want to be found in that jungle. You'll have to get hold of a bloodhound, a real specialist.'

The knock at the door was so feather-light Harry didn't hear it, but Halvorsen shouted: 'Come in.'

The door opened cautiously.

'Hi,' Halvorsen said with a smile. 'Beate, isn't it?'

She nodded and looked hastily across at Harry. 'I was trying to get hold of you. That mobile number of yours on the list…'

'He's lost his mobile,' Halvorsen said, getting up. 'Take a seat and I'll make you a Halvorsen espresso.'

She hesitated. 'Thank you, but there's something I have to show you in the House of Pain, Harry. Have you got time?'

'All the time in the world,' Harry said, leaning back in his chair. 'Weber had only bad news. No matching fingerprints. And Raskol tricked Ivarsson good and proper today.'

'Is that bad news?' It slipped out before Beate could stop herself. She covered her mouth in alarm. Harry and Halvorsen laughed.

'Nice to see you again, Beate,' Halvorsen said before she and Harry left. He didn't get an answer, just a searching look from Harry, and was left standing a little embarrassed in the middle of the floor.

Harry noticed a blanket rumpled up on the two-seater IKEA sofa in the House of Pain. 'Did you sleep here last night?'

'Just a nap,' she said and started the video player. 'Watch the Expeditor and Stine in this picture.'

She pointed to the screen where she had freeze-framed the robber with Stine leaning towards him. Harry could feel the hairs on his neck standing up.

'There's something about this, isn't there?' she said.

Harry scrutinised the robber. Then Stine. And he knew it was this still which had made him watch the video over and over again, searching all the time for something which was there but kept eluding him.

'What is it?' he asked. 'What is it you can see and I can't.'

'Try.'

'I've already tried.'

'Imprint the image on your retina, close your eyes and feel.'

'Honestly…'

'Come on, Harry.' She smiled. 'This is what investigating is, isn't it.'

He looked at her in mild surprise. Then he shrugged his shoulders and did as she said.

'What can you see, Harry?'

'The inside of my eyelids.'

'Concentrate. Tell me what jars.'

'There's something about him and her. Something…about the way they're standing.'

'Good. What about the way they're standing?'

'They're standing…I don't know. They're standing wrong somehow.'

'Wrong in what way?'

Harry had the same sinking feeling he'd had in Vigdis Albu's house. He saw Stine Grette sitting forward. As if to catch the robber's words. He was staring out of the holes of the balaclava and into the face of the person he was about to kill. What was he thinking? And what was she thinking? In this frozen moment in time, was she trying to discover who he was, this man under the balaclava?

'Wrong in what way?' Beate repeated.

'They…they…'

Gun in hand, finger on trigger. Everyone around turned to marble. She is opening her mouth. He can see her eyes over the sights. The barrel nudging her teeth.

'Wrong in what way?'

'They…they're too close.'

'Bravo, Harry!'

He opened his eyes. Amoeba-like specks sparkled and floated across his field of vision.

'Bravo?' he mumbled. 'What do you mean?'

'You've put words to what we've seen the whole time. You're absolutely correct, Harry. They're standing too close to each other.'

'Yes, I heard myself say that, but too close in relation to what?'

'In relation to how close two people who have never met should stand.'

'Eh?'

'Have you heard of Edward Hall?'

'Not exactly.'

'Anthropologist. He was the first to demonstrate the link between the distance people keep between each other and the relationship they have. It's fairly well documented.'

'Explain.'

'The social space between people who don't know each other is from one to three and a half metres. That's the distance you would keep if the situation allowed, but look at bus queues and toilets. In Tokyo people stand closer to each and feel comfortable, but variations from culture to culture are in fact relatively minor.'

'He can't whisper to her from more than a metre away, can he.'

'No, but he could easily have managed it within what is known as the personal space, which is from one metre to forty-five centimetres. That's the distance people keep with strangers and so-called acquaintances. But as you see, the Expeditor and Stine Grette break this boundary. I've measured the distance. It's twenty centimetres. That means they're well inside the intimate space. Then you're so close to the other person you can't keep the other person's face in focus or avoid their aroma and body heat. It's a space reserved for partners or close family.'

'Mm,' Harry said. 'I'm impressed by your knowledge, but these two people are involved in high drama.'

'Yes, but that's what's so fascinating!' Beate burst out, holding on to the arm of the chair so that she wouldn't take off. 'If they're not supposed to, people don't cross the boundaries that Edward Hall talks about. And the Expeditor and Stine Grette are not supposed to.'

Harry rubbed his chin. 'OK, let's follow that line of thought.'

'I think the Expeditor knew Stine Grette,' Beate said. 'Well.'

'Good, good.' Harry rested his face on his hands and spoke through his fingers. 'So Stine knew a professional bank robber who performs a perfect heist before shooting her. You know where this reasoning is taking us, don't you.'

Beate nodded. 'I'll see what we can find out about Stine Grette right away.'

'Great. And afterwards let's have a chat with someone who's frequently been inside her intimate space.'