Mercy aka The keeper of lost causes

20

“Yes, well, I don’t know what the hell we’re going to do now, Marcus.” Lars Bjørn looked at him as if he’d just heard that his house had burned down.

“And you’re positive that the journalists wouldn’t rather talk to me or the public information officer?” asked the homicide chief.

“They expressly asked permission to interview Carl. They’d talked to Piv Vestergård, and she referred them to him.”

“Why didn’t you just say that he was sick or on assignment or didn’t want to talk to them? Anything at all. We can’t just send him out into a trap. Those reporters from Danish Broadcasting will sink their teeth into him.”

“I know.”

“We need to make him say no, Lars.”

“I think you’d be better at that than me.”

Ten minutes later Carl Mørck was standing in the doorway, scowling.

“So, Carl,” said the homicide chief. “Are you making any progress?”

He shrugged. “If you ask me, Bak doesn’t know shit about the Lynggaard case.”

“I see. That sounds strange. But you do?”

Carl came into the room and dropped on to a chair. “Don’t expect miracles.”

“So I take it there isn’t much to report about the case?”

“Not yet.”

“Does that mean I can tell the TV news people that it’s too early to interview you?”

“I’ll be damned if I’m going to do any TV interviews.”

Marcus felt a welcome sense of relief rush through him, making him produce a smile that was possibly a bit exaggerated. “I understand, Carl. When you’re in the middle of an investigation, it’s not something you want to do. The rest of us who are dealing with current cases have to do it, out of consideration for the public, but with old cases like yours, you need peace and quiet to do your work. I’ll let them know, Carl. It’s OK by me.”

“Could you make sure that I get a copy of Assad’s personnel file?”

What was he, all of a sudden, a secretary for his own subordinates? “Of course, Carl,” Marcus said. “I’ll ask Lars to see to it. Are you satisfied with the man?”

“We’ll see. But for the time being, yes.”

“And dare I surmise that you’re getting him involved in the investigation?”

“Yeah, you dare.” Carl gave his boss a rare smile.

“So you’re using him in the investigative work?”

“Well, you know what? At the moment Assad is up in Hornbæk delivering some papers he photocopied for Hardy. You don’t have anything against that, do you? You know how Hardy can sometimes think circles around the rest of us. And it will give him something to keep his mind busy.”

“Well, that seems all right.” At least he hoped so. “How is Hardy?”

Carl shrugged.

That was what Marcus had expected. Very sad.

They nodded to each other. The session was over.

“Oh, by the way,” said Carl as he stood in the doorway. “When you do the TV interview in my place, please don’t mention that the department has only one and a half employees. Assad would be upset if he heard that. Not to mention the people who allocated the funding, I would imagine.”

He was right. It was a hell of a situation they’d gotten themselves into.

“Oh, and one more thing, Marcus.”

The homicide chief raised an eyebrow as he studied Carl’s wily expression. Now what?

“When you see the crisis counselor again, tell her that Carl Mørck could use her help.”

Marcus looked at his perennial troublemaker. Carl didn’t seem like someone on the verge of a breakdown. The smile on his face wasn’t really appropriate, considering the seriousness of the subject.

“I’m haunted by thoughts of Anker’s death. Maybe it’s because I see Hardy so often. Maybe she can tell me what to do about it.”