The Water's Edge

CHAPTER 8

People everywhere were talking about Jonas August Løwe.

In the corridors of the Central Hospital, at the hairdresser's, in cabs, on the buses, in cafés and shops. In front rooms and back rooms, in waiting rooms and offices. They talked about Jonas on the stairs and in hallways. Two inmates were sitting on a bench in the exercise yard behind the county jail.

'They're bound to catch him,' one of them said, 'and this is where he'll end up. And when he gets here, we'll know what to do with him.'

'Bloody right, we will,' said the other.

A press conference was held at the station. Sejer had never had much time for the police's duty to inform the general public and he regarded journalists as sharks: one drop of blood and they all came rushing. But as always he behaved impeccably as he briefed the press. Jonas August was a Year Three pupil at Solberg School. He lived with his mother and he was an only child. A couple had observed a man not far from the crime scene, a man approximately fifty years old and wearing a blue anorak. Jonas was partly dressed and he appeared to have been sexually assaulted. As yet it was unclear where and how he had died, whether his death had occurred where he was found or whether he had been killed elsewhere and brought there later. All available manpower would be assigned to the case with immediate effect, and they would also summon any available outside expertise. When asked if the killer might strike again, he looked at them gravely and replied, 'We have no reason to think anything like that.'

'Do we need to take extra care of our children?'

'We always need to take care of our children.'

'What are you going to do now?'

'We have a procedure and we'll follow it.'

They wanted to know what he thought of the crime scene. Wasn't it strange that the boy had not been buried or concealed in some way?

'Perhaps he wanted us to find him quickly,' Sejer said.

'But he might have buried him. You would have lost valuable time and the killer would have had the advantage. In a few months it'll start snowing and everything will freeze over.'

'It wouldn't have been an advantage,' Sejer said, 'merely a delay.'

He talked and he talked and he experienced an odd feeling of being split in two. Half of him behaved like the professional he was; the other half observed. The faces in the briefing room, the solemn mood, a fly scuttling across the table before eventually settling on the microphone stand.

'Will you be talking to convicted sex offenders?'

'According to the law we can only question people if we have reasonable grounds to suspect them.'

'Did you make any interesting discoveries at the crime scene?'

'I don't wish to comment on that.'

'The man who was seen by the barrier. Was he behaving suspiciously?'

'No comment.'

'Has your force previously investigated a case of this nature?'

'No, we haven't.'

'So are you saying you're wandering into uncharted territory?'

'No.'

'How long had the boy been dead before he was found?'

'We're talking about a few hours, according to the Institute of Forensic Medicine.'

'Is there anything about this case which makes it unique?'

At this point Sejer got up to signal that the briefing was over.

'Every case is unique,' he said. 'There was only ever one Jonas August.'