Henning’s mobile rings as he is about to go into the hospital newsagent to buy a paper.
‘You just can’t manage without me, can you?’ he mutters, feigning irritation.
‘Henning,’ Iver says eagerly. ‘I think I got an email from Thorleif Brenden.’
‘What?’
‘At first I thought it was spam, but the contents suggest that it’s him.’
‘I’ll be with you in a sec,’ Henning says, tossing down the newspaper. A few minutes later he is back in Iver’s room.
‘What did he say?’ Henning asks, agitated, as he rushes towards the bed. In a brief moment he registers that Nora isn’t there.
‘Read for yourself,’ Iver replies. Henning takes the mobile and starts reading:
From: GulvSprekk ‹gulvsprekk@hotmail. com›
Subject: ‹‹missing TV2 cameraman››
To: iver. gundersen@123news. no
Hello. I see that you are writing about me.
I am contacting you because I don’t know who to trust. I hope I can trust you. I am still alive and I am still sane — though I have good reason not to be.
I need your help. I was forced to commit a murder. I killed Tore Pulli. I had no choice. And now I am on the run from the people who made me do it because I think they want to kill me.
Henning spends some minutes reading the rest of the email before he looks up at Iver. ‘Bloody hell,’ he says. ‘This is-’
‘I know,’ Iver nods. ‘Forward the email to yourself or take my mobile with you.’
‘I’ll forward it to myself. Write a reply and see if you hear anything back from him.’
‘That’s a bit difficult,’ Iver says, looking at his hands. ‘I needed Nora’s help to ring you in the first place.’
‘Oh, right,’ Henning says, flustered. ‘I didn’t think-’
‘Don’t worry about it,’ Iver says.
Henning forwards the email and gets ready to go.
‘Keep me updated,’ Iver calls out after him.
‘Of course,’ Henning replies. While he half-runs down the corridor in the direction of the lift he takes out his own mobile and finds Brogeland’s number.
‘There are no new developments,’ Brogeland sighs, wearily.
‘Oh yes there are. Are you at the station?’
‘Yes.’
‘Come downstairs and meet me in reception in half an hour. I have something to show you.’
*
Thirty-five minutes later Henning is in Brogeland’s office. He puts his laptop, which he picked up from home on his way to the police station, on the inspector’s desk. Brogeland sits down and moves his chair closer to the table. Henning reads the email over his shoulder. He pays particular attention to the second half:
I don’t know if this can be used as evidence, but the man who forced me to murder Pulli might have left a fingerprint in my car on the day he tested me to find out if I could be ordered to kill. The fingerprint is on the armrest on the passenger side. I parked my car in Kirkegaten. It has probably been issued with several parking tickets now. But if you can get someone you trust from the police to check this out for me I think it might be possible to discover the man’s real name.
I hope you can help me. The way things look now you are my only hope. At the moment I don’t want to say anything about where I am, but I hope you will help me so I won’t have to remain in hiding for very much longer.
Please would you also contact my girlfriend Elisabeth Haaland and let her know that I am all right? But please do it discreetly. I have reason to believe that our flat is under surveillance.
Yours sincerely,
Thorleif Brenden
Henning waits impatiently for Brogeland to finish.
‘Have you already swept his flat for bugs?’ he asks.
‘Yes,’ Brogeland replies. ‘We found masses of high-tech equipment. Video and audio.’
‘Did you now?’ Henning says.
Brogeland nods. The next moment there is a knock on the door. Sergeant Ella Sandland appears. She sees Henning standing behind Brogeland and she makes a gesture with her head to indicate that she needs to speak to her boss. Brogeland returns soon afterwards with a grave expression on his face.
‘What is it?’ Henning asks.
‘We’ve just had a call from Geilo Police. A body has been found at the foot of Hallingskarvet. From the description, it’s likely to be that of Thorleif Brenden.’