He drank some coffee and read on. The remainder of the article was a review of what had emerged in the media coverage in the days following Ken Ronny Hauge’s arrest. The newspaper quoted Verdens Gang, which obviously had access to Hauge’s police statement. The plan to convert the old proceeds from the robbery into legal tender had been concocted after his grandfather died. He had seen how he could use a fictional distribution of inheritance as the pretext to get help from his grandfather’s old friends, an inheritance that had to be kept secret to avoid questions from the authorities.
It was never the intention that anyone should die, Ken Ronny Hauge was quoted as saying. Torkel Lauritzen had been the first victim. He had become unwell after the last sum of money was taken out of the bank in Sandefjord and died in the passenger seat of the car. From fear that the whole plan would collapse Ken Ronny had decided to dump the body at sea. The course of events was largely confirmed by Audun Vetti, who established that the cause of death was most probably cardiac arrest, but that there could all the same be consideration of charges of desecrating a corpse and failure to discharge the obligation to give assistance.
The ballistic investigations confirmed that the other victims had been shot with the pistol that was found on the bottom of the sea. The final analyses had also confirmed that this was the weapon that had been used to kill the policeman at Eikeren. In his statement, Ken Ronny claimed that it had belonged to Daniel Meyer’s grandfather.
It was strange to be a passive spectator in an investigation in which he himself had taken a leading role. Wisting took a gulp of coffee, and was leafing through the paper to the television pages when there was a knock at the front door.
‘Hello,’ he heard Line shout.
He called back to let her know where he was.
Line sat down in the chair opposite.
‘How are you feeling?’ she asked.
‘Fine,’ he smiled. ‘I’ve just eaten. Do you want anything? Coffee?’
She shook her head.
‘They’ve found the last corpse,’ she said.
Wisting raised his eyebrows.
‘They just announced it on the radio,’ she explained. ‘A dead body has been found in the sea outside Hummerbakken. It was missing a foot.’
‘Otto Saga,’ Wisting declared.
‘Ken Ronny Hauge’s not so silent this time,’ Line continued. ‘He’s admitted all of it, except the police murder.’
Wisting nodded. They would probably never find out what had really happened on that dark September night in 1991 but, like Line, he did not believe that Ken Ronny Hauge was necessarily the one who had fired the fatal shots.
‘It’ll be a strange trial,’ Line went on. ‘To stand accused of the murder of the man who actually was guilty of the murder you yourself served sixteen years in prison for. The worst thing is that I don’t think any of it would have happened if it hadn’t been for the punishment he got that time. I don’t believe he really was evil. I think it was jail that made him like that.’
Wisting drank his coffee. ‘How’s your interview project going?’ he asked.
‘I’m going to Bergen,’ Line replied. ‘That’s actually why I’ve popped in to see you. I’m leaving this evening.’
‘To Bergen?’
‘I’ve had the deadline extended. I had to find a new interview subject, of course.’
‘Who is it?’
‘Maybe you can remember the case. Trond Furebo. He was found guilty of murdering a prostitute and a journalist who wrote about the case.’
Wisting tried to think back, but didn’t think he remembered it. That was how it was, far too many cases.
‘Did you get yourself a new camera?’ he asked.
She shook her head.
‘I’ve borrowed one from the editorial team.’
The cat came creeping over, interrupting the conversation about the investigation and what had happened out at Helgeroa two weeks previously. It jumped onto Line’s lap and settled down.
Wisting got up, and went into the kitchen for a couple of slices of boiled ham. He tore them into pieces and threw them down on the terrace.
‘You’re spoiling him,’ Line said as the cat jumped down.
Wisting smiled. She was right, but he didn’t see any reason why he should stop spoiling the tousled cat.
‘When are you going back to work?’ Line enquired.
Wisting went over to the railings. ‘Soon,’ he said, looking towards the horizon. He could make out banks of clouds in the distance.
Table of Contents
DREGS
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
CHAPTER 23
CHAPTER 24
CHAPTER 25
CHAPTER 26
CHAPTER 27
CHAPTER 28
CHAPTER 29
CHAPTER 30
CHAPTER 31
CHAPTER 32
CHAPTER 33
CHAPTER 34
CHAPTER 35
CHAPTER 36
CHAPTER 37
CHAPTER 38
CHAPTER 39
CHAPTER 40
CHAPTER 41
CHAPTER 42
CHAPTER 43
CHAPTER 44
CHAPTER 45
CHAPTER 46
CHAPTER 47
CHAPTER 48
CHAPTER 49
CHAPTER 50
CHAPTER 52
CHAPTER 53
CHAPTER 54
CHAPTER 55
CHAPTER 56
CHAPTER 57
CHAPTER 58
CHAPTER 59
CHAPTER 60
CHAPTER 61
CHAPTER 62
CHAPTER 63
EPILOGUE
Table of Contents
DREGS
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
CHAPTER 23
CHAPTER 24
CHAPTER 25
CHAPTER 26
CHAPTER 27
CHAPTER 28
CHAPTER 29
CHAPTER 30
CHAPTER 31
CHAPTER 32
CHAPTER 33
CHAPTER 34
CHAPTER 35
CHAPTER 36
CHAPTER 37
CHAPTER 38
CHAPTER 39
CHAPTER 40
CHAPTER 41
CHAPTER 42
CHAPTER 43
CHAPTER 44
CHAPTER 45
CHAPTER 46
CHAPTER 47
CHAPTER 48
CHAPTER 49
CHAPTER 50
CHAPTER 51
CHAPTER 52
CHAPTER 53
CHAPTER 54
CHAPTER 55
CHAPTER 56
CHAPTER 57
CHAPTER 58
CHAPTER 59
CHAPTER 60
CHAPTER 61
CHAPTER 62
CHAPTER 63
EPILOGUE