Harry Hole Oslo Sequence 10 - Police

damp and smells. When the Fraud Squad picked up on the mysterious sum of money, Truls was labouring under the misapprehension that it would put me in a tricky position if he said where he got the money from. Anyway, it’s all sorted now.’
    Bellman rolled up his jacket sleeve and the dial of his TAG Heuer watch shone in the darkness. ‘If there are no further questions about the bullet from my gun I have other things to do, Harry. And I suppose you do too. Lectures have to be prepared, for example.’
    ‘Well, I’m spending all my time on this now.’
    ‘You used to spend all your time on this.’
    ‘Meaning?’
    ‘We have to make savings where we can, so I’m going to order, with immediate effect, that Hagen’s alternative little group stops using consultants.’
    ‘Ståle Aune and me. That’s half the group.’
    ‘Fifty per cent of staffing costs. I’m congratulating myself on the decision already. But as the group is barking up the wrong tree I think I’ll cancel the whole project.’
    ‘Have you got that much to fear, Bellman?’
    ‘You don’t have to fear anything when you’re the biggest animal in the jungle, Harry. And I am, after all—’
    ‘—the Chief of Police. You certainly are. The Chief.’
    Bellman got up. ‘I’m glad that’s sunk in. And I know that when you begin to pull in trusted colleagues like Berntsen, this is not an impartial investigation but a personal vendetta stage-managed by a bitter, alcoholic former policeman. And as Chief of Police it is my duty to protect the reputation of the force. So you know what I’ll answer when I’m asked why we shelved the case of the Russian who got a corkscrew inserted around his carotid artery at Come As You Are, don’t you? I’ll answer that we have to prioritise investigations, and that the case is nowhere near shelved, it’s just not a priority at this moment. And even if everyone with a toe in the police force knows the rumours about who was responsible for it, I will pretend I haven’t heard them. Because I’m the Chief of Police.’
    ‘Is that supposed to be a threat, Bellman?’
    ‘Do I need to threaten a PHS lecturer? Have a good evening, Harry.’
    Harry watched Bellman sidle along the row down to the fence, buttoning up his jacket as he went. He knew he should keep his mouth shut. This was a card he had decided to hold back in case it was needed. But now he had been told to pack everything in, there was nothing left to lose. All or nothing. He waited until Bellman had one leg over the fence.
    ‘Did you ever meet René Kalsnes, Bellman?’
    Bellman froze mid-stretch. Katrine had run a cross-check on Bellman and Kalsnes without coming up with a single hit. And if they had so much as shared a restaurant bill, bought a cinema ticket online, had seats near each other on a plane or a train she would have found it. But, well, he froze. Stood with one leg on either side of the fence.
    ‘Why such a stupid question, Harry?’
    Harry took a drag on his cigarette. ‘It was fairly well known that René Kalsnes sold sex to men whenever the opportunity arose. And you’ve watched gay porn online.’
    Bellman hadn’t moved; he had evidently committed himself. Harry couldn’t see the expression on his face in the darkness, only the white patches shining in the same way his watch dial had.
    ‘Kalsnes was known as a greedy cynic without a moral bone in his body,’ Harry said, studying the cigarette glow. ‘Imagine a married man, with significant social standing, being blackmailed by someone like René. Perhaps he had some photos of them having sex. That would sound like a motive for murder, wouldn’t it? But René might have talked about the married man and afterwards someone might come forward and reveal that there was a motive. So the married man gets someone to commit the murder. Someone he knows very well, someone he already has a hold over, someone he trusts. The murder is committed while the married man has a perfect alibi, a meal in Paris, for example. But afterwards the two childhood friends fall out. The hit man is suspended from his job and the married man refuses to tidy up for him even though, as the boss, he is actually in a position to do this. So the hit man takes a used bullet from the married man’s gun and puts it in the evidence box. Either out of sheer revenge or to pressurise the married man into giving him his job back. You see, it’s not so easy for someone unfamiliar with the art of burning to have