“Really?”
She smiled. “You said that human beings are by definition idiots, and therefore shouldn’t inscribe anything in either stone or skin, and should only use water-soluble paint. That we needed to be able to erase the past and forget who we used to be.”
“Christ. Did I say that?”
“A blank page, you said. The freedom to become someone new, something better. That tattoos define you, force you to stick to old values and opinions. You used the example of having a tattoo of Jesus on your chest, which would then be an incentive to cling to old superstitions, because the tattoo would look ridiculous on an atheist.”
“Not bad. I’m impressed you remember that.”
“You’re a thoughtful man with many peculiar ideas, Harry.”
“I used to be better, maybe I should have had them tattooed.” Harry rubbed the back of his neck. The alarm didn’t want to stop, like an old-style car alarm that kept blaring outside the bedroom window, waiting for someone to come and turn it off. Had something other than a creaking floorboard set it off?
Kaja followed him into the hallway as he put his boots on.
“You know what?” she said when he was about to open the door. “You look like you’ve decided to survive.”
“What?”
“When I saw you at the church, you looked like you were waiting for the first decent excuse to die.”
—
Katrine looked at the screen of her phone to see who was calling. She hesitated, looked at the heap of reports on her desk and sighed.
“Good morning, Mona. So you’re working on a Sunday?”
“ISB,” Mona Daa said.
“Sorry?”
“In the same boat. Text speak.”
“Yes, I’m at work. Without trucks, Norway stops.”
“Sorry?”
“Old saying. Without women…Never mind, how can I helpVG?”
“An update on the Rakel case.”
“That’s what we have press conferences for.”
“And it’s getting to be quite a while since you last had one of those. And Anders seems—”
“The fact that you’re living with a forensics officer doesn’t mean you can jump the queue, Mona.”
“No, it puts me at thebackof the queue. Because you’re all so terrified it’ll look like I’m getting special treatment. What I was about to say is that Anders obviously isn’t saying anything, but he seems moody. Which I interpret as meaning that you’re treading water.”
“Investigations are never treading water,” Katrine said, massaging her forehead with her free hand. Dear God, she was tired. “We and Kripos are working systematically and tirelessly. Every line of inquiry that doesn’t take us closer to our goal takes us closer to our goal.”
“Great, but I think I’ve had that quote from you before, Bratt. Have you got anything a bit more sexy?”
“Sexy?” Katrine felt something come loose, something that had been threatening to come out for a long time. “OK, here’s sexy. Rakel Fauke was a wonderful person. And that’s more than I can say about you and your colleagues. If you can’t keep the day of rest sacred, then at least try to keep her memory and whatever remnants of integrity you’ve got left sacred, you fucking bitch. There, is that sexy enough for you?”
In the seconds that followed, Katrine was as speechless at what she had just said as Mona Daa.
“Do you want me to quote you on that?” Mona asked.
