“No, he’s at Alexandra’s.” Alexandra’s voice cut into Harry’s ear.
“Who’s that?” Kaja asked.
“That…” Harry said, “was Alexandra.”
“In that case I won’t disturb you. Goodnight.”
“You’re not disturbing…”
Kaja had already hung up.
Harry looked at his phone. Put it back in his pocket. He stubbed the cigarette out on the cube light on the bedside table and swung his legs off the bed.
“Where are you going?”
“Home,” Harry said, then bent over and kissed her on the forehead.
—
Harry was walking west quickly as his brain worked things through.
He took out his phone and called Bjørn Holm.
“Harry?”
“It was Finne.”
“We’ll wake the baby, Harry,” Bjørn said. “Can we do this tomorrow?”
“Svein Finne is Valentin Gjertsen’s father.”
“Oh, shit.”
“The motive’s blood vengeance. I’m certain of it. You need to put out an alert for Finne, and once you’ve got his address, you need to get a search warrant. If you find the knife, it’s case closed…”
“I hear you, Harry. But Gert is finally asleep, and I need to get some rest as well. And I’m not so sure we’d get a search warrant on those grounds. They’ll probably want something more concrete.”
“But thisisblood vengeance, Bjørn. It’s in our nature. Wouldn’t you happily do the same if someone had killed Gert?”
“That’s one hell of a question.”
“Think about it.”
“Oh, I don’t know, Harry.”
“You don’tknow?”
“Tomorrow. OK?”
“Of course.” Harry closed his eyes tightly and swore silently to himself. “Sorry if I’m behaving like an idiot, Bjørn, I just can’t bear to—”
“It’s fine, Harry. Let’s talk about it tomorrow. And while you’re suspended, it would probably be best if you don’t tell anyone we’re talking about the case.”
“Of course. Get some sleep, mate.”
Harry opened his eyes and slipped his phone back into his pocket. Saturday night. Ahead of him on the pavement stood a drunk, sobbing girl with her head pressed against the wall. A guy was standing behind her with his head bowed; he had one hand consolingly on her back. “He’s fucking other women!” the girl cried. “He doesn’t care about me! No one cares about me!”
“Ido,” the guy said quietly.
