The Last Fix (23 page)

    'Yes,
it is.' 'Is fru Ås a friend of yours?'

    'No,
the invitation came via Katrine. Annabeth is the boss of the rehab centre where
Katrine was a patient, a part-time patient.'

    'How
long did you stay at the party?'

    'I
left at about midnight.'

    'Did you
leave alone or with someone else?'

    'Alone…
that is there were several of us splitting the taxi fare.'

    'And
Katrine?'

    'She
was ill and went home.'

    'Before
you?'

    'I
think so.'

    'Why
do you think she left the party before you?'

    'She
was in a bad way, throwing up.'

    Gunnarstranda
furrowed his brow; his interest was caught. 'Did she have a habit of throwing
up?'

    Eidesen:
'A habit? She was ill.'

    'But
did she suffer from an eating disorder? Did she often throw up?'

    'Not
at all.' Eidesen continued in a dry voice, 'After we had eaten, a good while
later, she went to the bathroom and threw up. She said she didn't feel well.'
He fell silent.

    'So
you interpreted this behaviour of hers as a case of illness, gastric flu or
something like that?' 'Yes, that is, at first I thought she might have been
drinking.'

    'But
she hadn't been?'

    'No.
She said she hadn't touched a drop all evening.'

    'But
did she seem drunk?'

    'No.'

    'What
did you do? Ring for a taxi?'

    'No.'

    Gunnarstranda
waited. Eidesen cleared his throat again. 'I think she did that. She said she
wanted to go, and a little later she was nowhere to be seen.'

    'But
you didn't see her go?'

    'No.
I didn't see her anywhere, so I presumed she must have left.'

    'Did
you have a row?'

    'No.'

    'Why
didn't you say goodbye or make sure she found her way home OK?'

    'There
was a bit of tension between us.'

    'So
you did have a row?'

    Eidesen
shrugged.

    'She
was ill, wanted to go home. You wanted to stay. You couldn't agree. You had a
row?'

    'We
didn't have a row.'

    'If I
were to say a guest at the party saw you involved in a loud altercation before
she left, what would you say?'

    'OK,
that's true. But I don't remember it being loud. It was more the atmosphere
that was unpleasant. She didn't want me to stay.'

    Gunnarstranda
was quiet. The sunshine broke through the large south-facing windows and specks
of dust danced in the air. 'Ole,' he said. 'May I call you Ole?'

    Eidesen
nodded.

    'In
cases like these, out of self-respect, you must stick to the truth from the
very first moment. Otherwise you'll get into a lot of trouble. Do you
understand?' Without waiting for a response he went on: 'Well, Ole, did you
have a row or not? If you did, what did you row about?'

    'She
wanted to leave the party because she was ill, but I didn't want to go. It was
fun there so then she got, well, she got… annoyed with me. That was what it
was. She was annoyed that I wouldn't accompany her home.'

    'Did
she say that? That you should accompany her?'

    'No,
but I interpreted her annoyance in that way.'

    'Tell
me about her illness.'

    'Well,
she just fainted, sideways. We were standing and chatting to some women from
the centre, including the one whose house it was, Annabeth s. All of a sudden
Katrine collapsed, towards me, with her eyes rolling. Out cold. There was a bit
of a palaver and I went to the bathroom with her. She had just fainted for a
second or two, then she threw up in the toilet bowl.'

    'Did
she give any explanation for this attack?'

    'No.'

    'Had
this happened before?'

    Eidesen
jutted forward his lips and considered the question. 'Not like that. I don't
think I'd ever seen her faint before, but she had been really dreading this
party.'

    'Why
was that?'

    'That's
how she was. Couldn't quite manage social gatherings with people she didn't
know. And she was dreading spending a whole evening with these particular
people. She felt she was on display because she was a patient.'

    'But
did she express her terror that day?'

    'Not
in so many words. But…' Ole Eidesen pulled a face. 'She had been very bitchy
earlier in the day. Argued with me a lot.'

    'Argued
with you?'
^v

    'Yes,
we were at her place. I was watching football and then we started arguing. That
is, she started.'

    'What
about?'

    Eidesen
shook his head. 'She wanted to use the phone and I wasn't allowed to watch TV.
She turned down the sound and we had a row. It was the Saturday afternoon
fixture for the pools coupon, wasn't it. She was in a real state!'

    'And
you interpreted this as a bout of nerves?'

    'Yes.'

    'And
what was she nervous about?'

    'Going
to the party. She didn't want to go, but felt she had to.'

    'Back
to the party. What were you talking about when she fainted?'

    'I
don't remember. It was just chat. I think Annabeth was complimenting her on
being so clever and all that. I don't remember her exact words.'

    'Were
you drunk?'

    'I
was in a good mood. There was wine with the meal and brandy afterwards, quite a
lot of brandy.'

    'Have
you ever used any other intoxicating substances?'

    'Eh?'

    Gunnarstranda:
'You were in a relationship with a drug addict. You must understand what I
mean. Did you consume other substances apart from spirits and wine that
evening?'

    Eidesen's
face went rigid. 'She was not a drug addict. In a few months she would have
been regarded as fully rehabilitated. And I do not use other intoxicating substances,
as you put it!'

    'So
you didn't take any other substances apart from alcohol that night, is that
what I am to understand?'

    'Yes.'

    'You
each have your own flats. Had you thought about living together?'

    'No,
it was still early in the relationship. But we stayed over at each other's
place now and then.'

    'And
you were considered a couple?'

    'By
some perhaps.'

    'And
you?' Gunnarstranda said sardonically. 'Did you consider this a relationship?'

    'Of
course.'

    'Did
you leave the party alone?'

    'No,
I took a taxi with some of the others after Katrine left.'

    'Who
was that?'

    'The
guy who lived there, Bjørn, and a gay man called Goggen with his partner
- a guy whose name I don't remember - and a woman called Merethe Fossum.'

    'When
was this?'

    'Around
midnight.'

    'But
you had just told your girlfriend that you didn't want to leave the party?'

    'Yes,
but there was this group of people in party mood. Goggen, he's such a funny
man, and Bjørn was all right.'

    'The
lady?'

    'Yes,
she was all right, too.'

    'Did
you already know Merethe Fossum?'

    'No.'

    'You
met her there for the first time? At the party?'

    'That's
correct.'

    'Where
did you go?'

    'To
the city centre, to Smuget, a restaurant.'

    'The
taxi dropped you off outside the restaurant?'

    'Yes.'

    'Then?'

    'We
paid and went in.' - 'Everyone?'

    Eidesen
thought about this. 'I think so. I mean three of us did. The two gay men wanted
to go to another place. We three went into Smuget.'

    'You
and the lady and Gerhardsen?' 'There was a bit of a queue outside. I stayed
with Merethe. Gerhardsen went off on his own, but I would guess he paid and
went in.'

    Gunnarstranda
glanced at Frølich. 'Do you often go to restaurants where you have to
pay to go in?'

    Frølich:
'Smuget is not a restaurant in its normal sense; it's more a club with dance
floors and stages for live music…'

    Gunnarstranda
turned back to Eidesen.

    'Did
you see any of the others as you went in?'

    'I
saw Merethe mostly.'

    'What
did you do?'

    'We
danced a little, listened to music, had a few beers… and…'

    'And
Gerhardsen?'

    'I
have no idea.'

    'You
didn't see him in there?'

    'We
were together in the queue, but after that…' Eidesen shook his head.

    'What
time did you return home?'

    'I
didn't look at my watch, but it was late. It was light and I was worried.
Katrine was not here and we usually spent the weekend together - the nights. So
I had somehow expected to find her here.'

    'Did
you see any signs that suggested she had been here?' 'She may have been, but I
don't think so.'

    'Why
not?'

    Eidesen
rolled his shoulders. 'How could she have been here? I mean no one had made any
food, no one had touched anything. If she had been here I would have noticed.'

    'So
you came back, but she wasn't here. What did you do then?'

    'I
rang her place.'

    'In
the middle of the night?'

    'Of
course. It was crazy that she wasn't here, with her being unwell and all that.'

    Gunnarstranda
got up and walked to the window. 'But suppose you had been ill,' he said.
'Suppose you had felt nauseous and had thrown up and hadn't felt like being
with other people, wouldn't it have been natural to go back to your own place,
go to bed and hope you woke up fit and well the next day?'

    'Yes,
it would, but I would have left a message on the answer machine of the person
waiting for me.'

    'And
there weren't any messages on the machine?' Gunnarstranda lifted up a black
object beside the white telephone on the window sill. 'On this?'

    'There
wasn't a message, no.'

    'And
she usually left you messages?'

    'Yes.'

    Gunnarstranda
nodded. 'Did she pick up the phone when you called?'

    'No.'

    'What
did you do?'

    'I
went to sleep.'

    'Yes,
and then?'

    'Well,
I slept.'

    'I
thought you ran into the forest and got scratched by thorns. Wasn't that what
you said?'

    'No,
that was last night. I couldn't sleep after I heard what had happened.'

    'But
that night you slept?'

    'Yes,
like a log.'

    'Even
though she had vanished without a trace?'

    'She
hadn't.'