The Snowman ( PDFDrive )

‘The Murri was the nickname of a person who is now dead,’ Harry said from out of the darkness.
‘A murri is an Aborigine from Queensland in Australia. While this murri was alive he killed women
all over Australia. No one knows for certain how many. His real name was Robin Toowoomba.’
The fan whirred and buzzed.
‘Serial killer,’ said Bjørn Holm. ‘The one you killed.’
Harry nodded.
‘Does that mean you think we’re dealing with one now?’
‘As a result of this letter, we can’t rule out the possibility.’
‘Whoa there. Hold your horses!’ Skarre raised his palms. ‘How many times have you cried wolf
since you became a celeb because of the Aussie stuff, Harry?’
‘Three times,’ Harry said. ‘At least.’
‘And still we haven’t seen a serial killer in Norway.’ Skarre glanced at Bratt as if to make sure she
was following. ‘Is it because of that FBI course you did on serial killers? Is that what’s making you
see them everywhere?’
‘Maybe,’ Harry said.
‘Let me remind you that apart from that nurse feller who gave injections to a couple of old fogeys,
who were at death’s door anyway, we haven’t had a single serial killer in Norway. Ever. Those guys
exist in the USA, but even there usually only in films.’
‘Wrong,’ said Katrine Bratt.
The others turned to face her. She stifled a yawn.
‘Sweden, France, Belgium, Britain, Italy, Holland, Denmark, Russia and Finland. And we’re only
talking solved cases here. No one utters a word about hidden statistics.’
Harry couldn’t see Skarre’s flushed face in the dark, just the profile of his chin jutting forward
aggressively in Bratt’s direction.
‘We haven’t even got a body, and I can show you a drawer full of letters like this one. People who
are a lot nuttier than this this snowguy.’
‘The difference’, Harry said, getting up and strolling over to the window, ‘is that this headcase is
thorough. The name Murri was never mentioned in the papers at the time. It was the nickname
Robin Toowoomba used when he was a boxer with a travelling circus.’
The last of the daylight leaked out through a crack in the cloud cover. He looked at his watch. Oleg
had insisted on going early so that they could take in Slayer as well.
‘Where we gonna begin then?’ Bjørn Holm mumbled.