The Snowman ( PDFDrive )

The canteen door burst open. It was Holm.
‘TV2,’ he said. ‘It’s on the news now. Names and photos of Rafto and Vetlesen.’
And with that came the chaos. Even though it was eleven o’clock at night, within half an hour the
foyer of Police HQ was full of journalists and photographers. They were all waiting for Kripos
head, Espen Lepsvik, or Hagen, the head of the Crime Squad, the Chief Superintendent, the Chief
Constable, or basically anyone, to come down and say something. Mumbling among themselves
that the police had to acknowledge their responsibility to keep the general public informed about
such a serious, shocking and circulation-increasing matter.
Harry stood by the banister in the atrium looking down at them. They were circling like restless
sharks, consulting each other, duping each other, helping each other, bluffing and scenting titbits.
Had anyone heard anything? Would there be a press conference tonight? Or at least an impromptu
briefing? Was Vetlesen already on his way to Thailand? The deadline was looming, something had
to happen.
Harry had read that the word deadline originated from the battlefields of the American Civil War
when, for lack of anything material to lock prisoners behind, they were gathered together and a line
was drawn around them in the dirt. Which became known as the dead line, and anyone who strayed
beyond it was shot. And that was precisely what they were, the news warriors down there in the
foyer: prisoners of war restrained by a deadline.
Harry was on his way to the meeting room with the others when his mobile phone rang. It was
Mathias.
‘Have you listened to the voicemail I left you?’ he asked.
‘Haven’t had the chance, things are hotting up here,’ Harry said. ‘Can we talk about it later?’
‘Of course,’ Mathias said. ‘But it’s about Idar. I saw on the news that he was a wanted man.’
Harry shifted the phone to his other hand. ‘Tell me now then.’
‘Idar rang me early today. He was asking about carnadrioxide. He often rings me to ask about
medicines – pharmacy’s not Idar’s strong suit – so I didn’t think too much about it at the time. I’m
ringing because carnadrioxide is an extremely dangerous medicine. Just thought you would want to
know.’
‘Sure, sure,’ Harry said, rummaging through his pockets until he found a half-chewed pencil and a
tram ticket. ‘Carna ?’
‘Carnadrioxide. It contains venom from the cone snail and is used as a painkiller for cancer and
HIV patients. It’s a thousand times stronger than morphine and just a tiny overdose will paralyse
muscles with immediate effect. The respiratory organs and heart will stop and you will die
instantly.’
Harry made notes. ‘OK. What else did he say?’
‘Nothing. He sounded stressed. Thanked me and rang off.’
‘Any idea where he was ringing from?’