The Snowman ( PDFDrive )

with a soft thud and the light from the street lamp fell on the man’s face. Then Harry let go. The
man doubled up, coughing.
‘Come on,’ Harry shouted over the relentless howl, grabbed the man under the arm and dragged
him over the road. He unlocked the front door and shoved the man inside.
‘What the hell are you doing here?’ Harry said. ‘And how do you know where I live?’
‘I’ve been trying to ring the number you gave me all evening. In the end I rang directory enquiries
and got your address.’
Harry observed the man. That is, he observed the ghost of the man. Even in the remand cell there
had been more of Professor Filip Becker left.
‘I had to switch off my mobile,’ Harry said.
Harry walked ahead of Becker up to his flat, opened the door, kicked off his boots, went into the
kitchen and switched on the kettle.
‘I saw you on Bosse this evening,’ Becker said. He had come into the kitchen, still wearing his coat
and shoes. His face was ashen, lifeless. ‘You were brave. So I thought I should be brave too. I owe
you that.’
‘Owe me?’
‘You believed me when no one else did. You saved me from public humiliation.’
‘Mm.’ Harry pulled up a chair for the professor, but he shook his head.
‘I’ll be off in a minute, but I’ll tell you something no one else must know. I’m not sure if it has
anything to do with the case, but it’s about Jonas.’
‘Uh-huh?’
‘I took some blood from him the night I visited Camilla Lossius.’
Harry remembered the plaster on Jonas’s forearm.
‘Plus a mouth swab. Sent it to the paternity section of the Institute of Forensic Medicine for DNA
testing.’
‘Uh-huh? I thought you had to go through a solicitor.’
‘You did before. Now anyone can buy the test. Two thousand eight hundred kroner per person. Bit
more if you want a quick answer. Which I did. And the answer came today. Jonas ’ Becker paused
and took a deep breath. ‘Jonas is not my son.’
Harry nodded slowly.
Becker rocked back on his heels as if about to start a run-up.
‘I asked them to match him against all the data in the data bank. They found a perfect match.’