The Snowman ( PDFDrive )

had come out. Enough to give you a motive for killing those who could expose you: the mothers
and Idar Vetlesen. Isn’t that correct?’
‘I ’ Støp’s gaze began to roam.
‘You?’
‘I have nothing else to say.’ Støp fell forward and lowered his head into his hands. ‘Talk to
Krohn.’
‘Fine,’ Harry said. He didn’t have much time. Though he did have one last card. A good one. ‘I’ll
tell them you said that.’
Harry waited. Støp was still bent forward, motionless. Then at last he raised his head.
‘Who’s them?’
‘The press of course,’ Harry chatted. ‘There is reason to believe they will give us a bit of a grilling,
don’t you think? This is what you people would call a scoop, wouldn’t you?’
Something clicked behind Støp’s eyes.
‘How do you mean?’ he asked, but with intonation that suggested he already knew the answer.
‘A well-known figure thinks he’s luring a young woman home whereas in fact the opposite is the
case,’ Harry said, studying the painting on the wall behind Støp. It seemed to represent a naked
woman balancing on a tightrope. ‘He’s persuaded to wear a pig mask in the belief that this is a sex
game and this is how he’s found by the police, naked and crying in his bath.’
‘You can’t tell them that!’ Støp exploded. ‘That that’s breaking the principle of client
confidentiality, isn’t it.’
‘Well,’ Harry said, ‘it might be breaking the image you’ve built up around yourself, Støp. However,
it doesn’t break any obligation to remain silent. More the opposite.’
‘The opposite?’ Støp almost yelled. The chattering of teeth was gone now and the colour was back
in his cheeks.
Harry coughed. ‘My only capital and means of production is my personal integrity.’ Harry waited
until he saw that Støp was savouring his own words. ‘And as a policeman that means, among other
things, keeping the public informed to the extent that it is possible without damaging the
investigation. In this case, it is possible.’
‘You can’t do that,’ Støp said.
‘I can, and I will.’
‘That that would crush me.’
‘More or less the way Liberal crushes someone every week on the front page?’
Støp opened and closed his mouth like a fish in an aquarium.