The Snowman ( PDFDrive )

‘Yes,’ Harry said.
‘Can anyone corroborate his story?’
‘They’re all dead. Birte, Sylvia, Idar Vetlesen. He could have been the Snowman. That was what
Katrine Bratt wanted to find out.’
‘Katrine? But you’re saying she’s the Snowman. Why would she ?’
‘I’m saying that she wanted to find out if he could be the Snowman. She wanted to set up a
scapegoat. Støp says that when he said that he had no alibi for the times of the murders she said
“Good” and told him he had just been appointed the Snowman. Then she started to strangle him.
Until she heard the car crash into the front door, realised we were on the way and fled. The plan was
probably that we should find Støp dead in the apartment and that it would look as if he had hanged
himself. And we would relax in the belief that we had found the guilty party. Just as she killed Idar
Vetlesen. And when she tried to shoot Filip Becker during his arrest.’
‘What? She tried ?’
‘She had her revolver pointed at him with the hammer cocked. I heard her release the hammer as I
positioned myself in the firing line.’
Gunnar Hagen closed his eyes and massaged his temples with the tips of his fingers. ‘I hear you.
But for the moment all this is just speculation, Harry.’
‘And then there’s the letter,’ Harry said.
‘The letter?’
‘From the Snowman. I found the document on her computer at home, dated before any of us knew
anything about the Snowman. And the paper in the printer.’
‘Christ!’ Hagen banged his elbows down hard on the desk and buried his face in his hands. ‘We
employed the woman here! Do you know what that means, Harry?’
‘Well, an almighty scandal. Lack of confidence in the whole police force. Heads will roll in the
upper echelons.’
A crack opened between Hagen’s fingers and he squinted at Harry. ‘Thank you for being so
explicit.’
‘My pleasure.’
‘I’ll summon the Chief Superintendent and the Chief Constable. In the meantime I want you and
Bjørn Holm to keep this under your hats. What about Arve Støp? Will he blab?’
‘Hardly, boss.’ Harry smirked. ‘He’s run out.’
‘Run out of what?’
‘Integrity.’