The Snowman ( PDFDrive )

‘Eh, Gunnar?’ repeated the Chief Superintendent.
It was just that he was so tired. So tired to the soul. This is for you, he thought. This is what you
would have done, darling.
31
DAY 21.
The South Pole.
HARRY AND R AKEL STOOD AT THE BOW OF THE WOODEN ship Fram in the museum,
observing a group of Japanese tourists taking pictures of the ropes and masts as, with smiles and
nods, they ignored the guide explaining that this simple vessel had transported both Fridtjof Nansen
on his failed attempt to be the first to the North Pole in 1893 and Roald Amundsen when he beat
Scott to the South Pole in 1911.
‘I left my watch on your table,’ Rakel said.
‘That’s an old trick,’ Harry said. ‘It means you’ll have to come back for it.’
She laid a hand over his on the railing and shook her head. ‘Mathias gave it to me for my birthday.’
Which I forgot, Harry thought.
‘We’re going out and he’s going to ask, if I’m not wearing it. And you know what what I’m like
about lying. Could you ?’
‘I’ll drop it off before four,’ he said.
‘Thanks. I’ll be working, but just put it in the bird box on the wall by the door. That’s ’
She didn’t need to say any more. That was where she had always put the house key when he got
there after she had gone to bed. Harry slapped the railing with his hand. ‘According to Arve Støp,
Roald Amundsen’s problem was that he won. He thinks all the best stories are about losers.’
Rakel didn’t answer.
‘I suppose it’s a kind of consolation,’ Harry said. ‘Shall we go?’
Outside, it was snowing.
‘So it’s over now?’ she said. ‘Until next time?’
He shot her a quick glance to assure himself she was talking about the Snowman and not them.
‘We don’t know where the bodies are,’ he said. ‘I was with her in her cell this morning before going
to the airport, but she won’t say anything. Just stares into the air as if there’s someone there.’
‘Did you tell anyone you were going to Bergen alone?’ she asked out of the blue.