The Snowman ( PDFDrive )

cleansing, the fight against disease, the crusade. He doubted that anyone would thank or honour
him. This he did know, however: they would all remember him, long after his death. For he had
finally found what was to be his fame for all posterity, the masterpiece, the final flourish of his
sword.
It was chance that set the ball rolling.
He saw him on TV. The policeman. Harry Hole. Hole was being interviewed because he had hunted
down a serial killer in Australia. And Mathias was reminded of Gert Rafto’s advice: ‘Not on my
beat.’ He also recalled, however, the satisfaction of having taken the life of the hunter. The feeling
of supremacy. The feeling of power. Nothing later had quite compared with the murder of the police
officer. And this Herostratically famous Hole appeared to have something of Rafto about him, some
of the same offhandedness and anger.
Nonetheless, he might have forgotten all about Harry Hole had it not been for one of the
gynaecologists at Marienlyst Clinic mentioning in the canteen the next day that he had heard this, to
all outward appearances, solid detective off the TV was an alkie and a nutcase. Gabriella, a
paediatrician, added that she had the son of Hole’s girlfriend as a patient. Oleg, a nice boy.
‘He’ll be an alkie then, as well,’ said the gynaecologist. ‘It’s in the bloody genes, you know.’
‘Hole’s not the father,’ Gabriella countered. ‘But what’s interesting is that the man who’s registered
as the father, some professor or other in Moscow, is also an alcoholic.’
‘Hey, I didn’t hear that!’ shouted Idar Vetlesen over the laughter. ‘Don’t forget client
confidentiality, folks!’
Lunch carried on, but Mathias was unable to forget what Gabriella had said. Or, rather, the way she
had expressed herself: ‘the man who’s registered as the father’.
Accordingly, after lunch, Mathias followed the paediatrician to her office, went in behind her and
closed the door.
‘May I ask you something, Gabriella?’
‘Oh, hello,’ she said, and a flush of anticipation spread up her cheeks. Mathias knew she liked him,
he supposed she thought he was handsome, friendly, funny and a good listener. She had even,
indirectly, asked him out on a couple of occasions, but he had declined.
‘As you may know I’m allowed to use some of the clinic’s blood samples for my research,’ he said.
‘And in fact I found something interesting in the sample of the boy you were talking about. The son
of Hole’s girlfriend.’
‘My understanding is that their relationship is now a thing of the past.’
‘You don’t say? There was something in the blood sample, so I was wondering if there was
anything in the family ’
Mathias thought he could discern a certain disappointment in her face. As for himself, he was far
from disappointed by what she had to tell him.
‘Thank you,’ he said, standing up and exiting. He could feel his heart pumping eager, life-giving