She spotted the officer she had sent down to reception to meet him. And — towering a head taller behind him — Harry Hole. He looked more rumpled than his suit, and it was as if she could see the alcohol on his breath before she smelled it. Katrine noticed how Sung-min automatically straightened up next to her.
Katrine drained the rest of the coffee cup. ‘Shall we get started?’
‘As you can see, we have a visitor,’ Katrine said.
The first part of the plan was working. It was as though the weariness and apathy on the faces in front of her had been washed away.
‘He needs no introduction, but for those of you who are very new, Harry Hole began as a detective here at Crime Squad in...’ She looked at Harry.
He grimaced behind the beard. ‘The Stone Age.’
Chuckling.
‘The Stone Age,’ Katrine said. ‘He’s played a major part in solving some of our biggest cases. He’s been a lecturer at Police College. He is, as far as I’m aware, the only Norwegian who has attended the FBI’s course on serial homicides in Chicago. I wanted to bring him into this investigative team but wasn’t allowed.’ Katrine looked out at the people present. It was only a question of time before Melling got wind that she had brought Harry into the inner sanctum. ‘So, all the better that Markus Røed has hired him to investigate the murders of Susanne and Bertine, which means more expertise is being brought to bear, if not by our superiors.’ She saw Sung-min’s mildly admonitory glance and Magnus Skarre’s furious glare. ‘I’ve invited Harry to speak about these murders in general terms, and so we can ask questions.’
‘First question!’ It was Skarre. His voice shaking with indignation. ‘Why should we listen to a guy talk about serial killers? This is TV show stuff, and two murders by the same hand doesn’t mean—’
‘It does.’ Harry got to his feet from a chair on the front row, but without turning to face the audience. For a moment he seemed to sway, as though the drop in blood pressure would make him tip over, before he stood more firmly. ‘Yes, it does mean it’s a serial killing.’
There was complete silence in the conference room as Harry took two long, slow strides towards the board before he pivoted round. The words came slowly at first, then gradually a little faster, as if his mouth needed to get up to speed. ‘The term serial homicide is an invention of the FBI, and their official definition is “a series of two or more murders, committed by the same offender as separate events”, simple as that.’ He fixed his eyes on Skarre. ‘But although this case is by definition a serial homicide, it doesn’t mean the offender necessarily conforms to your ideas of a serial killer from TV shows. He doesn’t need to be a psychopath, a sadist or a sex maniac. He could be a relatively normal person like you or me with an utterly banal motive, like money, for example. In fact, the second most common motive for serial killers in the USA is just that. So, a serial killer doesn’t need to be the type driven by voices in his head or an uncontrollable urge to kill again and again. But he can be. I say “he” because serial killers are, with few exceptions, men. The question is whether what we’re looking at can be that type of serial killer.’
‘The question,’ Skarre said, ‘is what you’re doing here when you work in the private sector. Why should we believe you want to help us?’
‘Well, why wouldn’t I help you, Skarre? I’ve been assigned to make sure — or at least increase the likelihood — that this case is solved. Not that I’m the one who solves it, necessarily. I can see that that concept is a little difficult for you to take in just like that, Skarre, so allow me to illustrate. If I’m tasked with saving people from burning to death in a building but the place is already ablaze, what do I do? Use my bucket or call the fire station located round the corner?’
Katrine suppressed a smile but noticed Sung-min did not.
‘So, you’re the fire brigade, and I’m on the phone. My job is to tell you what I know about where it’s burning. And as I happen to know a little about fires, I’ll tell you what I think is special about this particular fire. OK?’
Katrine saw some nodding of heads. Others glanced at one another, but no one objected.
