"Unfortunately, I'm not allowed to divulge certain information to you, even though the two of you were close. She never mentioned anything of the kind?"
"No."
Sejer's voice was not unkind, but he spoke with deliberate slowness, enunciating carefully, and it lent the grey-haired figure a good deal of authority.
"Tell me about your job. What you do at the factory."
"We move around. One week we do the packing, one week we take care of the machines, and one week we do deliveries."
"Do you like it?"
"You don't have to think," he said.
"You don't have to think?"
"About the job. You can do it on automatic, and think about other things."
"Like what, for instance?"
"Anything at all," he said. His tone was defensive. Maybe he didn't realise it, maybe it was a habit from his childhood, years of reprimands and beatings having forced him to weigh every word.
"How are you spending your time these days? The time you normally would have spent with Annie?"
"Trying to find out what happened," he blurted out.
"Do you have any leads for us?"
"I'm searching my memory."
"I'm not sure that you're telling me everything you know."
"I didn't do anything to Annie. You think I did it, don't you?"
"To be honest, I don't know. You're going to have to help me, Halvor. It sounds as if Annie had undergone some sort of change in personality. Do you agree?"
"Yes."
"The reason for such an occurrence is partially understood. Several factors can be responsible. For example, people might change drastically if they lose someone close to them; or if they experience serious trauma, or suffer a serious illness. Young people who are known as decent, hard-working, and diligent can become completely indifferent to the world even though they might recover from a physical trauma. Another thing that can lead to a change in personality is drug abuse. Or a brutal assault, such as rape."
"Was Annie raped?"
Sejer chose not to answer this question. "Does any of this sound familiar?"
"I think she had a secret," he said at last.
"You think she had a secret? Go on."
"Something that had upset her whole life. Something she couldn't ignore."
"Are you going to tell me that you don't know what it was?"
"Yes. I have no idea."
"Who, aside from you, knew Annie best?"
"Her father."
"But they didn't really communicate?"
"It's still possible to know someone well."
"I see. So if anyone might understand her silence, it would be Eddie?"
"It's a question of whether you can get him to say anything. It'd be better if you got him to come here without Ada. Then he'll talk more."
Sejer nodded. "Did you ever meet Axel Bj酶rk?"
"S酶lvi's father? Once. I went with the girls to visit him."
"What did you think of him?"
"He was OK. Said we should come back. Looked unhappy when we left. But Ada went totally berserk when she found out, and so S酶lvi had to go there in secret. After a while she didn't feel like it any more, so I guess Ada had her way."
"What kind of a girl is S酶lvi?"
"There's not much to say about her. You must have seen all there is to see; it doesn't take long."
Sejer hid his face by leaning his head on his hands. "Why don't we have a Coke? The air is so dry in here. Nothing but synthetic materials and fibreglass and misery."
Halvor nodded and relaxed a bit. But then he grew tense again. Maybe this was some kind of tactic, this first small glimpse of sympathy from the grey-haired inspector. He probably had some reason for being friendly. He must have taken courses, studied interrogation techniques and psychology. Knew how to find a crack and then drive in a wedge. The door closed behind him, and Halvor took the opportunity to stretch his legs. He went over to the window and looked out. On the desk stood a PC, an American Compaq model. Maybe that's where they had discovered his background. Maybe they had passwords, just like Annie; information was a sensitive matter, after all. He wondered what kind of passwords they used, and who had thought them up.
Sejer came back and, seeing Halvor looking at the PC, said, "That thing is just a toy. I don't like it much."
"Why not?"
"It's not really on my side."
"Of course not. It can't choose sides at all; that's why you can depend on it."
"You have one, don't you?"
"No, I have a Mac. I play games on it. Annie and I used to play games together."