The Water's Edge - By Karin Fossum Page 0,65

evening, the two of us, snuggled up on the sofa. All children deserve to have a treat every single day, all children deserve to be pampered.

'The worst moments are when my thoughts take control of me and I start to imagine what his last few hours must have been like. The pictures in my head are so disgusting they make me scream. What he had to go through. I don't know whether to think about it in all its horror so that I can suffer with Jonas or whether I should suppress it. The vicar says it's finished now and that Jonas isn't suffering any more, I'm the only one suffering now and he's right about that. I thought his funeral was so beautiful, the organ music and the flowers, and the poem that his teacher read out loud. I had to translate it into Norwegian for my parents, they don't speak any English. I visit his grave every single day. It took me for ever to choose his headstone; none of them was good enough. The one I chose was far too expensive. I had to take out a loan, but they were kind to me at the bank, they gave me a good rate. They all know about Jonas. The stone is heart-shaped with a cut-out in the middle and in it there is a lamp which lights up at night. There's an inscription underneath his name.

You were my darling angel.

Now there is only silence.

'Sometimes when I'm walking towards the church I notice how people stop at Jonas's grave. They stand there with a mixture of embarrassment and curiosity. It doesn't upset me, I like it that people stop and think, and then I wait until they've gone because I don't want to make them feel uncomfortable. I have reserved the plot next to him for myself, we're going to lie close to each other and I look forward to that. I'm not scared of dying. Jonas has done it, so I can do it too. I don't know much about eternity, but perhaps it's all right. I talk and talk and you listen with reverence. Perhaps you think that I'll be fine eventually because I can put words to my feelings. But the reality is that silence terrifies me.'

CHAPTER 40

'I've realised something,' Skarre said. 'We're always too late.'

'What do you mean?' Sejer said. 'Too late for what?'

'Once we arrive, the disaster is already a fact. Someone has lost control and the worst has happened. We can't ease the pain, either: isn't that a depressing thought?'

Sejer allowed himself a lenient smile. 'If you wanted to save lives, you should have become a fireman.'

Skarre circled the room restlessly. They were both waiting for the fax machine from which the result of Brein's saliva sample would soon emerge. They were paying the lab extra for a quick response.

'What are we going to do about Edwin?' Skarre asked. 'Even if we do get a perfect match, we have nothing to link Brein to Edwin.'

'I know. It's going to be a long winter.'

'That reminds me,' Skarre said. 'I was in Kaffebrenneriet the other day with some friends. And in a corner was a guy I recognised.'

'Go on?'

'It was Ingemar Brenner.'

'Tulla ?salid's boyfriend?'

'Tulla's boyfriend with a younger woman. At least twenty years younger. Blonde, attractive and giggling.'

'He must have finished with Tulla then,' Sejer said, 'and found himself a new girlfriend.'

'Or he's defrauding her,' Skarre said. 'Like he normally does. And I can't bear to think of that. Given what else has happened.'

'We mustn't jump to conclusions. Perhaps she's a relative. There's a lot we don't know.'

'Relatives don't snog each other,' Skarre said. 'I think we should warn Tulla, I think we owe her that. She's got enough to worry about as it is.'

'We're police officers,' Sejer objected. 'We don't get involved with people's love lives.'

'But this isn't about love,' Skarre argued. 'He's after her money.'

'I must remind you that Brenner has served his sentence. You have to give him a break.'

Skarre shook his head. 'Tulla's the one who deserves a break.'

'All right,' Sejer said. 'You win. Let's see if the right moment comes along.'

Skarre went over to the fax machine, bent down and stared at it.

'What are you doing?'

'I'm summoning up an answer,' Skarre said. 'Human beings are filled with psychic energies which we never use. I'm summoning them now.'

Sejer gave him a strange look. 'Now listen to me,' he said calmly. 'You don't like Wilfred Brein. You think he's a self-important