Death in a Cold Climate by Robert Barnard

Author:Robert Barnard
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scribner

CHAPTER 11

MARITAL RELATIONS

‘That’s funny,’ said Sergeant Ekland, with an expression of sublime complacency on his face. ‘Aren’t women funny. She never said anything about that to me.’

‘No,’ said Fagermo, with equal complacency.

It was the next morning, and Ekland was sitting in Fagermo’s office–massive, self-congratulatory and elegantly lethargic. He had the happy knack of never being able to see that he had done wrong, or done too little, or might have done better. He had the equally happy knack of giving to everything he did an equal amount of attention or inattention: knocking up a shelf in the garage or investigating a murder case occupied in his mind places of equal importance or unimportance, and were accordingly done in much the same take-it-or-leave-it manner. Such men live to a ripe and inconvenient old age.

‘Well anyway, now we have a woman in the case,’ said Fagermo. ‘Which would at least have the effect of brightening it up, except that it’s a totally unknown woman.’

‘What about that Professor’s wife you were talking about?’ asked Ekland. ‘The one you said was the nymphet type? Couldn’t it be her? You said she was blonde.’

‘Oh she was, along with fifty per cent of this town. I suppose she’s about twenty-five, though she looks a lot younger. There’s no reason to think it’s her rather than anybody else, though. She’d be a long way from home–she lives on the mainland.’

‘Some things are best done a long way from home,’ said Sergeant Ekland sagely. ‘I’d follow it up if I were you. As a matter of fact, I think I’ve heard of her before.’

‘Really?’

‘The boys did a raid at the students’ place a few months ago–drugs–and I have an idea she was one of the people there. Wife of one of the professors, but more of an age to be a student. Can’t be many of them.’

‘I don’t know about that. I have the impression that’s a bit of an occupational hazard. Did you say drugs? That could be interesting. Was she brought in?’

‘Well, actually it wasn’t drugs. They went through the place with a toothcomb, but there wasn’t a trace. It must have been some kind of hoax–they had a tip-off by telephone, and that evening the students did something else: had a demonstration about something, or blew something up, I forget what. All they found was a nice sexy party with nothing worse than alcohol. They were all students there except her.’

‘So she sort of stood out, did she? Was it really a sexy party, or are you making that up?’

‘Would I?’ asked Ekland, injured. ‘There were ten or twelve there, mostly men, nobody had a stitch on, all the furniture had been moved out and there were mattresses all over the floor. By the time our boys had finished the investigation they were down to their underpants themselves. Just my luck I wasn’t on duty! But there were no drugs.’

‘Well, well, just an ordinary student party, eh? I wonder if she goes in for that sort of thing often.

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