He Who Fears the Wolf by Karin Fossum

Author:Karin Fossum
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, azw3
Tags: Detective, Mystery, Police Procedural, Mystery fiction, Police, Mystery & Detective, Sejer, Fiction - Mystery, General, Norwegian (Language) Contemporary Fiction, Suspense, Mystery & Detective - Series, Mystery & Detective - Police Procedural, Fiction, Konrad (Fictitious character), Police - Norway
ISBN: 9780156030496
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Published: 2006-06-05T07:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 11

"Why was he committed?" Sejer asked. "Can you tell me that? Did he threaten someone?"

Dr Struel shook her head. "He stopped eating. When he came to us he was badly undernourished."

"Why wasn't he eating?"

"He couldn't decide what he wanted to have. He would sit at the lunch table, wavering between two different kinds of meat."

"What did you do?"

"When he gave up and went back to his room I made him a sandwich and took it to him. No milk or coffee, just the sandwich. I put it on his bedside table. The first time, he wouldn't touch it."

"Why not?"

"I made a mistake. I cut the sandwich in half, and then he couldn't decide which part to eat first."

"Are you saying that it's possible to starve to death because it's too hard to make a decision?"

"Yes."

He shook his head as he tried to comprehend how inexpressibly difficult it could be to handle daily life. "And you really believe that the man has supernatural powers?"

She threw out her hands. "I'm just telling you what I saw. Other people will tell you other stories."

"Have you ever asked him how he does it?"

"I asked him, 'Who taught you that?' He smiled and said, 'The magician. The magician in New York.'"

"But surely it's a coincidence."

"I don't think so. Once in a while things happen that we simply can't explain."

"Not for me," he said.

"No?" She was teasing him again. "You're one of those people who understands everything?"

He felt ridiculous. "That's not what I meant. What else was he able to do?"

"One time a group of us were playing cards in the smoking lounge. Errki was there too, but he wasn't playing. He can't stand games. It was late at night and dark outside, and the lights were on. Suddenly Errki said, in his peculiar, quiet way, 'We should have candles on the table.' Yes, I thought, that would be cosy. I asked him to get some from the kitchen, but he refused. No-one else wanted to go either. They said candles would get in the way of the cards. I felt sorry for Errki. For the first time he had made a suggestion, and no-one listened. The next instant the power went out. The lounge was plunged into darkness, and so was the rest of the building. There was a lot of commotion as we stumbled out to find a candle. 'I tried to tell you,' was all Errki said.

"But he wasn't always successful. Once he wanted to learn to fly, and jumped out of a third-floor window. It's a miracle he wasn't killed. But he landed on a bicycle rack, which left him with an ugly scar down his chest. It happened while they were living in New York."

"Were they taking LSD or anything like that?"

"I don't know. And his father didn't know either. He didn't pay much attention."

"Is he as physically repulsive as they say?"

"Repulsive?" She gave him a confused look. "He's certainly not repulsive. Maybe a little unkempt."

"Is he unhappy?"

As soon as he said it, the question sounded foolish it, but she didn't mock him.

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