Hitman Anders and the Meaning of It All Read Online Free PDF Page B

be in possession of such a thing . . .”
    â€œPer Persson,” said Per Persson.
    â€œAs I was saying,” Johanna Kjellander continued, “we have come here in our capacity as representatives of’
    â€œAren’t you the people I gave the envelope with five thousand kronor to a few hours ago, at the Sea Point Hotel?” The count was certain he was right. Surely there couldn’t be that many female priests with dirty collars in the southern reaches of Stockholm. At least, not at the same time.
    â€œThat’s exactly it,” said the priest. “Only five thousand. Five thousand is missing. Our client, Johan Andersson, has asked us to come here to pick up the rest. He sends word that it would be best for everyone involved if his wishes were met. Because the alternative, according to Mr. Andersson, is that the count will lose his life in an unpleasant manner, while Mr. Andersson himself, as a result, will likely be locked up for another twenty years in addition to those he has already amassed for similar reasons. Or, as it says in scripture, ‘Whoever is steadfast in righteousness gives life, but whoever pursues evil will die.’ Proverbs, eleven, nineteen.”
    The count pondered this. Coming here to threaten him? He ought to twist that collar around the priest’s neck and cut off her oxygen. On the other hand, according to what the priest had just explained, doing so would turn the useful idiot Hitman Anders into a regularold idiot. The count would be forced to off the hitman before the hitman offed him, and that, in turn, meant that his favorite bone-breaker would no longer be available. He couldn’t have cared less what the Bible did or didn’t say on the matter.
    â€œHmm,” he allowed.
    The priest kept the dialogue moving: she didn’t want any to risk ending up in some sort of deadlock. So she explained Hitman Anders’s reasoning when he had broken one and the same arm twice and allowed the other to remain in able condition. In doing so, he had been acting in accordance with the ethical guidelines he had worked out jointly with his agents—the priest herself and her friend Per Jansson by her side.
    â€œPer Persson,” said Per Persson.
    According to these guidelines, it was out of the question to allow children to come to harm in the execution of his duties, and that was just what would have happened if Hitman Anders hadn’t acted so resourcefully in a situation that had arisen without warning. Or, as the Lord commands in 2 Chronicles 25:4, “The parents shall not be put to death for the children, or the children be put to death for the parents; but all shall be put to death for their own sins.”
    The count said that the priest was good at talking nonsense. It remained to be seen how she planned to handle the matter in question, it being that the intended victim was currently driving around in and steering the very same damned car he hadn’t paid for, with one arm but not the other encased in plaster.
    â€œThat is a conundrum we have considered in great detail,” said the priest, of the problem she had just been made aware of.
    â€œAnd?” said the count.
    â€œWell, we suggest the following,” said the priest, in the very instant she thought of the solution. “You pay Hitman Anders the five thousand kronor you owe him from his previous assignment. At some later date, as we know, considering your line of business, you will need his help again. At that time, if those of us in upper management consider the job worthy of him, and I’m sure we will, we will accept the assignment according to the applicable price list, and we will also return to Object A: make sure that no babies are in the vicinity and break his arms. Both the one that has just healed and the other, which so infelicitously survived unscathed last time. And all this at no extra cost!”
    It felt strange to negotiate with a priest and