Murder of Halland Read Online Free PDF Page B

she looked around.
    ‘Well!’ she exclaimed. ‘So this is Uncle Halland’s little love nest…’ She now stood in the living room, nostrils quivering. A doe indeed.
    ‘This is where he lived,’ I said, ‘and for a good many years as well. I don’t recall him ever mentioning you. Are you Hanne’s daughter? I didn’t think she had any children.’
    ‘No,’ Pernille replied.
    ‘Would you like something to drink?’ I asked, gesturing towards the sofa in case she wanted to sit down.
    ‘Water would be fine,’ she said.
    I went into the kitchen. As I turned on the tap, I had a brainwave.
    ‘You’re Hanne’s foster-child,’ I said, handing Pernille a glass of water.
    She nodded. ‘My parents are dead. When Hanne died, Halland was the only family I had left.’
    ‘Was he indeed?’ I felt dizzy and sat down. ‘Were you thinking of staying here?’
    Pernille didn’t reply.
    ‘Do you want to stay here?’
    She nodded.
    ‘Listen,’ I went on, ‘I need to go to bed. Can we talk in the morning?’
    ‘I’m tired as well,’ she said. ‘But can’t we talk now?’
    ‘What about?’ I sensed unpleasant news coming my way. ‘Perhaps I’d better make some coffee.’
    ‘You’re a writer, aren’t you?’ Pernille asked as I filled the espresso maker. ‘What are you working on?’
    ‘What do you mean, what am I working on ?’ I glared at her from the doorway. ‘Don’t try to have a normal conversation with me! Halland is dead! Isn’t that why you’re here? Or was there something else?’
    She began to cry. Even in floods of tears she looked adorable. I turned on the gas. My hands were shaking because I had shouted the word dead . Only a simpleword. But I shook because the word described the truth. Halland was dead .
    What did Pernille want? I grabbed a piece of crispbread from the cupboard and gnawed it as I went back into the living room.
    ‘Why are you here? Does your husband know where you are?’
    Startled, she looked up. ‘I haven’t got a husband,’ she said, passing her hand across her stomach. ‘Halland was the only family I had left. I was so shocked to read about what happened.’ She wiped her eyes.
    ‘He’s not your family!’ I said, rather too emphatically.
    ‘No, but he keeps his things…’
    ‘What things?’
    ‘The things in his room.’
    His room.
    You’re lying, a voice said inside me. I don’t know why, but you’re lying, you’re lying, you’re lying. I didn’t accuse her to her face though. I simply gazed at her brown eyes, her nose, her swollen stomach.
    ‘He’s been paying rent, and now I don’t know what to do. About the rent, I mean. His things can stay where they are for the time being.’
    The rent.
    ‘And then there’s… well, I suppose this sounds odd, but he promised he’d be with me when the baby came.’ She glanced over at me, her mouth slightly open, showing her white teeth.
    Looking up at the ceiling, I stifled a sneer. Halland and hospitals… Did she have any idea whatshe was talking about? And did I want to know if she did?
    ‘I could do without this,’ I said. My words surprised me, because I was actually curious. Nevertheless I was determined not to know more. Not yet. Tomorrow, perhaps . Pernille had come to me with a problem she wanted me to solve, not realizing that she created one for me in the process.
    ‘We can talk about the rent in the morning,’ I said. ‘I need to get some sleep.’
     
    I took Pernille up to the guest room. On the way back downstairs, I realized how much I wanted to sleep in my own bed. I splashed cold water on my face and took off my clothes, threw them in the washing basket and went into the bedroom. I switched on my reading lamp and climbed in under the covers. There I lay, gazing at where Halland was supposed to be. I reached out to touch him. I closed my eyes. They were burning. I was exhausted. I switched off the lamp and found myself migrating to his side of the bed, crawling under his duvet, inhaling