Hakan Nesser [Inspector Van Veeteren 01] Mind's Eye (pdf)

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He was sitting next to the wall, his hands clasped in front of
him on the rickety table. His gaze was lowered. He was proba-
bly closing his eyes now and then.
Reinhart and M�nster were sitting in front of the opposite
wall in the oblong-shaped room. On either side of the door.
The chief inspector s chair appeared to have been placed
meticulously in the geometrical center. All M�nster could see
of Van Veeteren was his back: he was as static as a sphinx for
the whole of the interrogation. His questions were spat out
tonelessly and contemptuously, as if he knew all the answers in
advance, and as if he had no interest at all in the proceedings.
Do you know why you re here?
No.
I didn t ask if you were guilty. I asked if you knew why
you re here. An appeal for information about you has been
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featured on radio and television, and in sixty-eight different
newspapers, together with your name and a picture. And
despite that, you claim that you don t know why you are here.
Are you thinking of pleading that you are an idiot, or that you
can t read?
No. I know why I m here.
The voice was faint, but with no trace of unsteadiness.
Let me make it clear from the very beginning that I have
nothing but contempt for you, Mr. Ferger. The sight of you
arouses no reaction in me but utter disgust. In different cir-
cumstances, in a less civilized society than the one we live in, I
would have no hesitation in executing you on the spot. Have
you understood?
Ferger swallowed.
I m convinced that my feelings are shared not only by my
colleagues, but also by more or less everybody who knows
what you have done.
I m innocent.
Shut up, Mr. Ferger. You are sitting here because you are a
murderer. You will be charged with the murder of Eva Ring-
mar on October third, of Janek Mitter on November twenti-
eth, and of Elizabeth Hennan on November twenty-eighth.
You also killed a four-year-old child on May thirty-first, 1986,
but we haven t yet finished accumulating the necessary proof
for that murder.
It s not true.
That was a whisper, so faint that M�nster could barely hear
it. Van Veeteren ignored it.
If you think that the answers you give will make the
slightest difference, let me relieve you of that illusion. You will
be found guilty, and you will spend the rest of your life in
prison. I must warn you that there is a possibility that you will
be executed. . . .
What the hell are you saying?
m i n d s e y e
He was still talking to the table rather than to Van
Veeteren.
Not as a result of due process of law, of course, but by
one of your fellow prisoners. There is a deep-seated contempt
for scum like you even inside our prisons. Some very nasty
things can happen. I want you to be aware of that, so that you
can take whatever precautions might be necessary.
Ferger squirmed on his chair.
Nobody will lift a finger to help you. Why don t you want
a lawyer?
That s my business.
There are no volunteers to defend you, of course; but
even so, you have a legal right to a lawyer if you want one. The
law applies even to the likes of you, Mr. Ferger. Why did you
kill Liz Hennan?
I ve never set eyes on her.
Was it because you couldn t satisfy her?
I ve never set eyes on her.
Was it because she mocked you for being such an inade-
quate lover?
No response.
Are you frightened of women? Do you think Liz Hennan
was a tart?
Ferger muttered something.
Was that a yes ?
I ve never set eyes on her.
Why did she have a photograph of you, then?
I ve never given her a photograph.
But you had a photograph of her.
No. . . . It . . . You re lying.
I m sorry. I meant to say that you had a photograph of
Eva Ringmar. Is that true?
Maybe . . . I don t remember.
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We found it in your apartment. Did you have a relation-
ship with Eva Ringmar?
No response.
Was Eva Ringmar a tart as well?
No. I ve no desire to answer any more questions.
I ve no desire to ask you any, either. Why did you go to the
home of Janek Mitter and Eva Ringmar on October second?
No response.
You went there in the evening, but you went back in the
early hours of the morning and murdered Eva Ringmar by
drowning her in the bath.
No response.
Do you think we don t know who you are?
I don t know what you re talking about.
What s your alibi for the murder of Janek Mitter?
I was at a pizzeria. . . .
Between eleven and twelve o clock, yes. But Mitter was
murdered after that, in the early hours of the morning. Don t
you have a better alibi than that?
I returned home and went to sleep. I thought . . .
What did you think?
Nothing. I m not going to answer any more of your ques-
tions.
Why do you think Eva preferred Mitter to you?
Ferger lowered his head even farther and stared down at
the table.
Why did she prefer Andreas Berger?
He waited for a few seconds.
Even if you are a shit, Mr. Ferger, surely there s no reason
for you to be such a stupid shit? You claim that you are inno-
cent, and that you had nothing to do with the murders of Eva
Ringmar, Janek Mitter, and Liz Hennan. Is that correct?
Yes.
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