Pierced, p.36
Pierced, page 36
6tiermes7: No. That’s it.
Henning sits for a while thinking, but he isn’t sure how to interpret the information he has just been given.
MakkaPakka: But if someone entered information about Pulli being in my street on 11 September 2007, surely his name should have cropped up during the fire investigation?
6tiermes7: Not necessarily. We can’t be sure that an Indicia search was carried out in connection with the fire. Many swear by the old systems. And Pulli was never called in for an interview.
Dear God, Henning thinks. Is that possible?
MakkaPakka: But why were you reluctant to tell me this?
6tiermes7: Because the entry has been edited. And I think that important information has been deleted.
MakkaPakka: What makes you think that?
6tiermes7: Because there is hardly anything there.
MakkaPakka: But why would anyone do that?
6tiermes7: Why do you delete information?
MakkaPakka: Because it’s wrong?
6tiermes7: Or because it’s sensitive.
The sentence he is staring at sends a shiver down Henning’s back. His head spins.
MakkaPakka: You’re saying that someone who works for the police probably deleted information about what Tore Pulli was doing outside my flat that evening?
6tiermes7: That’s how I interpret it, yes.
Henning leans closer to the table.
MakkaPakka: What’s the point of deleting some of the information? Wouldn’t it make more sense to delete the whole entry?
6tiermes7: That’s probably the biggest mistake you can make. Pulli was a celebrity, and it wasn’t just the traffic warden and the officers in the patrol car who knew that he had been spotted outside your flat. It was known in the control room, the duty officer probably knew about it, and it’s likely that several staff members discussed it that night. It would look more suspicious if a well-known incident about a recently deceased celebrity disappears from the system than if only bits of information are missing.
MakkaPakka: Okay, so tell me who edited the log.
6tiermes7: This is the part that makes me uncomfortable.
The continuation, when it comes a few seconds later, takes Henning’s breath away.
6tiermes7: It was Pia Nøkleby.
Acknowledgements
I have pestered numerous people during my work on Pierced. Knut Erik Rønningen, Jørn Lier Horst, Vibeke Ødegård Sør-Reime, Kristin B. Jenssen, Grete Lien Metlid and Arild Kai Erland – I can’t thank you enough.
I also thank warmly Silje Hovland, Jan Ove Årsæther, Fredrik Brodwall, Sverre Arild Olstad, Petter Anthon Næss, Hege Enger, Henning Enger, Torgeir S. Higraff, Kari Ormstad, Gustav Peter Blom, Liliana Bachs, Gunn Kristine Smeby, Agnar Gerner, Nils Petter Granholt, Asle Skredderberget, Morten Ø. Karlsen, Espen Skaar, Marius Vik, Inger-Brit Vindeg and Trond Hugubakken. Thank you also to the friendly people in Ustaoset.
Among the books I read in the course of my research, I would like to make a special mention of Politi & Røver by Kjetil Østli.
Benedicte, you deserve the greatest praise for reading, crossing out, thinking and making suggestions. And for being you.
Thank you, Theodor and Henny, for reminding me daily of what really matters.
Thomas Enger
Oslo, May 2011
By the same author
Burned
First published in this edition in 2012
by Faber and Faber Limited
Bloomsbury House
74–77 Great Russell Street
London WC1B 3DA
This ebook edition first published in 2012
Originally published in Norway as Fantomsmerte
by Gyldendal Norsk Forlag in 2011
All rights reserved
© Thomas Enger, 2011
Translation © Charlotte Barslund‚ 2012
This translation has been published with the financial support of NORLA
The right of Thomas Enger to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with Section 77 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly
ISBN 978–0–571–27247–1
Table of Contents
Cover
Title Page
Prologue
Part I
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Part II
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
Chapter 69
Chapter 70
Chapter 71
Chapter 72
Chapter 73
Chapter 74
Chapter 75
Chapter 76
Chapter 77
Chapter 78
Chapter 79
Chapter 80
Chapter 81
Chapter 82
Chapter 83
Chapter 84
Chapter 85
Chapter 86
Chapter 87
Chapter 88
Chapter 89
Part III
Chapter 90
Chapter 91
Chapter 92
Chapter 93
Chapter 94
Chapter 95
Chapter 96
Chapter 97
Chapter 98
Chapter 99
Chapter 100
Chapter 101
Chapter 102
Chapter 103
Chapter 104
Chapter 105
Chapter 106
Chapter 107
Chapter 108
Chapter 109
Chapter 110
Chapter 111
Chapter 112
Chapter 113
Chapter 114
Chapter 115
Chapter 116
Chapter 117
Chapter 118
Chapter 119
Acknowledgements
By the Same Author
Copyright
Thomas Enger, Pierced
