Dregs by Jørn Lier Horst Read Free Book Online Page B

unscrewed the cap on a container of tablets for which he had paid almost four hundred kroner in the health-food shop, and examined the contents. The expensive pills contained roseroot (rhodiola rosea) and other herbs. According to the product description, the pale capsules would increase his tolerance of stress, stimulate physical and psychological performance, and produce higher levels of energy and vigour. In addition, they would improve concentration and memory, at the same time having a positive effect on mood and motivation.
    Everything he needed.
    He shook two capsules onto his palm and swallowed them without water while reading through the press release he had written. It was too late to change it. The information had already been sent to a dozen or so editorial offices, and would be disseminated via the news bureaux to all the newspapers in the country.
    The text briefly summed up the facts of the case, describing the finding of the three severed feet, giving time and place and confirming that the most likely scenario involved body parts from three different people. In the next paragraph it explained about the four people who had gone missing in the area, and that the discoveries were being checked against these. There was nevertheless still a possibility that the body parts had come from far away. He had also added the stock phrase about the police keeping all possibilities open, but did not exclude the possibility of a criminal act and had initiated appropriate lines of enquiry.
    Finally, he had announced a press conference to be held at the police station at eight o’clock that same evening. This meant that the news editors had three hours to reflect. It was St John’s Eve and several papers would have only a skeleton staff, but he knew that the press release would set off a landslide. Teams of reporters from Oslo and the news departments of the various television companies were in all likelihood already starting to pack their cars.
    Wisting rubbed his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. They would not have a single quiet moment after this.
    Audun Vetti had asked that his name be listed as both sender and contact person for the press. Telephone numbers for his mobile and office were also given. It was stipulated that information beyond what was stated in the press release would not be released before the press conference. The Assistant Police Chief’s telephone would not remain silent. Wisting was glad that he could avoid answering endless repeats of the same questions, but knew that the most experienced journalists would manage to reach him too.
    He reached over for the half-empty coffee cup, gulped the cold liquid and pulled the bundle of case files towards him. It was time to set the ball rolling.
    He decided to start with Camilla Thaulow at Stavern nursing home and leafed through the files for her telephone number. She had known two of the missing men well. Described as an especially caring nurse she often took time to have long conversations with her patients. Nevertheless, she had not been interviewed.
    He tried to phone her twice in order to make an appointment, without success. Keying in her number once more he was transferred to voicemail but did not leave a request to get in touch.
    He felt the beginnings of a headache inside his temple that he knew would soon spread and explode inside his skull. Taking out the glasses he was not good at remembering to wear he turned towards his computer screen. It could be that Camilla Thaulow had taken a new phone number in the months that had passed since the investigation. Perhaps she had a home phone too, without it being listed in the case files.
    His computer opened at the last thing he had been doing, looking up the keywords low testosterone level on the internet. Most of the answers contained the same information that he had received from his doctor the day before, and focused on problems with lack of potency, listlessness and depression. Some of the search