The Library of Shadows (27 page)

'So what can I do for you?' Jon repeated.

Pau looked down at his shoes. 'I'd like to come back,' he said in a low voice. 'I'd rather be with all of you.'

Jon looked closely at Pau. He really did seem to mean it. Maybe they'd been too hard on him. Paranoia had got hold of them and they were seeing spies everywhere, not only from the Shadow Organization but also from Kortmann's rank and file.

'What do I have to do?' asked Pau. 'Do I really have to beg?'

At that moment a mobile rang. They looked at each other reproachfully, until Jon remembered that the unfamiliar ring tone was coming from Henning's mobile in his inside pocket.

'Just a second,' said Jon, moving away from Pau. With his back turned, he took the call.

It was Katherina.

'Remer did stop in Østerbro,' she said. 'Outside what looks like a private school in the embassy area.'

Jon turned so he could keep an eye on Pau as he talked.

'How long has he been there?' he asked. The young man he was watching did his best to look as if he weren't listening, but his fleeting glances in Jon's direction gave him away.

'Since we last talked. About half an hour,' replied Katherina. 'Henning is scoping out the neighbourhood. He wants to find out if there's a way into the building from the other streets.'

'Were you able to pick up anything?'

'Very little,' said Katherina. 'It seems like ... just a minute, a car is coming.'

Jon listened to Katherina's breathing, and he couldn't help holding his breath.

'A white Polo,' whispered Katherina. 'A man is getting out. He's about thirty, tall, black hair, wearing a suit. He's taking a good look around.' Her breathing stopped. 'I've seen him somewhere before.'

'Where?'

'Oh, no. Now I remember,' she said, aghast. 'It's Kortmann's chauffeur.'

Katherina was slouched down in the passenger seat so that she could just barely see over the dashboard. Parked fifty metres further down the road was the white Polo Kortmann's chauffeur had arrived in. Even though five minutes had passed since he'd disappeared behind the gates of the building Remer had also entered, she hadn't changed position and her heart hadn't stopped pounding. She could still feel how the man's eyes had scanned the vicinity, like a surveillance camera registering anything suspicious. Had his gaze lingered on the car where she was sitting?

Suddenly the door on the driver's side was yanked open, making her utter a shriek of alarm.

'Hey, what's wrong?' said Henning, as he dropped into the seat beside her. 'I didn't mean to scare you.'

Katherina shook her head, unable to say a word.

Henning slammed the door shut and looked at her with growing astonishment. 'You're really scared, aren't you? Did something happen?'

She nodded, which made Henning shift his glance to the windscreen.

'Did he come out? Did he drive off? No, his car is still there.'

'Kortmann's chauffeur just arrived,' said Katherina finally, after catching her breath. 'In that white Polo. He went inside the school.'

'Are you sure?' said Henning, giving her a searching glance. 'That would mean ...' He stopped in mid-sentence. 'Well, what the hell would that mean?'

'That Kortmann has sent his errand boy with a message for Remer,' said Katherina, sitting up. She regretted reacting the way she had, and she crossed her arms so Henning wouldn't notice her hands were still shaking slightly.

Henning nodded. 'I think you're right. If it really was his chauffeur, then there can't be any doubt that Kortmann is involved.' He grabbed the steering wheel with both hands and stared out. 'And you're absolutely sure about this?' he repeated.

'I'm telling you, it was him.'

'Bloody hell.'

'Jon's on his way,' said Katherina, but it was clear that her companion was no longer listening. Instead, Henning sat with his eyes fixed straight ahead, looking at the white Polo and muttering angrily to himself.

'All these years,' he said.

Katherina looked at the section of the building that wasn't hidden behind the two-metre-high hedge surrounding the place. It was a two-storey structure made of red brick with a slate roof. Earlier, when they first arrived, they had slowly driven by so that Henning could read the sign attached to the iron gate that opened on to the property. 'Demetrius School' it said, but neither of them knew what that meant.

A fierce wind had started blowing and the sky above was just as grey as the slate roof of the school, making the dividing line nearly invisible. It almost looked as if the roof had been removed from the building, like on a dolls' house. Katherina wished that she could look down inside the rooms and discover whatever secrets the walls were protecting.

The sound of a car engine starting up tore Katherina out of her reverie.

'Now what?' she said, turning to face Henning, who with a lurch put the car in gear and pulled out of the parking slot.

'I have to talk to him,' he said. 'I'll be damned if he thinks he can make fools of us all.'

'Are you crazy?' But Katherina's protests were drowned out by Henning's curses.

'It's the best chance we have. His bodyguard is here, which means Kortmann must be home alone. What is he going to do? Run us down with his wheelchair?'

'Shouldn't we at least wait for Jon?' said Katherina.

'He's not the one Kortmann has been duping for the past twenty years.'

Katherina could see by Henning's expression that she wouldn't be able to change his mind. He was driving fast and shifting gears ferociously, as if it was the car he wanted to punish.

'Let me at least tell him where we're going,' she said, taking her mobile out of the glove compartment.

Henning merely growled in response.

Katherina couldn't start discussing things with Jon while Henning was within earshot. Just before they rang off, Jon said that he would meet them at Kortmann's villa as soon as he could. In the meantime, she had to try to persuade Henning to wait.

'What are you actually planning to do once we get there?' asked Katherina after they'd been driving for several minutes without speaking.

'I want to make him tell me the truth.'

'And if he refuses?'

Henning cast a swift glance in her direction and she thought she saw a trace of doubt in his eyes.

'He won't do that,' he said firmly. 'Besides, I'll be able to tell the truth by looking at him. I've known him almost my whole life.'

'But he's been lying to you all this time,' Katherina pointed out. 'What's going to stop him from continuing to lie?'

Henning didn't answer, but his expression was no longer as fierce, and he had started driving more slowly.

As they approached Kortmann's villa, it started to rain. At first big, heavy drops hammered against the car's windscreen and roof at a slow, intermittent pace. But very quickly the rain started pouring down at such a rapid rate that it sounded like static. The windscreen wipers soon could not keep up, and Henning had to slow down and lean forward to be able to see where he was driving. In a matter of seconds the temperature inside the car dropped several degrees. Katherina shivered.

'The gate!' cried Henning. 'It's open.'

Katherina peered through the sheet of water covering the windscreen. Henning was right. The big wrought-iron gate to Kortmann's property stood open, just wide enough for a car to drive through. They exchanged glances. Henning looked worried.

'I've never seen this before,' he said, driving through the gate. The parking spaces in front of the house were empty. Henning drove as close to the main entrance as he could. After he switched off the engine, they sat there for a moment, listening to the rain.

'It doesn't look like it's going to stop any time soon,' said Henning, reaching for the door handle. 'Are you coming?'

Katherina nodded. They both jumped out and ran for the oak door. A little overhang above the entrance offered some shelter, but after running the few metres from the car they were almost soaked through. Henning pressed the doorbell, and they could hear a muted ringing from inside. They waited half a minute, and then Henning pressed the bell again, this time holding it down longer. Katherina hoped that Kortmann wasn't home after all so they could avoid this impromptu confrontation and disappear without anyone knowing that they'd even been here.

'He's probably upstairs,' said Henning, pressing the bell for another ten seconds. 'He'd better not think we're just going to drive away.'

There was still no response from inside the house and Henning started pounding on the front door with his fist.

'Maybe he's really not home,' Katherina suggested. 'His chauffeur could have driven him somewhere before he went off to meet Remer.'

Henning shook his head.

'He's in there,' he said. 'I can feel it. Come on, we'll take the lift.'

He raced off through the rain and Katherina reluctantly followed. Together they dashed round the house to the lift tower. Even from some distance away, they could hear the rain drumming relentlessly on the huge metal structure. They were drenched by the time they reached the tower door, which Henning yanked open so they could throw themselves inside and get out of the rain.

'What bloody awful weather,' he exclaimed, shaking his head like a dog shaking water off his fur. The floor was splotched with the rain dripping off their clothes.

Inside the tower the sound of the rain was even louder, an uninterrupted hammering on the metal hull that drowned out everything else. Katherina was expecting at any second to hear Kortmann's voice on the loudspeaker near the door, but it remained silent. Henning found the button to start the lift. The huge gears on both sides began to move, and very slowly the platform rose.

'What's that?'

Henning was looking at the floor, so Katherina did the same. At first she couldn't see what he was talking about, but then she noticed a shadow on the floor that couldn't be coming from either of them. The light source was in the ceiling, and they both looked up at it, seven or eight metres overhead.

A shapeless silhouette directly above them was creating the shadow, but they couldn't tell what it was. The lift continued its ascent, and they slowly got closer. Something was hanging from the ceiling of the lift shaft, and Katherina stepped over to the very edge of the platform to get a better look.

'Oh no,' she said when she realized what it was.

Kortmann's lifeless body hung from the ceiling like a piece of meat wrapped in an expensive suit.

'Oh my God,' exclaimed Henning, as he too stepped over to the edge.

The body was coming inescapably closer even though Henning desperately pressed all the buttons he could find. Kortmann's thin legs slowly slid past, followed by his torso, which seemed to be twisted at a strange angle. His face was turned towards Katherina, and she had to look away as they reached eye level. Kortmann's eyes were open wide and his mouth was contorted into a rigid expression of terror.

When Kortmann's feet struck the floor, his body began tipping towards Katherina. She frantically pushed it away. The corpse weighed virtually nothing but it was completely rigid and it fell towards Henning standing on the opposite side. He leaped out of the way, as if the body carried some sort of disease. The corpse calmly came to rest on the floor of the lift, frozen in an awkward position, like a victim of Vesuvius. As they continued upwards, the rope from which Kortmann had been hanging coiled onto the body like a long piece of spaghetti.

With a lurch the lift came to a halt.

Almost simultaneously the rain stopped, just as suddenly as it had begun, and there was utter silence inside the tower. Katherina and Henning looked at each other. Henning's face no longer radiated anger; instead, his eyes were filled with terror. And Katherina knew her expression was similar. Her heart was pounding and she felt nauseated, which made her gasp for air.

'I think we can rule out suicide this time,' said Henning, trying to sound calm. He nodded towards the ceiling. 'It would have been impossible for him to tie that rope himself.'

Katherina followed his gaze to the iron bars overhead where the rope had been tied. It was still more than two and a half metres to the ceiling. She let her eyes run along the rope down to the body on the floor, forcing herself to look at it even though what she most wanted to do was close her eyes or run away. A noose was wrapped round the neck of the frail body and she saw that his hands had been tied behind his back. Henning knelt beside the body and studied the hands as he nodded to himself. Hesitantly he stretched out two fingers to Kortmann's throat and touched him just under the jaw. He yanked his hand away as if he'd received an electric shock.

'He's ice cold,' said Henning, wiping his fingers on his trousers as if he'd touched something contagious.

He stood up, stepped over the corpse and pushed open the door to the house. There lay Kortmann's wheelchair on its side with a checked blanket several metres away. The door at the end of the catwalk stood open, and a light was on inside the house.

They looked at each other.

'Don't you think we should get out of here?' said Katherina.

'Let's just take a quick look,' said Henning, stepping onto the catwalk. Katherina followed. She thought their footsteps echoed much too loudly on the metal flooring and she tried to tiptoe her way forward. Henning didn't seem bothered by the sound and strode towards the door leading into the house.

They entered a hallway with paintings on the walls and a thick carpet on the floor, which to Katherina's great relief muted the sound of their footsteps. Henning continued on to yet another open door at the end of the hall. It led to the library, which Jon had described to Katherina, but she was still surprised by its stylish furnishings and the peaceful atmosphere. She had only experienced Kortmann as a suspicious, power-hungry man and had completely forgotten that they shared a passion for books.

The walls were lined with bookcases filled with volumes bound in beautifully preserved leather. The chandelier hanging from the ceiling sent a soft glow over the reading areas in the centre of the room, while the indirect lighting above the shelves seemed to raise the ceiling, giving the room the air of a museum.

They were no more than twenty metres away from Kortmann's body, but as soon as they stepped inside the room, it felt as if they'd entered an entirely different world of order and refinement. The uneasiness Katherina had felt even before they found Kortmann's body had disappeared, and she now wished they could stay in this room. She went over to the nearest bookshelf and placed the palm of her hand on the spines of several books. They felt warm under her touch.

'Impressive, isn't it?' said Henning, uttering a sigh. 'What's going to happen to all the books now?' There was great sadness in his voice, as if he were talking about small children who had been abandoned. He sank onto one of the leather armchairs and looked around at the surrounding bookshelves. His eyelids blinked rapidly, as if he were greedily taking pictures of a phenomenon that would soon disappear.

With her fingertips lightly touching the books on the shelves, Katherina walked along one wall. There was no doubt they were valuable volumes, and many of them were so charged that her fingers tingled when she ran them over the spines. Henning was right – it would be a great loss if these books were scattered to the winds, but what could they do to prevent it?

'I wish we could take them with us,' said Henning, as if he had read her thoughts.

Katherina nodded. 'We've got to go,' she said, tearing herself away.

Henning reluctantly got up from the chair and took one last look around before they went back to the tower.

In the lift they were once again confronted by Kortmann's body, frozen in the middle of the platform.

'So he was to be trusted, after all,' said Henning with regret in his voice.

'It looks that way,' replied Katherina. She was embarrassed that she'd let herself get drawn into condemning Kortmann without any real proof. But she consoled herself by remembering that he hadn't been especially cooperative either.