‘Or perhaps Synnøve Jensen, if she and Leonard were having a relationship and had conspired to kill his father,’ I ventured.
Patricia heaved a heavy sigh.
‘But they obviously were not,’ she said.
‘Even though I can see no reason why, could the murderer perhaps have been someone from outside the family, with no connection whatsoever to Magdalon Schelderup’s death? The hairs and fingerprints show that someone else had been there recently. And the mysterious guest has still not been identified,’ I added.
Patricia lightened up, and laughed her not entirely sympathetic laugh. Then she smiled secretively.
‘I shouldn’t laugh; after all, murder is a serious thing. Of course the person who was not only in the flat, but also in the bed, was an outsider. I don’t know who it was, but I do know what happened. What is more, I think I know how you might get hold of this mysterious guest, if that is of interest. None of it is directly linked to the murder, though. But it might still be of interest to talk to the person who left the fingerprints and the hairs in the flat yesterday.’
I stared at Patricia in fascination and nodded eagerly. With what could have passed for a shrug, she picked up her notebook and wrote down a short text, the content of which was: ‘The police request that the person who visited the deceased Leonard Schelderup in his home in Skøyen on Sunday, 12 May between 10 p.m. and midnight, please contact Oslo Police Station as soon as possible. This person is not suspected of being connected with his death in any way, but must be cleared from the case.’
‘Ask for this to be read out on the radio tomorrow, and I would be very surprised if you do not hear from the person in question pretty soon thereafter. The person will no doubt be following news of the case closely.’
I looked at Patricia with some scepticism and pensively stroked my finger over the last sentence.
‘But, my dear Patricia, the person who visited Leonard Schelderup yesterday will naturally not contact us if he or she was, despite what we think, party to the murder. The opposite is more likely to happen. The person will not contact us for fear of being unfairly suspected of being involved in the murder. And possibly for fear of a public scandal.’
When I said the latter, my head finally started to clear.
‘Because we are talking about some secret lady love, are we not?’
Patricia sighed.
‘I thought the situation would be clear to any intelligent person under forty. But apparently that is not the case. Secret lady love or something of the sort is certainly an acceptable general description, yes. But that is only down to luck, really.’
