I gave her my full attention and encouraged her to carry on. She gave another of her gentle smiles, but then shrugged and opened her hands.
‘As far as I could understand, a man and a woman came to ask him about the old case, and it seemed that they both believed what he told them. But I am afraid that I don’t know who they were. Whether they meant it or not, I am very grateful to them because they helped to ease his burden in those last few months.’
I of course immediately asked when these visits had been, and whether she could remember any more of what Arild had said about them. She hesitated for a while.
‘It must have been in the winter or early spring. As I understand, the man came first and the woman shortly after. He mentioned them separately, but I can’t be sure. Arild was not the most orderly person and sometimes months could pass before he told me things. It is also possible that they never came at all and that in his despair he imagined they did. But I don’t think that is the case.’
And neither did I. And I would have given my eye teeth to have seen the faces of the two people who had been there. I had a strong feeling that I would recognize them both.
I asked what had happened to Bratberg’s flat. Maja Karstensen sighed heavily.
‘I washed and cleaned it and removed all the empty bottles, but otherwise it is as it was when he died. It turned out that a few weeks before he died, he left everything to me in his will. So his brother and sister, who have not been here for nearly twenty years, have now sent a letter through their lawyer stating that the will is not valid because he was mad. Where the case will end, heaven only knows.’
I expressed my sympathy and said that I hoped that she would get the inheritance she deserved. Then I asked if it would be possible in the meantime to have a look at the flat. She nodded and then slowly, almost ceremoniously, unhooked one of the two keys on her key ring.
