‘Rather a good day’s work,’ she said finally, when the dessert was on the table and the loyal Beate had left the room. ‘We have made some great strides in the investigation and have gathered what is surely very important information.’
I nodded smugly.
‘Yes, thank you. It does feel like that. But I still do not see any obvious way to resolve the case.’
Patricia gave one of her mischievous smiles.
‘That is not so strange – I can scarcely see it myself. We still lack some key information, which means that we cannot have a clear picture of the murderer. But both the diary and the caretaker’s story have contributed some new details to this picture.’
Patricia paused for thought before she continued.
‘The letters in the diary must have a meaning and could be of crucial importance. Harald Olesen is not likely to have chosen letters from a known letter system, as he would in that case have started with A or X. He has used letters that have an immediate association for him, with either a name or title that he might associate with the person in question. That way, they would be instantly recognizable for him, but are an extremely difficult crossword puzzle for the rest of us. He seems to have made it deliberately difficult for his biographer, relatives or anyone else who might get hold of his diary later. I am fairly certain that he has not used names for the key people, D, J, N or O, but rather titles or words that he associates with those people. O seems to operate alone and is seen to be less of a problem, even though he and Harald Olesen have obviously had secrets and conflicts in the past. D, J, and N, on the other hand, seem to be connected in some way.’
‘J could be Konrad Jensen,’ I suggested, in the hope of contributing something that was not too idiotic.
Patricia shook her head lightly.
‘I have of course considered that possibility, but then the text makes little sense. It would appear that J is someone who instils sympathy and a sense of guilt in Harald Olesen. And even though one can never know what lies hidden in the past, it does seem rather unlikely that an ageing Nazi would fulfil that role.’
Patricia suddenly put down her dessert spoon and thought very hard. I could almost hear the creaking in her brain. Then equally suddenly she fired a completely unexpected question at me.
‘I am sure that you have already checked this; however, I am not so sure that you have told me… What was the name of Kristian Lund’s dead mother?’
I had never been told, and nor had I asked. On the other hand, I had remembered to take with me the papers from the census records that she had requested, and quickly found the sheets that related to Kristian Lund. A thought struck me as I leafed through the papers and I looked up at Patricia in surprise.