Contents
Chapter 27 - Saturday. Into Action.
Overview
The Kampen stakeout falters: Special Forces clear the wrong room and briefly detain an innocent tenant while the killer murders student Marius Veland. At Villa Valle, Beate links the pentagram diamonds to Olaug’s son, Sven Sivertsen. Waaler orders a low-profile approach to Olaug’s house and assumes personal control, escalating tension and risk.
Summary
In a surveillance bus outside the Kampen student building, Waaler, Falkeid, Harry, and technician Otto Tangen monitor empty corridors as the trap for the courier killer begins. Growing anxious, Waaler orders Special Forces to clear room 303; they interrupt a couple and find nothing. Later, officers tackle a man near 205, but Harry identifies him as a tenant, Odd Einar Lillebostad, not the killer.
Meanwhile at Villa Valle, Beate Lønn keeps Olaug Sivertsen company. Olaug mentions her son Sven’s frequent recent visits from Prague and shows Beate a brooch set with a diamond cut as a pentagram. Recognizing the match to the murders’ red-star diamonds, Beate calls to alert the team and asks Olaug for a recent photo of Sven.
Inside the student building, the real killer reaches room 406. He coerces student Marius Veland to write a cover letter to his parents and a note for his door, then kills Marius with a silenced shot, masking the crime behind fabricated travel plans.
Beate’s call reaches Harry, who identifies the suspect as Sven Sivertsen, Olaug’s son. As Falkeid prepares to redeploy, Waaler halts overt movements, insists no police cars approach Villa Valle to avoid spooking a seasoned smuggler, and declares he will handle the arrest personally, leaving Harry in charge of the ongoing stakeout.
Who Appears
- Harry HoleObserves the stakeout, identifies the mistaken arrest, fields Beate’s tip, and coordinates after Waaler departs.
- Tom WaalerLeads the operation, orders room clearance, halts overt response, and takes personal control of the move on Villa Valle.
- Beate LønnVisits Olaug, notices a pentagram-cut diamond, deduces Sven’s link to the murders, and alerts the team.
- Olaug SivertsenUnwitting bait; discusses her son’s frequent visits and shows the incriminating diamond brooch.
- Sven SivertsenRevealed as the killer; poses as a courier, coerces letters, and murders student Marius Veland.
- Marius VelandStudent in room 406; forced to write cover notes before being killed with a silenced shot.
- FalkeidSpecial Forces leader; clears room 303 and manages units during the failed interdiction.
- Otto TangenSurveillance technician in the bus; monitors feeds and records the operation’s missteps.
- Odd Einar LillebostadTenant mistakenly detained outside room 205, revealing the team’s false positive.