Chapter 26 - Saturday. The Soul. The Day.

At dawn on Saturday, Otto Tangen finalizes a covert surveillance setup from a disguised bus parked outside the Kampen student building. He has installed corridor and stair cameras covering all movement but, due to time and signal limits, no audio and no lift coverage. Residents have been told to stay in their rooms between 4:00 and 6:00, and police are scheduled to arrive around 3:00.

Tom Waaler has coordinated with Special Forces to station masked teams with MP5s and gas in each corridor, ready to strike the instant the target approaches a door. Otto, excited by the impending ambush, reviews the feeds and waits, confident the trap is set.

Elsewhere, Harry Hole wakes after rare, restorative sleep and steps into the day with cautious optimism. He calls a woman and arranges to pick her up for an evening at the theatre, both acknowledging they should keep expectations grounded.

Operationally, Møller assigns Beate Lønn to remain with Olaug Sivertsen to avoid spooking the killer or disrupting the predicted sequence of crime scenes. Harry confirms the plan’s timing and location, while a check-in call from Øystein prompts Harry to reflect on the killer’s ritual: the left-hand fingers taken in sequence (index, middle, ring), the concealed body, and the strikingly mechanical, emotionless execution.

As the heat builds, Harry senses that once the target appears, the remaining meanings in the code will clarify. He notes his accelerating pulse as the decisive day begins.