Beyond the Truth: Hanne Wilhelmsen Book Seven (A Hanne Wilhelmsen Novel) by Anne Holt

definite plans to become a vet, but that he chose business college in order to comply with his father’s wishes. One of the letters from father to son at that time, by the way, has been offered to the court as proof to underpin Carl-Christian’s assertion that the shipping company was promised to him long ago.”
    “But …”
    Erik Henriksen squinted skeptically at the light from the overhead projector.
    “Can you really claim rights to something simply because your dad has promised it? Is an ordinary promise actually legally binding?”
    “It can be,” Annmari Skar, the Police Prosecutor, said. “In certain circumstances, a promise can be just as binding as a mutual agreement.”
    “In any case,” Billy T. continued, “the boy got married five years ago to a strange woman. At that time she was called May Anita Olsen. When she married CC, she wasn’t content only to change her surname, but replaced the whole lot, in point of fact. Now her name is Mabelle Stahlberg.”
    A couple of the youngest men grinned boldly as Billy T. took a moment to change the transparency, revealing a shapely blond with long hair, and lips obviously not bestowed at birth. They bulged unnaturally above a sensual chin. Her nose had probably not escaped the surgeon’s knife, either: it was ultra-narrow and straight as a ruler. Hanne Wilhelmsen gave a loud snort, the first sound she had made during the meeting. Billy T. waved his hand apologetically and changed the transparency.
    “Doesn’t she run a fashion magazine?” Silje asked before he resumed.
    “That’s right. F&F. Fashion and Feelings . A lot of the former, hardly any of the latter. A glossy rag. It isn’t doing particularly well, of course – few of that sort of magazine do – but she actually manages okay. No longer losing money, at least. And, of course, Carl-Christian has money. Or put it this way, that was what they believed , CC and Mabelle. That they were going to come into money …”
    He left the last sentence hanging in the air.
    “Anyway,” he continued after a few seconds’ silence, “this Mabelle has something of a checkered past. Nothing criminal, apart from something I’ll come back to. What’s important in this connection, however, is that she has been despised and opposed by her in-laws from day one. They couldn’t stand the woman. She was not good enough for Carl-Christian, and far from good enough for the stodgy drawing rooms of Eckersbergs gate. They got married in Las Vegas, in total secrecy, far from Daddy’s fierce protests. Hermann actually made some attempts to have the marriage annulled. That foundered fairly quickly, of course, for he certainly wasn’t in a position to do anything of the kind. But it does tell us something. About the atmosphere, I mean. Within the family.”
    “You said there was something criminal as well,” Erik reminded him.
    “Yes …”
    Billy T. scratched his crotch in distraction.
    “Six months ago Hermann reported Mabelle for taking a car without consent. She was stopped by the police, and all that stuff. Driving around in an Audi A8 that was actually some sort of company car belonging to the shipping firm, but was normally used by Carl-Christian and Mabelle. Hermann had begun to implement cutbacks, and demanded that the vehicle should be handed back. When nothing happened, he reported the car stolen, totally without any further explanation to the police. It led to a fucking Wild West show. The police patrol that spotted the car was infuriated when Mabelle refused to stop, and the trip ended in a ditch in Grefsen. The woman said she had been scared and thought she was going to be robbed. She was clapped in irons and left in the back cells here for six hours, until at last CC managed to get things sorted out. The old man stood his ground and wanted to have his daughter-in-law charged, but the case was dropped for lack of evidence. It was quite simply too weird. After all, it was her car. To all intents and