Walther P38

The Walther P38 is Didier Levy’s concealed pistol, passed to Lin as Lin prepares to confront Maurizio. Its eight-shot capacity gives Lin a concrete means of killing, but the weapon’s decisive role is psychological: it magnifies his anger and forces the possibility of lethal violence into view, only to be returned unused the next day.

Identity and Description

The pistol is identified as a Walther P38, a semi-automatic weapon that fires 9mm rounds from an eight-shot magazine. These specifications enter the narrative as Lin dwells on the gun while travelling to Ulla’s apartment. The weapon’s capacity is not incidental detail: Lin imagines all eight rounds striking Maurizio, making the gun’s physical design part of his violent anticipation.

Concealed Transfer and Confrontation

Didier gives Lin the pistol at a restaurant after the others have gone to pay. He draws a napkin from the table, fumbles beneath its edge, and slides the wrapped bundle to Lin. The exchange is discreet: nobody knows Didier carries a gun, and Lin believes he is the first person to see and handle it. He takes the pistol in its napkin wrapping and leaves with the others.

Lin keeps the gun in his pocket on the way to Ulla’s new apartment, where he hopes to learn Maurizio’s whereabouts. Ulla is crying and has a swollen left eye. Against this scene, the concealed weapon becomes increasingly prominent in Lin’s thoughts: he pictures the rounds entering Maurizio’s body and hears an inner warning to get rid of the gun before seeing him. The pistol thus accompanies Lin toward the confrontation while also registering his awareness that anger could become murder.

Return and Significance

Lin does not use the P38. After he has beaten Maurizio and left him near St. George Hospital, he remains troubled by the possibility that he should have killed him, but cannot take his life. The next day, with the Nigerian men gone, Lin goes to Leopold’s Beer Bar to return Didier’s unused gun. The pistol’s path—from a secret handoff, through Lin’s violent imagining, to its return—marks the difference between possessing the means to kill and choosing not to use them. It remains unused, while the confrontation exposes the jealousy and treachery entangled with Lin’s anger.