Kavalier’s arrest brings Harry Hole’s investigation to a public, physical reckoning with Sigurd Altman. Harry first challenges Altman to judge whether the work has become the masterpiece he imagined, then exposes the evidence hidden inside their conversation: the photographs Altman handled bear fingerprints matching those found in Tony Leike’s house. Altman’s composure gives way to laughter and resignation as an officer approaches to take him into custody for a series of murders.

The confrontation

Harry’s accusation begins as a question about the result Altman had envisioned. He addresses him as Sigurd, then asks whether he may call him Ole Sigurd, making the name itself part of the confrontation. Altman gives little answer. When he later dismisses Harry’s account as merely a story without a single solid piece of evidence, he forces Harry to reveal how the encounter has been arranged.

The exchange turns on photographs Harry had shown Altman earlier that day. Harry had asked him to look at them; Altman had noticed that they were still wet. Harry now explains that handling the pictures left fingerprints, and that those prints match fingerprints found in Tony Leike’s house. What seemed like an incidental request was therefore a way to obtain a direct comparison. The evidence does not arrive through a dramatic search or confession, but through Altman’s own touch.

The evidence and Altman’s response

As the significance of the prints becomes clear, Altman asks whether Harry showed him the pictures only to make him handle them. Harry confirms that he did. Altman stares at him, covers his face with his hands, and begins to laugh. His eyes are wet, but Harry reads his expression as resignation rather than defeat: in Harry’s experience, being caught can bring the relief of finally being able to tell the story.

Altman acknowledges that he had not thought he would need an alibi. His response makes the trap’s success more pointed: he had not prepared for the possibility that Harry would suspect him, while Harry had built a test around an ordinary interaction. The arrest therefore turns not on a contest of elaborate explanations, but on the material trace left by a seemingly minor act.

From private discovery to official arrest

Harry makes clear that the case will not officially be credited to him. He says that the man waiting in the car will be recorded as the person who figured it out, and that this man will arrest Altman. Harry then nods to Björn Holm, who signals with the Cherokee’s headlights. An officer gets out and approaches the vehicle, where Björn has lowered the driver’s window.

The approaching officer is Skai, whom Harry presents as an old acquaintance of Altman’s and notes that Altman knows Skai’s daughter. Skai addresses Altman as Ole and announces that he is under arrest for the murders of a number of people. He does not read out their names then, saying that this can be done later. Instead, he gives immediate instructions: Altman must put both hands on the dashboard, where they can be seen, while Skai comes around to open the door and handcuff him.

The arrest’s aftermath and investigative context

Skai describes the next steps in deliberately domestic terms: Altman will accompany him to a freshly cleaned cell, while Skai’s wife has made meatballs with mashed rutabaga, a meal Skai knows Altman likes. The contrast makes the arrest both procedural and personal. Skai gives unmistakable commands, but speaks as someone who knows the man he is taking into custody; the familiar meal does not soften the fact that Altman is being arrested for multiple murders.

After the arrest is set in motion, Altman asks how Harry discovered that someone had been using the locked tourist cabin. Harry explains that he and a colleague had taken shelter there by chance and suspected that someone had recently been inside. A burned substance stuck to the stove first seemed to him to be meat. Only later did he connect the crumbs to an arm protruding from beneath a snowmobile, which looked like a burned sausage. The village police officer scraped the substance from the stove and sent it for DNA analysis; the result was still expected in a few days.

Harry also says that Tony Leike had stored personal belongings in the cabin, including an old family photograph showing Tony as a boy. He tells Altman that the cabin had not been cleared out thoroughly enough. These details explain another strand of the investigation, but the immediate arrest rests on the fingerprints from the photographs. Harry admits that he lied when he claimed he needed Altman to identify Ketanomin, while maintaining that Altman would indeed be present when a piece of Norwegian criminal history was made. The scene thus closes on a double disclosure: Harry’s stated pretext was false, but the evidence he arranged was real.