JaJ, Edderkoppen, is that the danish post war crime movie/TV series you're refering to?
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Well, I have just read through all of this, and count myself lucky not to have experienced some of those cliffhangers (and cursed for doubtless now I will be experiencing them all). 
Like some kind of bizarre cross between Inspector Morse and 'Fatherland'.
Your descriptions remind me alot of Dundee and the Highlands, or of Bodmin Moor in Cornwall. That could be an eerie place late at night.
Like some kind of bizarre cross between Inspector Morse and 'Fatherland'.
Your descriptions remind me alot of Dundee and the Highlands, or of Bodmin Moor in Cornwall. That could be an eerie place late at night.
Linguistic-political cultural footnote
Hmm, never thought about it. The noun surveillance is a partciple of the verb survey. But it just don't sound right in the context. The idiomatic expression is "put/keep under surveillance" and I can't recall ever seeing the verb "survey" used to denote that action. That term is used for opinion polls and land measuring, but not for watching the actions of a person or group.
Come to think of it I don't think the English language has a technical term like our overvåkning (direct translation of Überwachung).
Originally posted by Norgesvenn
Now that gave me an idea...
"The way I see it", the secretary general of the Labour party said, "they're all communists, so let's just survey them" [
Hmm, never thought about it. The noun surveillance is a partciple of the verb survey. But it just don't sound right in the context. The idiomatic expression is "put/keep under surveillance" and I can't recall ever seeing the verb "survey" used to denote that action. That term is used for opinion polls and land measuring, but not for watching the actions of a person or group.
Come to think of it I don't think the English language has a technical term like our overvåkning (direct translation of Überwachung).
Originally posted by stnylan
Well, I have just read through all of this, and count myself lucky not to have experienced some of those cliffhangers (and cursed for doubtless now I will be experiencing them all).
Like some kind of bizarre cross between Inspector Morse and 'Fatherland'.
Your descriptions remind me alot of Dundee and the Highlands, or of Bodmin Moor in Cornwall. That could be an eerie place late at night.
You know, I sort of both feared and hoped that 'Fatherland' would spring to mind when reading this.
It's probably one my all-time favourite mystery novels.
Hardu, I noticed that too. So I was at loss for words.
JaJ, Valdemar... 'Edderkoppen'. Now, 'Edderkoppen' was a book about secret surveillance set up by a furniture dealer (and a Labour member) to check different parts of the labour movement. And, of course, the members of the Labour Party.
So, remind me again why I voted for them once?
Who made Fatherland?
Norg, Edderkoppen is a postwar criminal in DK that got filmatized a few years ago and since a lot of crossbordering goes on between our TV station I thought perhaps it had been shown up there
It has some things in common with your story.
V
Norg, Edderkoppen is a postwar criminal in DK that got filmatized a few years ago and since a lot of crossbordering goes on between our TV station I thought perhaps it had been shown up there
It has some things in common with your story.
V
Robert Harris. Much recommended, along with 'Enigma' and 'Archangel'.
I think I saw those series, actually.
I think I saw those series, actually.
Vald, my Edderkoppen comment was the book Norg was referring to, I only saw one or two of the Danish Edderkoppen series I am afraid. (love the series about the cop on the small island though.. what's the name again? Manø.. Lanø? ..anyway, good crime series. And Rejsholdet!! That's cool as well!)
Norg, by admitting that you voted AP you have lost ALL credibility, shame...shame...
Norg, by admitting that you voted AP you have lost ALL credibility, shame...shame...
JaJ, Samsø (Strisser på Samsø was the name of the series)
Yes Rejseholdet or Unit One as they where called when they got an Emmy as best foreign TV series last year is great, they are making two follow up episodes that will show what happened to the team after the break up, they're being aired sometime this spring.
V
(Strisser på Samsø was the name of the series)Yes Rejseholdet or Unit One as they where called when they got an Emmy as best foreign TV series last year is great, they are making two follow up episodes that will show what happened to the team after the break up, they're being aired sometime this spring.
V
More on political cultural lingustics.
Norg, I think Haakon Lie would have said "watch those people" .
Just for the information: The Norwegian intelligence scene (yes, that may well be considered an oxymoron) of the 1950s and 60s was rather strange in that the domestic surveillance services (the police) was more or less integrated into the Labour Party and apparently spent more time watching the left opposition in the Trade Unions than hunting Soviet spies. (Yes, Norg. Even if I am an unrepentant cold warrior I am aware of the difference. Some people just behaved as if they had a case officer sitting in East Berlin).
But back to the main point: I think that the English term surveillance has been imported directly from the French. They've had their surveillance territorielle for a long time. So the English just took the French participle form of the verb surveiller as a noun to denote the activity of keeping an eye on subversives and foreigners (the two being identical BTW) without importing or developing a verb to denote the action. English survey is of course derived from French surveiller but the meaning of the word developed in different directions in the two countries.
Thus, in English, the verb to survey ended up to mean asking people questions about their opinions. In French the same word ended up meaning the process of watching them to see if they were up to something bad.
The differential linguistic development is extremely revealing of the basic dissimilarity of English and French political development and culture.
For better or for worse.
Norg, I think Haakon Lie would have said "watch those people"
.Just for the information: The Norwegian intelligence scene (yes, that may well be considered an oxymoron) of the 1950s and 60s was rather strange in that the domestic surveillance services (the police) was more or less integrated into the Labour Party and apparently spent more time watching the left opposition in the Trade Unions than hunting Soviet spies. (Yes, Norg. Even if I am an unrepentant cold warrior I am aware of the difference. Some people just behaved as if they had a case officer sitting in East Berlin).
But back to the main point: I think that the English term surveillance has been imported directly from the French. They've had their surveillance territorielle for a long time. So the English just took the French participle form of the verb surveiller as a noun to denote the activity of keeping an eye on subversives and foreigners (the two being identical BTW) without importing or developing a verb to denote the action. English survey is of course derived from French surveiller but the meaning of the word developed in different directions in the two countries.
Thus, in English, the verb to survey ended up to mean asking people questions about their opinions. In French the same word ended up meaning the process of watching them to see if they were up to something bad.
The differential linguistic development is extremely revealing of the basic dissimilarity of English and French political development and culture.
For better or for worse.
Last edited:
Chapter XXIV: The Final
You wouldn’t dare to shoot me here on the street”, Mold said.
“I wouldn’t? The run-away, half-crazed inspector Mold?”. Mold didn’t turn around. He knew Schultz had a point. He was off the case. But he wasn’t half-crazed, he felt sure. He couldn’t see Gjertsen anywhere. Never mind. They’d fix this.
Schultz led him to an anonymous-looking black car.
“Get in the driver’s seat”.
”What?”
”You heard me”
Schultz got in on the passenger’s side, and now pointed the gun directly at Mold’s rib cage. Mold felt his hands shaking and that his upper lip was covered with small beads of sweat.
“Drive north… go towards Maridalen. Don’t try to pull any strokes of genius, such as braking hard. You’ll be shot, Mold”
”Why are you doing this?”. Mold heard that his voice was cracking.
”Just drive”
The clear weather stood in stark contrast with Mold’s mood. What if Gjertsen hadn’t seen them? What if he’d assumed everything was okay?
”Go towards Maridalen”, Schultz commanded.
Maridalen is an idyllic part of the surrounding forests of Oslo. The lake and the small roads around there make for excellent terrain for hiking and skiing. But hiking and skiing wasn’t on Mold’s mind. Instead, he imagined his body being found by bypassing strangers in the spring.
”Why are we going there?”
”Oh, to go skiing. Have a cup of hot chocolate and talk. Get to know one another…”. Schultz snickered at this.
”Why were you and the others at my cabin?”
”I didn’t think you’d recognise me. Quite well done, Mold. Yet, it was rather unfortunate. For you, that is… We came to retrieve what is ours. Unfortunately, it was overlooked when we searched your house while you were passed out drunk. Didn’t they teach you not to drink so much, Mold?”
”But why are army intelligence interested in the diary of an old man?”
Schultz didn’t reply. Instead he looked at Mold with something of a bemused look.
“You don’t get it, do you? Well, I never thought you were the brightest apple in the barrel anyway”
A silence fell upon them. Mold checked his rear-view mirror often. There was no car behind them. No Gjertsen to save him. It was getting darker as well, and there were hardly any other cars on the road.
“Stop here!”
Mold stopped the car. Schultz motioned him to get out. He opened the door and got out. Schultz had a flashlight and pointed it straight at his face. Clever. He’d be blinded if he tried to run away. Schultz got out as well.
“Look, major… I know what you’re going to do. But, it’d help me die peacefully if you could tell me what this is all about”
“Clutching for straws, are we? Well, as you’ve probably gathered, Mathiesen was a friend of Germany. So was I, and I was in the service with him. Like your father, we didn’t much like the present government, one that was only too willing to become lackeys of the communists and the British…”
“Oh, spare me. I know those lines. You were all Nazis. Mathiesen sold out to the Germans, but realised he needed to switch sides again?”
“Something like that. Unfortunately, this cost two young men their lives. And he betrayed us, and kept the money to himself… money that would’ve been invaluable for us”
“Who the hell are ‘you’? Some old-timer Nazi movement? I thought you’d all been crushed along with the NS”
Schultz flinched at this.
“Look around you, Mold! What happened, huh? The Communists conquered it all! Now the heirs of Stalin rule Europe. Hungary, gone, Romania, gone, Poland, gone, Finland, gone, the Baltic states, gone, Czechoslovakia, gone, Italy, gone… and Germany is gone too. It’s all Communist. And it’s people like you who made it possible!”
“What did Mathiesen do?”
“General Laake was supposed to land at Rostock to occupy the city. Mathiesen, Gustavsen and Lande were already in Rostock, feeding Laake with false intelligence reports about no German activity. Then Mathiesen saw the Soviets approaching too. He thought that Germany’s fate was sealed, and killed the other two and warned Laake that there were German troops there. Laake withdrew as he was being attacked. You remember this, surely. Our casualties were heavy… “
“So Mathiesen saved lives?”
“He took lives of two fine young men, Mold”
“So that’s why you killed him?”
“Yes, yes I did! I admit that I personally strangled that bastard. And I enjoyed it!”
A gunshot tore the silence apart. Mold felt sure he was going to die, but felt no stinging pain.
Schultz suddenly fell forward. Blood spouted out of his mouth. The snow became red.
“Inspector Mold… I believe we spoke on the phone…”. An elderly man stepped out of the shadows, holding an old standard issue Krag-Jørgensen rifle.
“My name is Petter Simensen… I served with Niels. He confided in me some time after switching sides… So, I decided to look after you, young man…”. The man paused to cough. “Damn… I’m getting old”.
“You’re a great shot, though”. Mold didn’t know what to think, far less what to say.
“If you’ll excuse me, inspector, I’d better leave… just look after yourself now…”
Somewhere, sirens were heard.
Two Weeks Later
The interrogating officer was hunched over Mold.
“Admit it! You had ample opportunity and motive to kill major Schultz!”. Spittle flew from his mouth. His breath conveyed that mackerel in tomato sauce had been his lunch. Mold sighed. They’d wear him down. He had no alibi. Sometimes, he cursed Gjertsen for having called the police. He’d be put away for 21 years, no doubt. Killing an army officer was a serious crime. Simonsen had not stepped forward to tell his tale. Mold had no witnesses, and the prosecutors had no gun, no witness and indeed no
confession.
It had been a long wait.
You wouldn’t dare to shoot me here on the street”, Mold said.
“I wouldn’t? The run-away, half-crazed inspector Mold?”. Mold didn’t turn around. He knew Schultz had a point. He was off the case. But he wasn’t half-crazed, he felt sure. He couldn’t see Gjertsen anywhere. Never mind. They’d fix this.
Schultz led him to an anonymous-looking black car.
“Get in the driver’s seat”.
”What?”
”You heard me”
Schultz got in on the passenger’s side, and now pointed the gun directly at Mold’s rib cage. Mold felt his hands shaking and that his upper lip was covered with small beads of sweat.
“Drive north… go towards Maridalen. Don’t try to pull any strokes of genius, such as braking hard. You’ll be shot, Mold”
”Why are you doing this?”. Mold heard that his voice was cracking.
”Just drive”
The clear weather stood in stark contrast with Mold’s mood. What if Gjertsen hadn’t seen them? What if he’d assumed everything was okay?
”Go towards Maridalen”, Schultz commanded.
Maridalen is an idyllic part of the surrounding forests of Oslo. The lake and the small roads around there make for excellent terrain for hiking and skiing. But hiking and skiing wasn’t on Mold’s mind. Instead, he imagined his body being found by bypassing strangers in the spring.
”Why are we going there?”
”Oh, to go skiing. Have a cup of hot chocolate and talk. Get to know one another…”. Schultz snickered at this.
”Why were you and the others at my cabin?”
”I didn’t think you’d recognise me. Quite well done, Mold. Yet, it was rather unfortunate. For you, that is… We came to retrieve what is ours. Unfortunately, it was overlooked when we searched your house while you were passed out drunk. Didn’t they teach you not to drink so much, Mold?”
”But why are army intelligence interested in the diary of an old man?”
Schultz didn’t reply. Instead he looked at Mold with something of a bemused look.
“You don’t get it, do you? Well, I never thought you were the brightest apple in the barrel anyway”
A silence fell upon them. Mold checked his rear-view mirror often. There was no car behind them. No Gjertsen to save him. It was getting darker as well, and there were hardly any other cars on the road.
“Stop here!”
Mold stopped the car. Schultz motioned him to get out. He opened the door and got out. Schultz had a flashlight and pointed it straight at his face. Clever. He’d be blinded if he tried to run away. Schultz got out as well.
“Look, major… I know what you’re going to do. But, it’d help me die peacefully if you could tell me what this is all about”
“Clutching for straws, are we? Well, as you’ve probably gathered, Mathiesen was a friend of Germany. So was I, and I was in the service with him. Like your father, we didn’t much like the present government, one that was only too willing to become lackeys of the communists and the British…”
“Oh, spare me. I know those lines. You were all Nazis. Mathiesen sold out to the Germans, but realised he needed to switch sides again?”
“Something like that. Unfortunately, this cost two young men their lives. And he betrayed us, and kept the money to himself… money that would’ve been invaluable for us”
“Who the hell are ‘you’? Some old-timer Nazi movement? I thought you’d all been crushed along with the NS”
Schultz flinched at this.
“Look around you, Mold! What happened, huh? The Communists conquered it all! Now the heirs of Stalin rule Europe. Hungary, gone, Romania, gone, Poland, gone, Finland, gone, the Baltic states, gone, Czechoslovakia, gone, Italy, gone… and Germany is gone too. It’s all Communist. And it’s people like you who made it possible!”
“What did Mathiesen do?”
“General Laake was supposed to land at Rostock to occupy the city. Mathiesen, Gustavsen and Lande were already in Rostock, feeding Laake with false intelligence reports about no German activity. Then Mathiesen saw the Soviets approaching too. He thought that Germany’s fate was sealed, and killed the other two and warned Laake that there were German troops there. Laake withdrew as he was being attacked. You remember this, surely. Our casualties were heavy… “
“So Mathiesen saved lives?”
“He took lives of two fine young men, Mold”
“So that’s why you killed him?”
“Yes, yes I did! I admit that I personally strangled that bastard. And I enjoyed it!”
A gunshot tore the silence apart. Mold felt sure he was going to die, but felt no stinging pain.
Schultz suddenly fell forward. Blood spouted out of his mouth. The snow became red.
“Inspector Mold… I believe we spoke on the phone…”. An elderly man stepped out of the shadows, holding an old standard issue Krag-Jørgensen rifle.
“My name is Petter Simensen… I served with Niels. He confided in me some time after switching sides… So, I decided to look after you, young man…”. The man paused to cough. “Damn… I’m getting old”.
“You’re a great shot, though”. Mold didn’t know what to think, far less what to say.
“If you’ll excuse me, inspector, I’d better leave… just look after yourself now…”
Somewhere, sirens were heard.
Two Weeks Later
The interrogating officer was hunched over Mold.
“Admit it! You had ample opportunity and motive to kill major Schultz!”. Spittle flew from his mouth. His breath conveyed that mackerel in tomato sauce had been his lunch. Mold sighed. They’d wear him down. He had no alibi. Sometimes, he cursed Gjertsen for having called the police. He’d be put away for 21 years, no doubt. Killing an army officer was a serious crime. Simonsen had not stepped forward to tell his tale. Mold had no witnesses, and the prosecutors had no gun, no witness and indeed no
confession.
It had been a long wait.
NOOO Does this mean its finish (as in ended, not the Sovjet republic of Finland)
Great work Norg, a siutable ending of a world gone mad
V
Does this mean its finish (as in ended, not the Sovjet republic of Finland)Great work Norg, a siutable ending of a world gone mad
V
Author’s notes:
As you’ve probably gathered, the inspiration for the AAR and the title came from a game in HoI with Norway. Nothing much happened. I was never invaded, but by not banning the fascist party or the communists in three random events, I was influenced by France and able to join the Allies.
Germany was screwed by the Soviets, having screwed the Allies first. Norway picked up Sicily and liberated Northern Africa for the UK, along with crushing Franco.
The war ended in late 1942 with an almost total Soviet victory.
I do not know much about police work. I do know some Norwegian post-war history, though, and I have always wanted to write a “whodunit”. All mistakes, spelling errors and far-fetched plot twists are to be blamed on yours truly.
The good parts should be credited writers like Raymond Chandler, Sjöwahl & Wahlöö, Ed McBain, Henning Mankell and Stein Riverton.
I would like to thank all my readers for valuable feedback and great support.
As you’ve probably gathered, the inspiration for the AAR and the title came from a game in HoI with Norway. Nothing much happened. I was never invaded, but by not banning the fascist party or the communists in three random events, I was influenced by France and able to join the Allies.
Germany was screwed by the Soviets, having screwed the Allies first. Norway picked up Sicily and liberated Northern Africa for the UK, along with crushing Franco.
The war ended in late 1942 with an almost total Soviet victory.
I do not know much about police work. I do know some Norwegian post-war history, though, and I have always wanted to write a “whodunit”. All mistakes, spelling errors and far-fetched plot twists are to be blamed on yours truly.
The good parts should be credited writers like Raymond Chandler, Sjöwahl & Wahlöö, Ed McBain, Henning Mankell and Stein Riverton.
I would like to thank all my readers for valuable feedback and great support.
Thank you Norg for an excellent AAR – too short of course
It almost inspired me play another session of HOI and even try out a few ideas for an AAR myself…(don’t worry, it won’t happen!)
It almost inspired me play another session of HOI and even try out a few ideas for an AAR myself…(don’t worry, it won’t happen!)
At this time I think I should point out that without me forcing you to do so many rewrites this story wouldn’t have been nearly as good as it tuned out. Of course I thought it was going to end with Jessica Gustavsson Jitex having sex in the snow with Mold but I guess I was wrong once again. Congratulations Norg.
Joe
Of course I thought it was going to end with Jessica Gustavsson Jitex having sex in the snow with Mold but I guess I was wrong once again. Congratulations Norg. Joe
