Blix charged down the spiral staircase, along the corridor and into the studio. There was a crackling sound coming from the studio manager’s headset, but neither he nor the camera operators seemed to have understood the situation. Tollersrud was still on stage. A monitor showed a close-up of the contents of the safe. The device ticking down. 02.56 nudged towards 02.55. It was possible to see the leads protruding from four bulky, grey packages.
Some of the spectators in the front rows were scrambling out of their seats now. Blix spotted a fire alarm, rushed over to it and smashed the glass so that bells began to ring. The image on the monitor went black. Someone shouted that there was a bomb. It took only a few seconds for panic to begin to spread. A cameraman dashed to the exit, with another close on his heels. Members of the audience clambered over the rows of seats, pushing and shoving. Shouting, screaming.
Blix bounded on to the stage and darted toward the house entrance. The sliding doors had no handles, so he tried to push them aside. They would not budge. He cast around for some kind of tool.320
Looking around he saw the studio was still full of people. Kovic and four uniformed officers were fighting their way through the stream of fleeing spectators. The producer, Petter Due-Eriksen, was with them.
On the screen, which had turned black, a message appeared stating that the transmission would be ‘back shortly’. Two smaller screens still showed pictures from the interior of the House. One camera seemed to be fixed on the clock. 02.39, 02.38. The other screen automatically shadowed the movements of the contestants. Iselin and Toralf were standing at the security doors, the other exit from the House. But they were also shut.
‘What’s happening?’ Due-Eriksen asked.
‘Even Eckhoff,’ Blix said with no further explanation. ‘Open the doors!’
‘They’re electronically controlled,’ Due-Eriksen told him. ‘They shouldn’t be locked, just shut.’
Due-Eriksen tried to push the doors open while one of the uniformed police officers applied all his weight to the other section of the door, but to no avail.
Blix grabbed hold of another policeman’s shoulder. ‘Battering ram!’ he roared.
The policeman passed on the message. The emergency squad responded that they were less than a minute away with all the necessary equipment.
The on-screen clock had counted down to 02.09. The seconds were ticking far too fast.
‘Is there another way in?’ asked the officer who’d tried to open the doors.
‘The security doors,’ Due-Eriksen replied, and disappeared with him.
The remaining police officers continued to work on the sliding doors. One of them had found a hammer he used to batter the hinges. The other had picked up a metal bar.
Iselin and Toralf were making their way back through the house. 321The cameras followed them, and a moment later they heard knocking from inside. The TV pictures showed that Toralf was using his fists.
Blix was at a loss. He was about to draw his gun and shoot at the hinges when the emergency squad arrived, dressed in dark jumpsuits and balaclavas, armed with machine pistols. Two of them carried a battering ram between them. Heavy boots clattered across the TV studio floor.
They leapt on to the stage without a word. Blix pointed at the sliding doors, and urged them to be as fast as possible. The men took up position. Two of them lifted the battering ram and let it smack against the doors. The timber splintered, the doors were dislodged, but did not give way.
Blix kept an eye on the screen showing pictures from inside. Iselin and Toralf had moved back a little. The battering ram struck again, but not with enough force. Iselin took a step back, turned around and disappeared out of view. The camera tracked Toralf as he stepped towards the sliding doors and pulled at some loose beading.
‘Where did she go?’ asked Kovic.
The camera beside them now displayed 01.24. Still time, Blix thought in panic, as the battering ram broke through. Then the back of Iselin’s head appeared, obscuring the camera angle.
‘She’s closing the door of the safe,’ Kovic said.
Blix nodded, pleased at her presence of mind. This would reduce the effect of the explosion.
‘Everybody out!’ the leader of the emergency squad ordered.
Toralf was hauled out through the shattered door. Due-Eriksen was already heading for the exit, along with the uniformed police officers.
‘What about the bomb?’ Kovic asked.
The emergency squad officer shook his head.
‘Too little time,’ he said before repeating the command to his crew: ‘Everybody out!’
Blix forced his way through to the opening.
‘Iselin!’ he yelled.322
He hunkered down and squeezed through. Called out again.
‘Blix!’ Kovic shouted at him.
‘You get out!’ he roared back.
‘The security doors!’ Kovic told him, pointing at the two screens relaying images from inside the house.
Blix was unable to see what she was talking about. He turned, peered through the opening and saw on the screen that the security doors were open.
‘Eckhoff,’ Kovic gasped. ‘He went inside.’
Blix wheeled around again and drew his gun.