‘People are keen on being on good terms with that book. As a journalist I know a lot of what people are willing to gossip about if they think it will be to their benefit. If they are scared.’

‘So you think that he has … pressured his way to informal power? Blackmailed his way to it, so to speak?’

‘Well, maybe … that’s probably not how it works. It’s more that he knows a lot, and can drop hints in a pretty subtle fashion. I tried to find out more about the guy’s weird position last summer, but people are somehow … yes, afraid of him. Anxious, at least. Difficult story to smoke out. And then we’re into another of those points of mine.’

He seemed more enthusiastic now, and he pushed the almost-full coffee cup forward as he leaned even further across the table.

‘People are scared up there. Management by fear.’

‘How do you know that?’

‘I’m a journalist. I talk to people. Let me illustrate …’

He licked his lips before he began.

‘Most people in the system are worried, fundamentally. Every time something happens, at least. They’re terrified of the press. Of saying anything wrong, of saying anything at all, at least in public. Each time we fuck their arses, they get even more worried. And anxiety brings power. One person’s anxiety gives other people power.’

He paused for breath and shook his head.

‘Take Bottolf Odda,’ he continued. ‘In many ways he’s a great guy. Jovial and friendly. The results during his period as cross-country president are good. Excellent, even. That’s impossible to deny. On the other hand the Federation’s finances are shaky, to put it mildly. And inaccessible. We have had to argue over every single fucking little receipt we’ve asked to see. In the first place, they spend more money than they’ve got, which would be a mortal sin in any other organization. What’s more, it’s down-right difficult to see what they’ve spent their money on.’

‘Wine, women and song.’

‘Well, wine at least. Expensive wine. Which all the others and I wouldn’t give a toss about, if this was an ordinary, private company. But they’re not. They are custodians of a national cultural heritage. A cultural treasure, many people believe. Skiing is the strongest identity marker we possess. The folks up there lead an organization that depends primarily on volunteers. On mothers and fathers and aunts and grandparents who train the little ones, arrange races, set up trail nets all winter, cook waffles and hold jumble sales and …’

He raised his hand.

‘You know all about Norwegian sports, Selma. Hard, unpaid work. For fucking plenty of people.’

‘Yes. Expensive wine and business class for the bosses might be loose change in terms of the bigger picture. But, as they say, it’s all about the optics.’