‘Sure. Do you want to know who it is?’

Certainly not, Selma wanted to yell, but instead she put her hand on Elise’s arm.

‘This is neither the time nor the place,’ she said gently. ‘If you like, I can call in on you some day next week. Then we can have a chat, just you and me. It’s probably all a misunderstanding, and …’

‘Sophie Selhus,’ Elise said, slightly too loudly.

A married couple Selma recognized as Vanja and Kristina’s neighbours across the hall, walked past arm in arm. They stopped and stared for a second, before the man dragged his wife onwards.

‘The ballet dancer,’ Elise added.

Quite unnecessarily, as Selma was well aware who Sophie Selhus was. Her brain had taken an unexpected, sudden nap.

‘What did you say?’ was all she could utter.

‘Sophie Selhus. Haakon has always thought her so beautiful.’

The word was spat out in a cloud of contempt.

‘He’s given her presents. Very expensive presents. Including an iPhone X and a MacBook.’

‘How on earth do you know that? What in …’

Selma shook her head ferociously. Her brain needed a jump-start.

‘Look here,’ Elise said, her short-lived anger turning to tears.

She held out her own iPhone.

Selma looked at the display.

It showed a map, with the location of several Apple devices.

‘Find my iPhone,’ she muttered. ‘I don’t understand …’

‘There,’ Elise said, pointing. ‘Stølsveien. That’s where the new laptop is. At Sophie Selhus’s house. I’ve been longing for a new MacBook for a year now. Haakon said it was an unnecessary extravagance. And then he goes and buys one and gives it to …’

She flung out her left hand to cover her face and bowed her head.

A switch was flicked on. Selma took a deep breath and stood there without saying a word. Without thinking. She tried to set her brain loose, to let her thoughts fall into place where they should be, all by themselves. She had plenty of them, far too many; for more than a week now she had constructed theories and built plans and tried to force everything down into a template where they didn’t fit.

A picture was emerging.

‘That function,’ she said abruptly, trying to make eye contact. ‘Hey, look at me, please.’

Elise let go of her own face and looked up.

‘Does it work only when the device is turned on?’

The girl nodded.

‘It has to be connected to the internet.’

Selma gulped, cleared her throat and took Elise’s hands in hers.

‘So that location means it’s switched on right now?’

‘Yes, it would be on the list if it was switched off, but not visible on the map. I discovered this yesterday. Early this morning it was disconnected, but now it’s in use again.’

She sobbed.

‘She’s using it now, Selma. In the middle of Haakon’s funeral.’