‘Financier Jan Morell, father of Hege Chin Morell and himself the victim of a murder attempt last Friday, is very critical of the NCCSF’s handling of the case against his daughter.’

Cut to Jan Morell, now making his way along NRK’s internal corridors.

‘An extraordinary general meeting for cross-country skiing should be called,’ he said firmly.

‘He looks totally exhausted,’ Selma whispered. ‘He seems diminished, somehow.’

‘Is it correct to call him a financier?’ Einar asked. ‘Isn’t it just a fucking enormous consultancy company he runs?’

‘Shh.’

‘This case has demonstrated that the systems surrounding athletes, when it comes to the danger of being innocently caught by the doping regulations, fall very short. We have seen that the Federation has no procedures or culture designed to look after their athlete’s interests when anything goes wrong. Personally, I’m of the opinion that the doping regulations should be changed. The athletes quite simply cannot live with an almost total absence of legal safeguards. The Norwegian Cross-Country Skiing Federation may be of a diff erent opinion. But they must, as soon as possible, work out and implement systems that in the first place will prevent cases like the one we have just witnessed, and secondly take care of the athletes when things go wrong. For this to happen, they must gather some courage. In order to stand up to the inflexible anti-doping bureaucracy. That Anti-Doping Norway and WADA are fighting a battle we all support, countering the practice of cheating in sport, must not mean that they can escape fair criticism.’

Jan ran a stubby finger under his nose before he went on: ‘As we know, courage is difficult to come by when you don’t have the aptitude for it. That’s why it’s imperative to clear out the whole tier of management at the Federation. And it will be entirely natural to start with the Cross-Country President, Bottolf Odda.’

‘Do you intend to take the initiative in such a process yourself?’

‘Yes. Definitely. But first of all my daughter has to be accepted back into the national team. She’s going to take part in the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang.’

A grim, faint smile appeared before the broadcast was cut off.

‘Jan should never have said that,’ Selma commented, shaking her head. ‘It could be detrimental to Hege. Mark my words!’

In the next item, Bottolf Odda was seated on his office chair in the NCCSF’s iconic building in Holmenkollen, leaning back casually. He had taken off his jacket and had his hands folded over his corpulent belly.

‘What this case shows very clearly is that our systems function. Exactly as they are supposed to do. No one can guard against criminals.’

‘But shouldn’t you have held open the possibility that Hege Morell was telling the truth when she protested her innocence?’

‘We have supported Hege in every possible way. Naturally, we don’t have an investigative apparatus, and we are bound by the laws of sport to follow a certain protocol in such instances. Which have now led to the case being cleared up.’