‘Only for my own use,’ he said. ‘No one else will be allowed to hear it.’

‘Fine,’ she said, nodding. ‘But I can never be quoted on anything. Besides, I stress that there’s still a lot I don’t know. Some of what I’m saying is pure guesswork. Such as, for example, that Hege’s positive test came about as a result of her being massaged with an Italian ointment normally used for cold sores and rashes.’

‘What?’

‘Trofodermin,’ Selma said, enunciating clearly and emphasizing every syllable. ‘It’s sold over the counter in Italy. Remember the name. It’s a medication that will be written into the history of Norwegian skiing in flaming letters. Believe you me.’

‘Troformin … what?’

‘Trofodermin. I’m also willing to bet a fair sum of money that the police will find out that Haakon’s underwear was smeared with the same cream. All cross-country skiers have their own lockers up in that grand palace there …’

They had turned off the Store Ringvei ring road towards Slemdal, and she nodded forward, up over the hillside.

‘… and it’s never been much of a challenge for intruders to open them.’

‘So Hege and Haakon both having traces of Clostebol in their bodies is unrelated? It’s all … a coincidence?’

‘Again,’ Selma said, narrowly averting a skid before the car went out of control, ‘both yes and no. The national team’s physiotherapist, Knut Nilssen, applied the drug to Hege and killed Arnulf. In turn, Arnulf was responsible for giving the drug to Haakon. Of course, I don’t know why, and now that he’s dead it’s difficult to ask him. All the same, I’ll bet it was all an attempt to get Haakon to focus on something other than being an unappointed patrolman at the Cross-Country Skiing Federation. Far more difficult to take on that role if you have a doping charge on the go. Maybe he even killed him. It remains to be seen what the police find out regarding that car he borrowed from his son. Now that they have a specific vehicle to examine, they won’t take long to discover whether the car has been in Maridalen at that particular time. And if it’s been involved in any kind of collision. But you know … The worst thing about it all …’

She heaved a sigh. She was growing increasingly restless as they began to climb the hill and close in on the timber villa in Vettakollen.

‘Try one more time,’ she told him.

Lars gave it another go.

‘Straight to answerphone,’ he said apologetically. ‘What are you actually afraid of?’

‘Something frightening enough to take a random man like you with me to investigate,’ she said. ‘The worst thing about it all is that there was no intention for anyone to die at all. I think, anyway. I’m pretty certain.’

‘I still don’t understand any of it. Not a single smidgen.’

Selma did not answer.