She had been within six months of becoming a qualified lawyer when, for the first time in six years, she had not been selected for the national team. Since she felt this was a dreadful oversight, she had suddenly packed it in, though she had kept her rage hidden from everyone except Jesso. She had won a randomly placed bet in London, something that gave her a more intense pleasure than she ever confessed to anyone. She went on to take her final exams with brilliant results and was immediately offered a job working with Nils Holm, Kristina’s older brother. He had a major law firm in Aker Brygge, the most prestigious part of Oslo at that time. Fifteen partners and a multitude of intermediaries. The work was challenging enough, but she missed competing so much that in the end she had screwed up.

Nils and the other named partners were unable to prove anything illegal, so the case had not ended up with Økokrim, the police branch dealing with economic crimes. Selma had made almost a million kroner from a tip-off she had picked up when passing an office with the door slightly ajar. Buying stocks and shares was an advanced form of gambling that apparently brought her the same satisfaction as playing important games. She never admitted to the business with the open door, and in order to avoid damaging the firm she was allowed to leave quietly and find her own explanation for going.

She wanted to set up on her own, the best reason of all.

The new firm, her own, grew rapidly. Selma continued to invest in stocks and shares with the sum of money she had won when she had worked for Holm, Hansen & Herøen. An excellent portfolio with conservative, low-risk investments, mainly to have something to show for it. It gave her a tidy little profit, but nothing more.

She found her thrills in far more risky purchases and sales. Smart and fairly complicated ones. For a period she had gone for contracts for difference, and found she was proficient. After a minor operation for a painful toe in 2008 she was confined to bed for a week. That was when she tried her hand at day trading. She quickly got the hang of that too.

Then internet gambling came on the scene in earnest, and the opportunities mushroomed.

It had all gone really well. For a very long time.

Six months ago she had suffered a greater setback than she was used to. A predicament the previous month had made it necessary for her to borrow from Jan Morell’s account. One false step followed another until an overconfident stake had upset the applecart. It could have saved her, the whole amount all at once. When one late night after five terrible months of losses, she finally dared to check how much Jan’s account was in debit, she had decided to make one last effort to regain the money. She had read, speculated and reasoned her way into a shorting chance on the New York stock exchange that had huge potential.