‘Tough few days at work,’ I say, my eyes dropping from his pale face to the floor, and I try to stave off the images of Leah hanging, but it doesn’t work – it is as though she has been etched onto my retinas, her limp body swinging back and forth in my mind like a grotesque pendulum. Eirik nods and waits for me to continue, but I don’t.

‘Come sit with me,’ he says, leading me over to the sofa. I let myself relax against him. We fall into a long silence. Eirik gently strokes my hair, then cups my skull in his large, warm hand, kneading tension from my scalp. I love this soft version of my husband – out there, in the world, he comes across as so powerful and self-assured but here, at home with me, he is actually a very gentle man.

‘I’m sorry for the other day,’ I say.

‘What day?’

‘You know. The burned painting. It was quite the meltdown.’

‘You’re going through a hard time, my love. But there is no one in the world I would trust more to get through this time and emerge stronger.’

‘It was triggered by some stuff going on at work.’

‘What kind of stuff?’

‘I…’ I can’t quite decide whether to tell Eirik about Leah and everything that’s been happening; it feels difficult to divulge personal information about a client to anyone, even my husband. I never tell anyone anything about my clients, not even Eirik, no matter what. Besides, I’ve done everything I could, and my job is to listen, not investigate. It’s a police matter now and I have to trust that they will question Anton, if only to find that he’s telling the truth. I close my eyes and lean against Eirik’s dense shape beside me. But still, all I can see is her, alone in the woods. Hanging.

‘I’m worried about a client,’ I say, finally, my voice low and trembling. I try to envision something other than the violent images in my head, so I look up at my husband and focus on his smooth skin, his strong jawline and his lovely, slightly puffy lips. I run a fingertip along his bottom lip and he looks at me seriously, waiting for me to continue. ‘She’s a writer. Quite a well-known one, actually. We’ve had a very productive relationship, or so I thought. But she’s behaving completely out of character.’

‘In which way?’

‘She came to our session last week, extremely distressed. Someone had assaulted her but she wouldn’t say who. She has a history of self-harm and some suicidal preoccupation, as well as an abusive ex-husband.’