I put the phone back down and get out of bed. I have plenty of time to run through my morning routine before meeting the girls at noon – contact lenses, shower, moisturizer, a light touch of make-up. I spend a while studying the pores of my skin close-up – my skin looks coarser than just a few months ago, maybe a result of both the stress of this year and the unusually cold October weather. Perhaps it’s time to reconsider the Botox I’ve always dismissed – it was easier to turn down when my skin was still young and flawless. My thoughts are interrupted by the vibration of my phone on the bedside table. Someone is phoning from a private number.

‘Hello?’

‘Hi, is that Dr Moss?’

‘Speaking.’

‘Good morning. This is Hans-Olav Bjerre calling from Majorstuen police station. Can I confirm that you called in a tip yesterday about a potential missing person or domestic violence case to my colleague Officer Espensen?’

‘Yes, that’s right.’

‘We’ve had a look into the information you provided. There doesn’t seem to be any reason for concern with regard to your client, Miss Iverson.’

‘Have you found her?’

‘We’ve been in contact with her mother, Linda Iverson, who confirms communicating with her daughter recently.’

‘Yes, I know that.’

‘It would seem she has gone away somewhere to finish a book or something. A cabin, it says in the write-up.’

‘Yes. I asked your colleague to please send someone there. I believe Leah is in danger.’

‘Such a request would need to come from her next of kin, and may be difficult to accommodate as there doesn’t seem to be any reason to suspect she is in danger.’

‘Did you send someone to her apartment? Her ex, against whom she had a restraining order, was there yesterday. You need to find out why.’

‘We did. There was no one there.’

‘Did you go in?’

‘No. We rang the bell. No one was there.’

‘How do you know he wasn’t there and just didn’t open?’

‘Look. We would have needed a search warrant to enter the apartment.’

My mind darts to Anton at the middle window, half of his face cast in shadows, his pale-blue eyes cold and sharp on the street below. I shiver lightly. ‘So what happens next?’

‘Well, presumably what your client’s mother says is correct and Ms Iverson will return to her home when she wishes to do so. Oh, and one more thing – it says that you mentioned to Espensen that your client had a restraining order against her ex-husband, Anton von Thaule.’

‘Yes?’

‘This is incorrect. It was von Thaule who took out a restraining order against Leah Iverson in 2015, after an assault. She tried to take one out against him, but it was discredited after the discovery of CCTV footage of the alleged incident.’

‘What? Are you sure?’

‘Absolutely.’