‘Of course.’ I lead her through the apartment into the living room and only as she sits down on the sofa do I realize that she’s facing directly toward the room where her daughter’s big canvas used to hang on the wall behind the dining table. Eirik has replaced it temporarily with a Syeed Newham print on canvas and I watch Idun’s eyes travel around the room and through the open double doors to the dining room. She’s been here many times before for the Christmas drinks Eirik and I host every year, and I’m sure she’s noticing the absence of Elisabeth’s paintings.

‘I was wondering,’ she says, ‘if you suspected anything in the weeks leading up to the eleventh of August.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘As a therapist. You must get clients in very dark places. Did you notice those kinds of tendencies with Elisabeth?’

‘I see. As I wasn’t the therapist treating Elisabeth, that is very difficult to answer. But yes, on a few occasions when we spoke in the summer, I did feel worried for her mental health. I wondered whether it was the start of a regression.’

‘Were you aware of any episodes when she broke her sobriety?’

‘No.’

‘That’s what I don’t understand. She was so motivated. She spoke about the future. She’d made plans for a trip to Thailand with me in January. And then…’

‘It happens quite often, unfortunately. If you want my professional opinion, I believe that many suicides, especially the ones that come as surprises, are impulsive acts in very critical low moments in a person’s life, and not the result of longer-term planning.’

‘I just can’t believe she intended to…’ Idun trails off, and her eyes shimmer with tears. She doesn’t appear to notice, just blinks hard, sending them scattering onto her jeans.

‘I don’t think there was much doubt about her intentions. Sometimes, I’ve seen that it helps the family to know that the person actually did intend to die. Elisabeth wasn’t trying to get high, she would have known a dose like that would be fatal. It might be even worse to think of a suicide as an accidental death after a desperate cry for help. In Elisabeth’s case, there was little doubt that she, in those moments, truly intended to end her life. It does help me a little bit to think that she is at peace now.’

Idun nods and lets her eyes travel around the room again.

‘I’ve taken some of Elisabeth’s artwork down because I thought you might like to have it. It felt like the right thing to do.’