‘Do whatever you want, so long as it doesn’t interfere with your other duties. But when we . . . if we bring Freske in for questioning, you’re going to have to drop whatever it is you’re doing,’ he adds and shoots her a stern look.

‘Of course. I wouldn’t miss it. Has something interesting happened?’

She gets up with a glance at his computer screen, which seems to once again be consuming all of Smeed’s attention.

‘We just had a report of an older couple outside Ravenby being found dead in their home. Suspected murder, according to our colleagues up there. I’ll have Johannisen check it out.’

Chapter 44

44

For the third time in a very short time, Karen Eiken Hornby is reminded that she doesn’t like the smell of hospitals.

That her badge opens both doors and mouths is eminently clear, however, when after just twenty minutes of waiting, she’s granted an audience with the doctor in charge. All it took was a few vague words about the police looking into the cause of the accident.

She listens with mounting unease to Consultant Axel Klak as he lists Billy’s injuries. Aside from lacerations and fractures in both legs, which according to the doctor shouldn’t lead to any lasting impairment, Billy has a serious head injury in the form of a severe brain bleed.

‘He’s sedated right now to keep him stable until we can perform a more detailed evaluation of his condition. We want to let his brain rest, to minimise the risk of pressure build-up.’

‘And how long will you keep him unconscious?’

‘As long as it takes. A week or two, most likely. We’re keeping an eye on his cranial pressure and what the X-rays show and based on that we will, in due course, decrease the sedation gradually and see how he reacts.’

‘How he reacts?’

‘Yes, we may, for example, test his response to simple commands. But it’s a difficult balance to strike and right now, sleep is the best medicine.’

‘So there’s a chance he could pull through?’

Axel Klak pulls a face as if to say anything’s possible.

‘The brain is a complex machine,’ he says. ‘Fragile, too, of course, but sometimes it demonstrates an uncanny ability to recover.’

‘Did you check if there was alcohol or anything else in his blood?’

‘Of course. But no, no trace of anything,’ Axel Klak replies firmly. ‘We can only speculate about what caused him to drive into that mountain. You’re just going to have to wait and hope for the best.’

‘Thank you for your time. I would like to have a look at his belongings, too. Do you know if anything was brought in with him?’

‘You’ll have to ask the nurses. OK, well, unless there was anything else . . . ?’