A few abandoned pint glasses and beer bottles are still sitting on the tables outside the Hare and Crow. The rain is picking up now, diluting the remaining splashes of bitter and lager. Quickly, without stopping, he picks up one of the bottles and hides it under his coat. Then he turns up his collar and starts walking.

Chapter 72

72

‘So, what do we have?’

Jounas Smeed leans back in his chair and folds his hands behind his head with a look on his face that says he’s not expecting any surprises. Anyone who knows him well might also be able to detect a hint of smugness in his voice that wasn’t there a few hours earlier.

It goes without saying that he had not, with so much as a twitch of the corner of his mouth, betrayed the relief he’d felt when Head of Police Viggo Haugen had announced that he intended to take all future interviews about Luna himself. A decision that may, for a person hardly known for his sensitivity, seem a tad rushed.

The dismissive snort the Head of Police had emitted when the consultants from the PR company had talked about the importance of social media had quickly turned into approving grunts when they presented a preliminary analysis of what ordinary people were currently saying. For some unknown reason, the common man seemed to have sided with the police for once in the looming war with the media.

Not even DTV had managed to whip up any ire in their street interviews with locals. Quite the opposite, as it turned out.

One older lady in particular had made the Head of Police feel hopeful as far as the force’s reputation was concerned. She had leaned in towards the fuzzy microphone and emphatically announced:

‘I’m certain that girl was lucky she was kidnapped in this country. If it had happened in America, she’d probably have been shot dead a long time ago. Stop being so hard on the police, that’s what I say. I’m sure they’re doing the best they can.’

Granted, Viggo Haugen hadn’t been completely satisfied with the PR company’s take on it:

‘This isn’t an entirely unusual phenomenon. As you know, people in this country love an underdog. It probably has something to do with our historical background; we feel sympathy for people who have made fools of themselves and ended up disgraced – and above all, we don’t kick people when they’re down.’

No, the Head of Police is not entirely pleased, but neither Jounas Smeed nor anyone else has to worry about handling the media.

At least until the tides turn again.

*

On the other hand, they have more serious problems to deal with.

‘Well, I guess it’s pretty much what we expected,’ Astrid Nielsen says, consulting a list of the tips that have come in.