‘I’m a fisherman, not some bloody lord of the manor,’ Walter Eiken had said.

But as time had gone by and his joints had stiffened, the long sheepskin Dogger jumper with its knit sleeves had given way to the soft terrycloth. Now, it’s even softer and hardly fit for a manor anymore. And it’s one of the few things from her dad’s wardrobe Leo hasn’t appropriated, Karen muses, rolling up the long sleeves while she hurries into the bathroom and sits down on the toilet.

Omelette, she decides as the splashing breaks the silence. There are plenty of eggs and probably at least some of the sheep’s cheese I bought at Brandt’s last week, unless Leo or Sigrid has finished it off. And Haager ham, juniper-smoked. Tomatoes, do we have any? I can live without. There are definitely red onions, at least. But seriously, how much urine can a person’s bladder hold?

Just then, she stiffens – and suddenly fear is creeping up her spine.

Quickly and without wiping, she gets to her feet. Pulls up her knickers and wraps the robe tightly around her.

Something makes her not flush. Not call out. Something inside her knows instinctively the person who just opened the front door is neither Leo nor Sigrid.

Chapter 75

75

Leo Friis slows down and moves as far to the right as he can to let the police cars pass. Sighs while they overtake him and then accelerates again. Wants to go home now. He’s completely beat and could really do with a glass of whiskey. Or two.

He has spent all day and half the evening in an uncomfortable chair at Thysted Hospital. Only left for brief trips to the cafeteria on the ground floor whenever Luna dozed off. Hurried back in case she woke up.

‘She’s in good hands now,’ Kore had said. ‘Go home and get some bloody sleep, Leo.’

But he had stayed. Because he felt he owed her that. Because he’d wanted to. Because there was no one to take over from him. Karen had, after talking very fast, managed to get him past the staff and the guards, but neither Kore nor Eirik had been allowed anywhere near Luna.

That’s why he had stayed. And because Luna, every time she came to, seemed completely unaware of where she was. A brief moment of confusion while she desperately tried to sit up and her panicked eyes darted around the room, before she seemed to deflate and sink back into her pillows. The first few hours had been the worst.

‘Go home, Leo,’ she’d slurred, dazed from the drugs the doctors had pumped her full of.

‘I’m staying.’

And she had gone back to sleep.

And woken up again a few hours later.

‘Seriously, Leo,’ she’d mumbled. ‘Go home and sleep. You look awful.’

‘I’m fine. How are you feeling? That’s the important thing.’