The doctor stands up to signal that they’re done.

‘Try not to worry, OK?’ she says. ‘I’ll be in touch if anything’s wrong. If you haven’t heard from me by the end of next week, you can relax. Focus on getting back into an exercise routine instead.’

Chapter 17

17

She makes it back to the office just in time to hear a scraping of chairs that signals that the end-of-the-day meeting is over. Karen steps aside to let her colleagues out.

Karl is standing over his laptop, disconnecting it from the screen. He looks concerned, she notes, and just then he looks up and notices her.

‘What are you doing here? I thought you had the day off.’

‘I don’t know about off. I went for my JRFT.’

‘That’s right. So, how did you do?’

She sits down heavily on a chair that hasn’t been pushed in. Probably Brodal’s, she grumbles inwardly. Or Johannisen’s.

‘The firearms test went well. And my blood pressure’s decent. And my heart’s ticking along, too.’

Karl chuckles.

‘But you failed the fitness test.’

‘You can say that again. I have to go back in six weeks and if there’s no improvement, they’ll report me to Smeed. So now I have to get back into gear.’

‘But you’ve never been unfit before, have you? You’ll be fine, Karen.’

She says nothing about the fact that she has tried. That she actually has tried – and failed. That it feels like all her strength is seeping out of her. That she’s getting old. Or worse.

‘Any news today?’ she asks instead. ‘Anything you can bring me up to speed on right now?’

‘Not much, I’m afraid. More tip-offs about blokes with mopeds, one of which might be of interest. One of the guys knocking on doors, Torkelssen, reported that he spoke to one of Anita Kollbar’s neighbours, an older woman who lives down the street from her, not two hours ago.’

‘How old?’

‘Close to ninety, unfortunately. But, apparently, she seemed perfectly with it. Either way, she claims to have seen a man driving around the area a few days before the attack.’

‘Why has no one talked to her before now? Haven’t we been making the rounds since Monday?’

‘We’ve tried, but there’s been no one home – the old lady was in the hospital for a couple of days with severe dehydration. Her daughter found her semi-conscious and drove her to the hospital where they brought her fluid levels back up. She got home yesterday.’

‘What else did she have to say?’