The harsh voice of a police officer began to give orders below as they crossed the hall of the pastor’s residence. It was a large house for a single man: Odo was lucky. Lili had not been here often, but she knew he had a study on the ground floor at the front, and she guessed this was the likeliest place to find him. The door was ajar, and she pushed it wide and stepped inside.

There, in an oak-paneled room with bookshelves full of works of biblical scholarship, Odo and Karolin were locked in a passionate embrace. They were kissing with their mouths open. Karolin’s hands were on Odo’s head, her fingers buried in his long, thick hair. Odo was stroking and squeezing Karolin’s breasts. She pressed against him, her body curved tautly like an archer’s bow.

Lili was shocked silent. She thought of Karolin as her brother’s wife, the fact that they were not actually married a mere technicality. It had never occurred to her that Karolin could become fond of another man—let alone the pastor! For a moment her mind searched wildly for some alternative explanation: they were rehearsing a play, or doing calisthenics.

Then Thorsten said: “My God!”

Odo and Karolin jumped apart with a suddenness that was almost comic. Shock and guilt showed on their faces. After a moment they spoke together. Odo said: “We were going to tell you.” At the same time Karolin said: “Oh, Lili, I’m so sorry . . .”

For a frozen moment, Lili was vividly conscious of details: the check pattern of Odo’s jacket, Karolin’s nipples poking through her dress, Odo’s theological degree in a brass frame on the wall, the old-fashioned flowered carpet with a threadbare patch in front of the fireplace.

Then she remembered the emergency that had brought her upstairs. “The police have come,” she said. “They’re in the basement.”

Odo said: “Hell!” He strode out and Lili heard him hurrying down the stairs.

Karolin stared at Lili. Neither woman knew what to say. Then Karolin broke the spell. “I must go with him,” she said, and followed Odo.

Lili and Thorsten were left in the study. It was a nice place for kissing, Lili thought sadly: the oak paneling, the fireplace, the books, the carpet. She wondered how often Odo and Karolin had done this, and when it had started. She thought about Walli. Poor Walli.

She heard shouting from downstairs, and that energized her. She had no reason to return to the basement, she realized. Her coat was down there but the evening was not bitterly cold: she could manage without it. She might escape.

The front door of the house was on the opposite side of the building from the basement entrance. She wondered whether the police had the whole place surrounded, and decided probably not.

She crossed the hall and opened the front door. There were no police in sight.

She said to Thorsten: “Shall we leave?”

“Yes, quickly.”

They went out, closing the door quietly.