‘Why don’t you think she’ll go back to him this time?’ I asked.

‘I think she’s been through too much. She’s forgiven him too often. And forgiveness is a divine gift, Veum. We have been allocated our share, but we don’t have limitless resources. She’s experienced terrible things.’

I could feel that I was instantly on the alert again. ‘You’re thinking about what happened to The Harpers?’

‘I’m thinking about everything, Veum. I can’t sit here and allude to one particular event. There is, after all, an oath of confidentiality.’

‘That hasn’t bothered you so far.’

‘Because I was talking about myself. I’ve come here today to present my situation to you so that you don’t misunderstand Rebecca … or me. As far as what she’s said is concerned, my vow of silence is inviolable.’

‘But … from a neutral point of view, can you see why she’s not going back to him?’

He leaned forward to me again, so close that not even the shadows could hear what we were saying. ‘Let me tell you one thing, Veum. It’s not easy when someone opens a door for you and you see … straight down into Hell.’

I watched him, waiting for more. But it never came.

He retreated into himself.

I said drily: ‘Well, it’s probably best to have a valid membership card on you.’

He jumped to his feet, walked past my desk and over to the window, so quickly that I almost tipped over as I followed him round in my swivel chair.

Outside, yuletide Bergen glittered in its cold finery. The mountains lay dark and bare. Only at the top of Vidden and around the TV mast on Ulriken was there a thin sprinkling of snow, like the dust of crushed stars.306

Berge Brevik made a dramatic gesture with his hand. ‘When I see the town on an evening like this, do you know what I see, Veum?’

‘No, what do you see?’

‘It’s eerie, but it’s a vision that pursues me. I see the town two weeks after doomsday, bombed out and with no signs of life. Up on the mountainside you might glimpse in some ruins the flickering of bonfires the survivors have lit for a few weeks. Then they’re gone too and a sombre darkness envelops the landscape before it starts snowing, in August. Soot-black snow, which will cover everything.’

He finished on a crescendo: ‘So it’s good to know you have your place in the flock gathered at the feet of our Lord, Veum. It’s comforting to know you have a homecoming in the light, a father who will receive you and eternal rest in the arms of Jesus Christ…

‘Isn’t that right?’ he added after a slight pause. As though he still wasn’t absolutely sure it would be like that.

Then he went to the coat stand, put on his coat, wrapped the scarf around his neck and stood holding his knitted hat. ‘Thank you for listening, Veum. Should you feel the need for solace one day … you know where to find me.’