He immediately regretted his choice of words, and he could see the surprise in some of the detectives’ faces. He cleared his voice and decided to just press on.

‘It could be suggested that Børre’s sighting of Even was a potential motive for his killing. But Even has an alibi for the night in question. And if we do believe the sighting in itself is a motive, that would mean the others who also claim to have seen Even at the school that night might be in danger too. I really don’t think anything will happen to them as well.’

‘Question,’ one of the officers in the room said. It was Davidsen, the man from Lillestrøm who’d gone through the CCTV recordings. He had tipped his chair a little backwards, so that it rested only on two legs. ‘Do we have anyone else’s word besides this Emo fellow that Even, in fact, did spend the night at the pig farm place at the time of Børre Halvorsen’s murder?’

‘Imo,’ Therese corrected.

‘No, we don’t,’ Yngve said. ‘But—’

‘I guess what I’m really asking is if he’s trustworthy,’ the officer continued. ‘I mean, this thing with his gloves disappearing and having the janitor leave the door on the other side open for him and everything. Are we one hundred percent certain he’s telling the truth?’

‘It’s hard to be one hundred percent sure of anything,’ Yngve said. ‘But I know Imo well. He’s a good man, and he’s done a lot of good for this community over the last twenty-five years.’

‘That doesn’t have to mean anything.’

‘I know, but as far as I know, he’s not in the habit of lying about … stuff. And what would his motive be for giving Even a false alibi?’

‘The usual,’ the detective continued. ‘To cover for his nephew.’

‘So you’re saying that Imo knew that Even killed Mari and Johannes, and that Imo – knowing that – thought it was OK for him to take another life? “Go ahead, son, I’ll cover for you next time as well”?’

The detective didn’t respond, neither did anyone else. ‘Even was still drunk when I woke him last night,’ Yngve continued. ‘I find it hard to believe that a teenager in such a state could make his way to Fredheim Bridge – an eight-kilometre hike – in the middle of the night, without anyone noticing him. Not to mention the fact that he would have to get back, too. A total of sixteen kilometres. In the middle of the night.’

Again a moment’s pause in the room.

‘It was just a question,’ Davidsen finally said.