Knut held my gaze for a few seconds. ‘That’s how I interpreted it, yes. I think she might need some help. Professional help.’

‘She’s just being dramatic, Knut. You know how she gets. She’s not suicidal, she’d never do that to me – or us.’

‘Maybe you’re right. I’m just worried about her.’

I nodded. ‘Let’s just wait and see,’ I said forcing down the yoghurt. ‘Right now she’s clinging to the hope that Tobias will come back, and there’s still every chance he just might do that.’

‘I’ll look after her in the meantime,’ he said. ‘Perhaps I should take her back to my place?’

‘Good idea,’ I said. It was a sensible move, as she would probably freak out even more if the police came by.

Yngve Mork was not in uniform when he arrived. The female officer with him was, though.

Imo, who’d arrived a short while before, went out to greet them. He showed them into the kitchen where it was warmer.

‘This is Therese Kyrkjebø,’ Mork said, turning to the female officer. She held out her hand for me to shake.

Mork turned to me. ‘Still no sign of your brother?’

‘No,’ I said. ‘Not yet.’

‘What can you tell us about him, Even?’

I took a deep breath. ‘He’s a couple of years younger than me,’ I said. ‘About the same height. Shoulder-length hair, similar to mine. Brown eyes.’

‘Good to know, thanks,’ Mork said, as Kyrkjebø took notes. ‘But I was thinking more about his personality. What kind of person is he?’

I looked over at Imo as I thought about what to say. I wondered if the police officers knew my brother’s reputation from Solstad. A couple of weeks before we moved back to Fredheim, a girl called Amalie had shown some interest in him. According to my brother they were going out, but Amalie saw it differently. She hadn’t been honest with him, either. It turned out that she only wanted to get close to Tobias so she could get closer to me.

Tobias was furious when he found out. I didn’t witness it myself, but apparently he’d grabbed Amalie in the playground during break, in front of everyone. It made a lot of noise at his school, and my mother freaked out. Because Gran was dead and her house was standing empty, my mother saw it as a sign – an opportunity to get Tobias away from a school and a community that viewed him as potentially violent.

Now I simply told the officers that my brother didn’t have great social skills, that he didn’t have a lot of friends.

‘What about … his relationship with girls?’

I swallowed a couple of times, before meeting Mork’s eyes. ‘He hasn’t had any girlfriends here, if that’s what you’re asking.’