‘Why have you been trying to reach me?’

‘Well,’ Yngve said, ‘partly because you’re here and not at home with your wife.’

Yngve didn’t think it necessary to elaborate. Frode chewed a little more slowly, before swallowing and putting his cutlery down. Then he folded his hands.

‘Cecilie and I, we…’

Yngve could see that Lindgren wasn’t far away from crying again. He exhaled violently, as if he was tired of being in pain and was trying to push it away.

‘We had our problems before our daughter was killed, too. Couples argue, for sure, but this time … this time it was worse. That’s why I went to my brother’s. I needed time out from everything.’ He put his hands on the table.

‘Can I ask what happened?’ Yngve asked.

Frode stared into the empty glass for a while. ‘You can ask, but I’m not so sure I want to answer you,’ he said. ‘It’s a private matter.’

‘Not if it involves your daughter’s murder,’ Yngve said.

Frode stared at him. ‘How do you mean?’ he asked abruptly.

‘We’re looking for a good reason why anyone would want to kill Mari,’ Yngve said.

‘Well, you’re not going to find it in our house,’ Lindgren protested. ‘No way.’

‘Are you sure about that?’

‘Of course I’m sure about that. The problems Cecilie and I are having are completely … normal. It happens all the time, everywhere.’

‘Mari didn’t stay at home the last two days of her life,’ Yngve said. ‘She didn’t want to talk to you at the school show, either.’

Deep lines formed on Frode’s forehead. He swallowed a few times, then met Yngve’s gaze.

‘Cecilie had been cheating on me,’ he said. ‘For years. I found out, and … well, we argued. Mari was caught in the middle of it. I think she was afraid our marriage would fall apart, and … I guess she had every reason to be.’

Frode grabbed his knife and twirled it round and round in his hand before stabbing a potato chip and putting it in his mouth.

‘Sorry,’ he said. ‘I didn’t mean to get agitated. But our small family drama can’t have anything to do with Mari’s murder. Why would it?’

‘What did you do after you tried to talk to Mari that night?’

‘I … left.’

‘You didn’t wait for her after the show?’

‘No, I … I knew that she had work to do, and she clearly didn’t want to talk to me, so…’

‘Why was she upset with you, if Cecilie was the one who had cheated on you?’

‘I don’t know,’ Frode said. ‘Maybe … I was very angry that day,’ he said. ‘When we argued, I yelled a lot. Threw stuff at the wall and … I think I might have scared Mari a little bit.’

‘But still.’