He came back inside and said, ‘We have to get up there and see. It’s easier to get away unseen on the other side of the school. I think there’s a fire escape ladder up there, too.’

‘Maybe we’ll be lucky,’ Therese said. ‘Maybe he got stuck on something or lost something that will make it easier to identify him.’

‘Maybe,’ Yngve said, and began to climb onto the windowsill.

Therese stopped him. ‘What the hell are you doing?’

‘I’m going up.’

‘No, you’re not.’

‘Yes, I am. It will take ages before the forensic teams can do this. They aren’t even here yet. And the school is huge – several thousand square metres at least. The teams have to comb through every inch of it. We don’t have time to wait. It’s pouring outside – we might lose vital evidence.’

He could tell that Therese was still unsure.

‘I’ll just take a quick look around and see if I can find anything before it gets flushed away,’ he said.

She held back another protest as Yngve once more stuck his head out into the cold. The rain trickled down his neck and shoulders as he peered out. He looked down. A fifteen feet drop, at least. Below more and more students had arrived. The media was there too. Like cattle they had gathered around the perimeter tape.

‘Be careful,’ Therese pleaded behind him.

Yngve pushed himself up onto the sill then leaned out and grabbed the black drainpipe with his hand, making sure he had a firm grip. He carefully placed his boot on a small bracket that held the drainpipe in place and made sure it held his weight. Then he kicked himself out with his left foot and clung on to the drainpipe with both hands. The freezing rain made them cold in an instant.

Yngve pulled himself up a few inches and put his left boot on another bracket. As he was about to push himself up, the sole of his boot slipped, and for a split second Yngve thought he was going to fall to the ground. He managed to cling on, his knuckles going white. He could feel how heavy he had become, how little exercise he had been doing since Åse became ill.

Therese called to him from the inside. ‘Come back in!’ she shouted. ‘Please.’