‘Well, you’ve got something to look forward to then,’ he said with a grin. ‘Tonight, I’ll cook you an Imo Special.’

An ‘Imo Special’ was nothing more than ready-made lasagne, garlic bread and a homemade salad, but it was a good meal. I’d had it plenty of times at his house.

I got into the car, which smelled fresh and clean for a change. Imo pulled me close. ‘How are you, champ?’ he said, while patting my shoulder. I sighed.

‘Not good.’

I pulled out my phone and showed him Børre Halvorsen’s Facebook comment. My uncle frowned as he read it.

‘It’s complete nonsense, of course,’ I said. ‘I was in my room all night.’

Imo said nothing for a short while. He looked like he was thinking. ‘Just ignore it then,’ he said at last, and put his hand on the gearstick. ‘As long as you stick to the truth, there’s no reason to worry.’

‘I’m not really worried either,’ I said, even though it felt like a lie. ‘I’m more pissed off that he wrote what he did, and that people are liking it or thinking there might be some truth to it.’

Imo put the car into gear. ‘Don’t bother about it,’ he said. ‘It’s probably a misunderstanding. It’ll sort itself out.’

I decided to believe him.

It was still raining. I couldn’t believe the amount of rain that continued to pour down on us. It was like God was angry or something. The streetlights made golden circles on the wet pavements. And even though it was windy, leaves were stuck to the ground.

There wasn’t much traffic, but every time we met a car, it felt like the drivers and the passengers were staring at us, me in particular. The few people that were out walking also seemed to stop and follow us with their eyes. I watched them, wondering how much they knew about what had happened, if one of them was the murderer. I knew it was a stupid thought, but I couldn’t stop myself.

As we headed towards the centre of Fredheim, I turned to Imo and said: ‘Can we drive by the school?’

He looked at me. ‘You mean now?’

‘Yes.’

‘Why do you want to go there, Even? I mean, now?’

I wasn’t really sure myself, I just felt like I needed to see the place again. It was still so unreal, what had happened. Maybe I just needed to see if the nightmare was real or not. Imo gave me a long look. Then nodded reluctantly.

‘Oh my God,’ I said as we drove up the slope leading to the school.