Yngve waited in the hall for Mari’s mother to come down. When she finally did, Yngve thought she looked like a living corpse – thin, with dry lips, her hair undone. Cecilie Lindgren looked like she hadn’t slept a single second in a very long time.

‘Sorry to bother you again,’ Yngve started, and she stopped a few feet away from him. ‘I only have a few questions, if I may.’

Cecilie crossed her arms, waiting for him to start.

‘I’m trying to get hold of your husband,’ he said. ‘Do you know where he is?’

She wet her lips with her tongue. ‘No.’

‘You have no idea?’

It took a few seconds for her to respond. ‘I think he may be in Oslo with his brother.’

‘What’s he doing there? Now?’

‘I … don’t know.’

That’s a lie, Yngve thought. ‘Why isn’t he here, Cecilie? With you?’

She closed her eyes and kept them like that for a few seconds, before blinking rapidly. ‘Frode and I, we … we were perhaps on the verge of leaving each other before…’ She stopped herself. ‘I don’t know. This is all so…’

She couldn’t finish the sentence. Maybe she didn’t even have the answers, Yngve thought. It dawned upon him that the Lindgren family weren’t just dealing with one tragedy. They were dealing with two.

‘I need a few words with your husband,’ Yngve said, regretting that he had to ask. ‘He’s not answering my calls. Do you have a number for his brother in Oslo?’

Cecilie wiped her tears. ‘I’ll get it for you.’

She turned and shuffled into the next room. Soon she returned with a yellow post-it note. Yngve could clearly read the numbers and the name: Reidar Lindgren.

‘Like I said, I don’t know if Frode’s there, but … it’s a place to start, if nothing else.’

Yngve said thanks, then: ‘How long has he been gone?’

‘He left on Saturday.’

‘What time?’

She sighed heavily. ’I don’t know. Twelve-ish, maybe? Why – is it important?’

‘Guess not,’ he said. ‘Just wanted to know.’ He smiled briefly. He was about to leave, when he changed his mind and turned towards her once more. ‘Cecilie, do you know if…?’ He searched for the right words, realising they probably didn’t exist in a situation like this. ‘Frode talked to Mari in the interval between the first and second parts of the school show on Monday night. Or … it looked as if he tried to talk to her, but apparently, she didn’t want to. Do you know why?’

Cecilie’s eyes narrowed. ‘The problems in our family have nothing to do with what happened that night.’

‘Are you sure?’

‘Of course I’m sure,’ she said harshly. ‘Do you think my husband killed her? Is that what you’re saying? Is that why you want to talk to him? You think he killed her?’