‘Don’t worry. She’s not a big fan of the outdoors. If it’s not too hot, it’s too cold. Not to mention all the bugs this time of year.’ He let out a short laugh and signalled to her not to follow. ‘But she’s a good person and means well. I’m not sure how I would get by without Beatrice.’

‘Reidar, I understand this is difficult for you. But I really do have to ask you to—’

‘The last time the police asked me all these questions, I told them everything was fine.’ Reidar closed his eyes against the sun. ‘That things had never been better. Those were my exact words. It was a Saturday afternoon, and I was in the middle of a badminton game when my phone rang. A double, and after the break, it was going to be my serve. I heard everything they said, every word. About how they’d found her, washed up on Ven, nailed to that…’ Reidar faltered and turned his back to the sun. ‘But I wasn’t able to take it in. I just wanted to cover my ears and close my eyes, so I hung up as though it were a wrong number and went back out on to the court and took my serve.’ He shook his head. ‘Three straight aces. Don’t think I’ve ever served better. It was only when I got back home it started to sink in. That those words were so much more than words. The police were already there, waiting to bring me in for questioning. And I told them about how great things were between us. Said what I thought I should say. How passionately in love we still were after all our years together. That our sex life had never been better. Anything to keep them from suspecting me. From suspecting that I was the one behind that—’ He broke off and looked like he had to focus all his energy on not crying. ‘But it was all a lie.’

‘Which parts weren’t true?’