“No, but I know people who have met him and one who lives in the same neighborhood as him. They all say he’s really nice.”

“In the same neighborhood?”

“Yes, he has a house right here in Herlev.”

Heloise frowned. The man was worth hundreds of millions of kroner and he still chose to live here in Herlev? He really was “Kenny From the Block.”

“As I mentioned, Kenneth had a friend he went to school with,” Heloise said. “I can imagine that there’s been a fair amount of talk about her as well. Her name is Anna Kiel. Does that ring any bells?”

It grew quiet on the other end of the phone line.

“Hello?” Heloise said. “Are you still there?”

“Yes,” the woman said, her voice suddenly out of sync with the Stepford Wives melody.

“Do you know Anna Kiel?”

“No, I don’t, but of course I’ve heard of her.”

“And you know that she’s wanted for murder?”

“Yes.”

“So, not exactly a local hero here in Herlev, I presume?”

“Certainly not. That woman doesn’t have anything to do with our town.”

“No, obviously not,” Heloise said, secretly amused at people’s tendency to claim credit for others’ successes but never for their missteps. “The reason I mentioned Anna Kiel is that she and Kenneth Vallø were very close friends as kids. They went to school together.”

“Are you saying that Kenneth Vallø was friends with … with her?”

“Yes. I know that you didn’t work at the school back then, but I can imagine that Anna Kiel’s story has been passed down?”

“You can say that again.”

“And?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, what do people say about her?”

The woman paused and then said, “I’m sorry, who did you say you were again?”

“My name is Heloise Kaldan. I’m a reporter for Demokratisk Dagblad.”

“A reporter?” The woman’s voice rose two octaves, and Heloise could almost sense her pulse rising over the phone. “Oh, I don’t really think I should say—”

“Oh, don’t worry,” Heloise said. “I’m not planning to quote you in an article or even refer to our conversation. I’m working on a story and am only calling because I need information—”

Heloise didn’t get a chance to say anything else before she realized that there was no longer anyone on the other end of the line.

She stifled a sigh and hit redial. She waited patiently for a full minute while the phone rang without being answered.

Then she gave up.

Instead she Googled ScanCope and Kenneth Vallø. A series of articles showed up with headlines that indicated that the man had indeed become absurdly wealthy overnight.

Heloise clicked on the top link and read the article, dated six years back.

Sure enough, a Chinese company had bought all of Vallø’s shares in the business he had built from scratch.