“Could Victor be making that up because he has a bone to pick with the teacher?” Jeppe set his coffee cup down on Sara’s desk. “Lis also told me that there were rumors of an episode at the fall dance last year. Victor allegedly sexually molested Iben Skytte. Lis didn’t know if it’s true, for now it’s just a rumor. But we need to ask Iben if there’s anything to it.”

“I’ll handle her,” Sara said with a nod.

“Before you get going,” Larsen interjected, “I checked Victor’s alibi, and it seems to hold water. His friends confirm that they were together all of Friday night until the early-morning hours on Saturday. Does this Lis seem like a reliable witness?”

“She does, but who knows?” Jeppe perched on one of the vacant desks nearby and put a hand on his sore neck, rubbing it cautiously. “According to Malthe’s choral director, he was preoccupied with a problem among his students, something to do maybe with bullying or sexual harassment. That’s consistent with what Lis told me.”

“So what are you saying, Kørner? That Malthe tried to resolve a heated situation with the students and somehow came between the two brothers and was murdered?” Larsen sounded skeptical. “If so, Oscar did it and not Victor, because Victor was out playing air hockey at the Electric Corner all Friday night.”

“And then Oscar took the family boat and sailed away,” Sara added.

“That could be the case,” Jeppe admitted. He knew that was the most plausible theory they had. Even so, he nursed an instinctive antipathy toward it. Maybe he just didn’t want the sensitive young boy, who reminded him of himself, to be guilty of murder.

“Have any of you been in touch with Kasper Skytte? He’s gone underground since Werner and I saw him at the plant yesterday. Our agreement was that he was going to call ASAP.”

Sara and Thomas Larsen shook their heads.

Jeppe walked back to his office and dialed Kasper’s number yet again. This time the phone was answered.

“Hello?” The voice sounded distant and sleepy.

“Hi, Kasper. It’s Jeppe Kørner from the police. We’ve been trying to reach you since yesterday.”

“I’m sorry about that.” He cleared his throat. “I felt so terrible when I came home from the ER that I took a sleeping pill. I slept straight through till now. It must be the shock.”

“Aha.” Jeppe paused. He could hear Kasper Skytte swallow. “We need to question you about the discovery of the body as soon as possible. Can we stop by?”

It was Kasper’s turn to be quiet now. Then he mumbled, “Of course. Do you mind if I shower first?”

Jeppe looked at his watch. It was a little past one. But he felt obliged to give the man a chance to wake up properly.