“Thanks, PC.” Jeppe felt the mention of Sara tug at the scar tissue in his heart. “Can we ask Mosbæk to be on standby to go to the hospital with us when Oscar Dreyer-Hoff wakes up? We’re probably talking about a kidnapping or a suicide attempt, so we should have psychological assistance ready to go.”

“I’ll arrange for that.”

“Thanks, PC.”

Jeppe waited for PC to leave, but she stayed.

“Kørner, a person was hit at Nørreport Station yesterday afternoon at four thirty…”

“Yeah, I know. The station was still closed at nine when I was trying to get home. But what does that have to do with us?”

“It appears that you have spoken with the victim. Yesterday morning. An older woman who taught at Zahles School. Her name is Lis Christensen.”

OF ALL PLACES in the world, Mads Teigen preferred to be in his workshop. Once again he had woken up early, but this time he had gotten out of bed and gone straight to his workbench, surrounded by the birds. A seagull with its wings spread; a pair of eiders, beaks facing each other; and a rare barn owl with watchful eyes in its white face. They were so beautiful; it consoled his heart.

Taxidermy, unlike mummification, has a built-in aesthetic component: the challenge to create the most lifelike reproduction of the dead. A unique combination of art and science. Celebrities like Carl Akeley added glamour to taxidermy, with his herd of African elephants, which was exhibited at the Museum of Natural History in New York City. The animals’ beauty can be enjoyed up close, and if viewers allow themselves to linger in the exhibit they can almost hear the elephants’ footsteps and see their ears flapping flies away.

Unfortunately the art form’s unavoidable involvement of blood and guts scares most people away. Mads had given up talking about his passion long ago. He didn’t have the strength to go through the obligatory stages of polite disgust, stupid questions, and distancing. If he could, he would have explained to people that the birds were what kept him alive. He would have made them understand how his ability to give them new life was what made death bearable.

Now he rolled up his sleeves. They had found the boy more dead than alive, and it was unclear whether he would make it. How long was resurrection possible? Definitely not, he reminded himself, long after a dead body has rotted and turned to dirt.

Mads let his thoughts wander to the policewoman Anette. A warmth spread from his midriff out to the rest of his body, and he felt a tingle in his lap and lightness in his head. He hadn’t had thoughts like this in a long time, hadn’t permitted himself to think with his body during this self-imposed celibacy. That was a part of his punishment. But now he let the desire flow through him while he worked.