The doctor cleaned his skin and found a vein, inserted the needle, and started filling the labeled vials with dark red blood. Gregers waited, his eyes averted.

“Have you been feeling confused at all lately? Had trouble remembering things? Strange dreams at night, perhaps?”

“Maybe a little,” he said with a shrug.

The doctor finished her blood draw and put a Band-Aid on his arm.

“Call me after noon tomorrow for the results. I can see from your file that you’re taking a blood thinner. It would probably be a good idea if you had some help remembering to take your medicine for the next few days.” She looked at Esther. “Is that doable?”

Esther nodded. She knew it would be a struggle to help him with his pills, but she was ready to insist.

“Thanks for coming in today.”

Gregers stood up and shook the doctor’s hand before shuffling over to the door, followed by Esther.

“Stupid cow!” he whispered on the way out.

“Gregers!” Esther protested.

“What the hell kind of a waste of time was that?” he fumed, glaring at her. “What was the point? What am I doing here?”

ALL THE COWORKERS shook Thomas Larsen’s hand and expressed their subdued congratulations on his pending fatherhood in the small Violent Crimes break room. Despite the seriousness of the situation, congratulations were in order. PC had asked Jeppe to lead an investigative team consisting of Anette, Sara, and Thomas, as well as eight other officers, who for a start would assist with taking witness statements and gathering material. Until they knew the victim’s identity, they had to treat the case as a new, unrelated murder investigation running parallel to the search for Oscar.

Jeppe poured himself a cup of coffee and scooted around chairs to the table, where his laptop, phone, and notebook were already laid out. He drank from the bitter machine espresso as he watched his coworkers getting settled, and made eye contact with PC’s dark gaze at the opposite end of the room. Then he knocked the table lightly.

“As you know, two ARC employees found a body in the waste silo of the incineration plant at eight forty-five this morning. The victim has not yet been identified, nor do we know the cause of death. But it is the body of a young man. Nyboe is preparing the deceased for autopsy as we speak, so hopefully we’ll know more soon.”

He nodded at Anette, who stood leaning against the wall. She took over.

“Unfortunately, it’s hard to say how the deceased ended up in the silo. The body was wrapped in plastic and could have been brought in by any of the first hundred garbage trucks that dumped their loads this morning prior to seven a.m. If it wasn’t there all weekend, that is. We’ll have to see what Nyboe has to say.”