Her granddaughter put the comic book in her lap and stared at Sara. She tried to smile reassuringly to the girl, but it didn’t seem to have any effect. Frida walked over to Essie and sat down on the arm of the sofa so she could hold her granddaughter’s hand. Her other hand fumbled nervously with the slipcover Essie was leaning on.

Sara and Larsen sat down. The bamboo chairs creaked, the sound massive in the tense silence of the conservatory.

Larsen began. “Early this morning the body of Malthe Sæther was found at Amager Resource Center.”

“Who’s that?” Frida looked confused.

“Malthe is a teacher at Zahles School,” Larsen continued. “He teaches Oscar Danish. Victor’s class has also had him as a teacher.”

“Do you know him, Vic?” Frida asked, looking even more confused.

Victor looked as if he had been turned to stone, hardly breathing. Then in a sudden gesture he flung the blanket aside, put his feet on the floor, and sat up straight, as if the topic were too serious for such a relaxed posture.

“Fuck!”

“Are you okay, honey?”

“Yes, yes, Grandma,” he said, shaking his head. “It’s just… What the hell is going on? Do you know who killed him?”

“Is this related to Oscar in some way?” Frida asked, eyeing Sara with suspicion.

“We don’t know yet,” Sara replied. “We’d really like to ask you a few questions. You’ve probably already answered some of them over the phone. Will that be all right?”

They nodded, one by one.

Sara opened the Notes app on her phone.

“First of all,” Sara said, “we’d like to know where you all were Friday night.”

“My husband and I were home,” Frida hurriedly replied. “We watched a movie, I think, or maybe that was Saturday night. But we were home all weekend. What about you, sweetie? You were probably home with your mom and dad, right?” She stopped toying with the pillow to run her hand over Essie’s hair.

Essie nodded.

“Were all four of you home?” Sara asked. “The whole night?”

“Mom and I were,” the girl said, looking uncertainly at her brother. “Dad was at work.”

“He always is,” Victor explained.

Sara jotted that down. “And what about you? Where were you Friday night?”

“Out, of course.” Victor blinked a few times. “Friday night we played air hockey at the Electric Corner. It’s a bar.”

“Who were you with?”

“Friends from school. Kids from my grade, the usual gang. We stayed until closing.” He stuck his hands in his pockets. “We probably finished playing a little before four.”

Larsen smiled knowingly, as if he were still young enough to hang out in town until the wee hours of the morning.

“Do you know if Oscar has been in contact with Malthe outside of school?” Larsen asked.

“Can you tell me what this is about?” Frida asked, looking alarmed.