Esther followed Jenny back under the rafters, along the raw masonry to the stairs and back down to the museum lobby. She hurried out the main entrance and headed for Højbro Square. There had to be a cash machine. As she hurried along, she thought about what she had just experienced in the museum attic. Not just the death masks but the woman who had shown them to her. Jenny Kaliban. What a strange character.

A POLAR BEAR wearing a tuxedo, bow tie, and white gloves stood in front of a golden wall of human faces in textural relief. The polar bear held its paw to its forehead, as if surprised or possibly outraged by the golden faces behind it. Jeppe turned his back to the bear and looked at Anette. She seemed to be having fun. Malthe Sæther’s girlfriend, Josephine, had suggested they meet here at the artsy café Bankeråt, because it was right around the corner from Malthe’s place. She was going to pick up her things from the apartment, but as long as it was full of forensic investigators gathering clues, they couldn’t question her there. Thus Jeppe and Anette were now sitting at a marble-topped table between the café’s taxidermied animals and doll-head light fixtures, waiting for her. Jeppe was opposed to questioning a witness at a café and particularly at having to sit here with Anette, looking ridiculously square in this cool rock and roll scene.

“Are you with the police?”

A young woman stood beside the table, looking at them earnestly. She was skinny and not particularly tall, with jet-black hair, rings through her eyebrows, and heavy eye makeup. She had a deep, hoarse voice that seemed ill matched with her slight stature.

“I’m Josephine,” she said with a nod.

“Hi, Josephine. Thank you for meeting us so quickly. Should I order you something?”

She shook her head and sat down in the chair next to Anette. Despite her heavy makeup, the skin around her eyes and nose looked red.

“I have to warn you that I’m feeling rotten. I’ve just said goodbye to the dead body that was supposedly my Malthe.” She closed her eyes. “Actually I don’t know how I can even keep it together.”

“We’ll make this quick. Do you have someone you can be with after this? So that you don’t have to be alone?”

She nodded.

“You said that you last spoke to Malthe on the phone at five o’clock on Friday.” Jeppe opened his notebook to a blank page. “What did you talk about?”

She took a deep breath and began hesitantly.