‘There didn’t seem much point in talking to him. Given what he’s done to Rune.’

‘But we don’t know that he killed him. He could have died of natural causes. The mask could be an expression of grief and loss. No?’

‘So you think I should go back?’

‘I’ll go with you.’

*

The girl opened the door. She was holding a toddler in her arms. A boy who was breathing through his mouth. Sweaty curls were plastered to his big head. There was a plaster on his cheek and a sock had been put over his right hand and taped in place around the oedemic arm.

She looked at them for a second before stepping aside and letting them into the hallway. The wolf man was still sitting where Lennart had left him on the sofa and the same Christmas song was playing. When Lennart and Grete stepped into the living room, he turned his head to them. Then he tilted it back a little, so he could see out with both eyes. Sliced by the blinds, the light from outside drew a ladder across his face, on which Rune’s features appeared in a twisted, helpless expression.

The girl sat down on the sofa next to the old man. She had set the child down on the floor.

‘He knows you,’ she said. ‘You’re the bear man. Why is there a thread around your hand?’

‘It’s a bandage.’

‘He doesn’t like it. That you’re wearing that bandage.’

‘It bleeds. If I remove it.’

‘Rune,’ Grete said. ‘We’ve come to ask a favour.’

When she spoke Rune’s name, the old man tilted his head to the side like a heeding dog.

‘If you come into the kitchen,’ the girl said, ‘we get out those little cups from the cabinet and you could have sweets from the box that’s a rattle. I mean sweeteners. Would you like some sweeteners?’

‘Yes, please,’ Grete said, inclining her head, ‘we would love that.’

They went into the kitchen and sat down. The girl got cups from the cabinet and set them out on the table, opened a small jar and poured tablets into their cups. Then she picked the boy up and rocked him in her arms.

‘How are things up at Torsten’s?’ she said.

Lennart glanced at Grete.

‘At Torsten’s?’ he said. ‘I don’t know. I haven’t been there in a long time.’

‘It’s bad,’ Grete said and shook her head sadly. ‘It’s all bad. Very, very bad.’ She wet her index finger, fished a tablet from her cup and put it in her mouth. ‘As I was saying before. We’ve come to ask a favour of you.’

‘Why do you talk so funny?’

‘Funny? I’m Norwegian.’

She took off her sunglasses and put them on the table, then she leaned forward so Rune could see the unhuman sheen in her eyes.