‘He’s supposed to be off to Thailand tomorrow,’ Sigrid continues. ‘He’s been badgering me about going with him for three weeks! Isn’t it enough that we did Christmas together? Am I supposed to sit on some fucking coconut beach, too? What’s his problem?’

Sigrid spreads her arms and opens her eyes wide to further underline that she has done everything a daughter can possibly be expected to do to patch up her damaged relationship with her father.

She looks closer to eleven than nineteen, Karen reflects.

She stands up with another sigh and goes out to the kitchen, where she hesitates for two seconds before returning the call. If it’s not about his daughter, there can be only one reason why the head of the Doggerland Police’s Criminal Investigation Department is calling Karen Eiken Hornby on Christmas Day. And it’s not to wish her a happy Christmas.

Chapter 4

4

No, humble is overstating it, she thinks to herself two minutes later. Jounas Smeed has probably never felt humble in his life. But the voice on the other end of the line is slightly tentative and lacks the domineering tone she’s grown so used to.

‘Hey, Eiken, thanks for calling me back. I’m really sorry to bother you on Christmas Day and everything. Have you had any Christmas snaps yet?’

‘Two glasses, actually. You?’

Jounas Smeed seems not to have heard her, or perhaps he doesn’t consider the question worth answering.

‘And your parents are visiting, I hear,’ he goes on, and this time Karen definitely hears a strain in his voice.

‘Well,’ she replies wryly, ‘Dad’s been dead for years, but my mother’s here with her . . . with a good friend of hers.’

‘Aha, I see. Well, I realise you must be in the middle of your celebrations . . .’

Karen waits for him to continue, but her boss seems to feel it’s her turn to speak.

‘Well, yes,’ she says. ‘But I assume you’re not calling to inquire about my alcohol consumption or my relatives?’

Jounas Smeed chuckles. Then he clears his throat and his voice regains some of its usual tone.

‘Obviously not,’ he replies curtly. ‘There’s been a murder. Up on Noorö of all places.’

‘Noorö? OK, but isn’t it just a case of alcohol induced manslaughter, as usual? Can’t the local police handle it?’

‘Apparently not. I’m given to understand the victim is an old teacher and the murder took place during the early morning Christmas Day service.’

Karen pulls out one of the kitchen chairs and sits down heavily.

‘In church? How the fuck does that happen?’

‘No, no, not at the service, but during it. Or sometime early yesterday morning, at any rate. And the local doctor apparently discovered something that made him call us. I don’t have all the details yet.’

‘And where do I come into this? I’m still on sick leave, as you know.’