The last report she sent to Jounas Smeed before leaving was dry as a bone and ended with a series of matter-of-fact statements: with no results forthcoming from forensics or IT, she wrote, the investigation is at an impasse. I consequently see no impediment to me absenting myself from Noorö over the New Year holiday with the intention of returning in two days’ time. She had wrapped up by emphasising that Byle was a pleasure to work with, but that progress in the case hinged on reinforcements from the CID.

To her surprise, her inbox dinged just a few minutes later.

OK/Jounas

*

The morning meeting at the police station had been so similar to the first one she’d almost regretted asking them to come in on New Year’s Eve. True, Röse had toned down his insubordination ever so slightly, but he certainly wasn’t doing anything to boost team morale. But then again, neither was she. She’d given them a brief summary of where things stood and informed them that all they could do was wait for the results of the forensic investigation, the call logs from Fredrik Stuub’s phone and the analysis of the contents of his computer.

There had been one minor development. Unfortunately, it seemed to lead to a dead end rather than a break in the case. Just thirty minutes before the meeting, Karen had, to her surprise, had a reply from William Tryste’s service provider. Yes, his phone had connected to the mast in Lysvik between 8.01 and 8.03 on the morning of Christmas Day. One of the care assistants at the nursing home had also confirmed that she saw William Tryste enter his father’s room just after seven that morning. And later that day, the staff had found, to the intense annoyance of the ward manager, leftover herring, an empty beer bottle and a small bottle that smelled strongly of bog myrtle in a bin in Ivar Tryste’s room.

‘So, to sum up, William Tryste’s information checks out,’ Karen had told them, unable to completely hide her disappointment.

In her heart of hearts, having Tryste’s alibi confirmed and thus losing a suspect, was not the outcome she had been hoping for. Karen had ended the meeting by stressing again that she had no doubt they would be able to solve the case together, then she’d wished everyone a happy New Year. She hadn’t mentioned her meeting with Odd Eiken.

*

Driving at a leisurely pace toward Langevik and her home, Karen is overcome with the same feeling of relief she experienced five days ago going in the opposite direction. Her mood improves even further when she realises she won’t have to sleep in the flowery hotel room for a couple of nights and that she is going to be able to go to Eirik and Kore’s party tonight after all.