‘That’s the one. He’s standing for a parliamentary seat for the Progress Party this autumn. Rumour has it he’ll be a candidate for the post of Minister for Justice if the opposition wins.’

‘The Progress Party? Aren’t they the ones who want tougher policing, law and order, longer prison sentences and mandatory lifetime incarceration for reoffenders? Wouldn’t be bloody surprised if they wanted to reinstate the death penalty, too.’

‘Not quite, but close enough. Their main demand is for more police on the streets, so a lot of our colleagues are bound to vote for them. And Ramnes will use all his experience from court to win over frightened voters.’

‘He must have had a change of heart then. From what I recall, he’s usually very successful at keeping criminals out of prison.’

‘Only wealthy criminals. Economic crimes, mostly.’

‘Fine, but I still think you should call the police.’

‘I am the police,’ Karen says and flicks her cigarette overboard. ‘And we don’t know that he’s going to show up. I can hardly call officers out to Langevik if the prick is sitting at home, happy as a clam. But I’m going to do everything I can to persuade her to report him,’ she adds. ‘He’s not going to get away with this again.’

*

When the ferry finally reaches Thorsvik, Karen is back behind the wheel. This time she ignores the speed limits. Just two hours later, she drops Karl off outside his terraced house in Sande, and forty minutes after that she slows down to enter Langevik. She keeps her eye out for movements or headlights as she follows the narrow gravel road along the seashore, passing the increasingly sparse row of stone houses on her left and their boat sheds on the right. Snow creaks under the Ford’s tyres when she turns off her headlights and slowly rolls toward the last driveway. She leans forward and peers up at the house. The light from the ground-floor windows illuminates a few feet of the yard around the house, the rest is shrouded in darkness.

Even though she spoke to Leo twice during the drive from Thorsvik, and even though he assured her both times that everything was quiet – not a sign of Bo Ramnes – Karen briefly regrets not taking Karl up on his repeated offers to come with her.

‘Call me if anything happens,’ he’d said. ‘At least promise you’ll do that.’

Just as she is about to turn into the steep driveway, something moves on the front steps. Someone is standing there, stock-still now, trying blend into the shadows. Her heart begins to race, pumping adrenaline into every muscle.

Then she takes a deep breath, turns on her high beams and floors it.

Chapter 51

51

Ingrid Björken doesn’t turn around.

‘Did you mean what you said?’ she asks and puts the frying pan down in the sink with a bang.