‘Would her parents be willing to take the children for a week?’ Marike, who has been listening silently to the discussion, suddenly asks.

‘For a week? Probably, if we can get Aylin to agree. She hasn’t told them about any of this. And they’re on holiday. London, I think.’

‘Then I might have a suggestion.’

‘What?’ Leo snaps impatiently. ‘Spit it out already, if you’re sitting on a damn solution.’

He looks tired, Karen notes, glancing at the dark circles under his eyes and his clenched jaw.

‘He’s dead,’ Marike says and is met with blank, weary stares. ‘The owner of the building my studio’s in, I mean,’ she adds quickly. ‘The old man who lived upstairs. Made it to ninety.’

Karen doesn’t give a toss how old the owner of the building in which Marike’s ceramic studio is housed was when he popped his clogs. She glances down at her watch.

‘It’s mine now,’ Marike continues unhurriedly. ‘All of it. His son was eager to sell. Et voilà! I own the whole thing,’ she clarifies in perfect Doggerian.

The room goes completely silent while Karen, Leo and Sigrid stare at Marike in disbelief, unsure whether they’ve interpreted her garbled mix of Danish and Doggerian correctly.

‘What are you saying? You bought it?’ Sigrid says at length. ‘The entire building?’

‘Yep. I was just a tenant and I didn’t want to risk someone else buying it and kicking me out. There’s a one-bed flat upstairs. I figured you, Karen, could use it as a hideout, but I guess we’re going to have to put a pin in that for now.’

It takes them a while to process. Follow-up questions are asked: yes, she has purchased the whole building. Yes, there is a small, vacant flat upstairs. It’s just a one-bed and a bit run-down at that, but on the other hand it’s fairly spacious and centrally located, which should be a plus, right? Lots of people around all day and most of the night. Maybe not great for sleeping, but safe. Not an ideal place for the children, perhaps, and definitely not a permanent solution, but Aylin can stay there until she is back on her feet, if her parents are able to take the children. Also, Karen observes, the purchase won’t have been registered in the property database yet.

It’s only after Leo and Sigrid have gone to bed, bone-weary, leaving the first watch to Karen and Marike, that her friend’s words register fully.

I figured you could use it as a hideout.