When she opens the door, she can hear muffled voices. Further down the hallway, a man in a suit and a middle-aged woman with her slate grey hair in a French roll are bent over a copying machine. They’re standing with their heads close together, looking like they’re studying a document. The clacking of a keyboard is escaping through the cracked door of an office down the hall. When another woman, exhibiting all characteristics of a stressed young jurist, steps out of the room across from Bo’s, Karen reaches a decision.

She turns around and says loudly and clearly:

‘If you assault your wife one more time, Bo Ramnes, I’m personally going to make sure you pay the price. I have pictures on my phone I think would interest the media.’

*

Eleven seconds later, Karen Eiken Hornby pushes the button to call the lift and hears the door to the law firm gently close behind her.

Chapter 59

59

She drives all the way from Dunker to Thorsvik with her hands-free earbud in her increasingly sore ear. She tries to reach Aylin first, but she doesn’t pick up. Then she calls Marike. Tells her about her visit to Bo Ramnes’ office and lets her know that Aylin has recanted her statement to the police. As expected, Marike reacts with an unintelligible stream of Danish curses, peppered with a number of four-letter words Karen, to her surprise, has actually never heard before, and then promises to head over to the studio immediately to talk to Aylin.

‘Do you think she’ll go back to him?’

‘I don’t think so, not when so many of us know. But promise me you’ll call her if you can’t find her?’

‘I’ll be there in half an hour.’

‘Well, at least his colleagues know he’s a wife beater now,’ Karen says grimly. ‘Maybe that will persuade him sit on his hands for a bit.’

‘Aren’t you going to get in trouble?’

‘Yes, probably.’

*

Jounas Smeed calls before she has even reached the Ravenby exit.

‘Have you completely lost your mind?’ he roars. ‘I just spent twenty minutes of my holiday time on the phone with Viggo Haugen. If I hadn’t been able to talk him down, you would have been fired.’

‘He’s a prick.’

‘Haugen?’

‘Bo Ramnes. But yes, Haugen, too,’ she adds. ‘Are you aware Attorney Ramnes tried to force his way into my home last night and assaulted a friend of mine?’

‘I’m aware he rang the doorbell to ask to speak to his wife. And I’m aware Ramnes claims he never entered the house. That he was shoved and injured his knee. Count yourself bloody lucky he’s not reporting it. There’s no law against ringing people’s doorbells.’

‘I’m telling you, he tried to force his way inside. Leo stopped him.’