He had been alone at the distillery when they drove up, had come to greet them with a mix of politeness and mild exasperation. All employees had left after lunch since it was Twelfth Night. Laura was shopping in Lysvik and Jens had gone with his family to visit his in-laws on Frisel, Björn Groth had explained. Pale but composed, he had listened to Karen’s answers to the handful of questions he’d asked. Yes, he had a right to a lawyer but no access to phones or computers. No, he was not going to be allowed to call anyone before leaving.

‘We will inform your wife as soon as she can be reached and we will also make sure a lawyer is contacted immediately. Do you have representation or would you like a lawyer to be appointed for you?’

Björn Groth had given them a name and Cornelis Loots had noted it down along with the phone number he had also provided.

‘But you have to tell William straight away. We had arranged to meet here tomorrow morning for a planning session, to talk about the expansion. There’s a lot of work that needs to be done, even when production is at a standstill,’ Björn Groth had said.

‘We’ll inform William Tryste as well,’ Karen had assured him with a nod. ‘I’ll speak to him myself.’

And then the two constables had put him in the car and driven off. Karen had informed Cornelis Loots and Thorstein Byle that, aside from visiting William Tryste, she also had another matter to deal before the end of the day. Neither one seemed to notice to the slight hesitation in her voice at the word ‘matter’.

*

Now, she wolfs down the rest of the pizza, washes it down with a couple of sips of Coke and checks her watch. Half past five. First Tryste, then Odd, she thinks to herself, and feels gorge rising in her throat along with the taste of oregano. At least it’s going to be an early night; I’m hardly going to be welcome to Twelfth Night dinner after saying what I have to say to Odd. It might be for the best anyway; I need a good night’s sleep before interviewing Björn Groth tomorrow. She and Loots had agreed to meet at nine o’clock at the Ravenby detention facility.

Why the hell did I have to go and send Karl home? she berates herself. Cornelis is good, but they’ve never interviewed a suspect together and she would really have liked to have Karl with her tomorrow. Or at least discuss it with him. Just a short call maybe, then she’s going to let him tend to his family. He picks up after the first ring and with a statement instead of his name.

‘So you’ve arrested Björn Groth. Can I ask on what grounds?’