‘Not this second, but Jonshed has been convicted of manslaughter at least twice, and if he has a connection with our victim, interviewing him will be hard to avoid.’

‘If it weren’t for the fact that Jonshed is behind bars again since a few months back,’ Byle retorts wryly. ‘And I hear he’s seriously ill, too, so I think it’s safe to assume we’re in for a messy war of succession soon.’

So Jonshed is in prison again: that piece of information had not made its way to Karen.

‘What did you mean when you said Gabriel being Jonshed’s son would explain things? Is he a member of the OP?’

‘Not officially. But they do work with “civilian” associates of various kinds.’

Brodal uses air quotes and Karen suppresses a shudder.

‘Is that a verified fact, or just rumours?’

‘The latter, I’m afraid . . .’

‘And Gabriel is supposedly one of those civilian associates?’

‘Either that or a hanger-on. There are always young men hanging about up there, trying to get in good with the leaders. I hear Gabriel’s embroiled in a custody battle, so he’s probably trying to keep his links to the OP on the downlow, at least until the divorce is final. But both the boys and I have run into him up at the OP headquarters more than once, so he’s got at least one finger in that pie.’

Karen wipes her mouth, leans back and studies her colleague.

‘My goodness, do you know everything about everyone on this island? You’re a virtual goldmine.’

Thorstein Byle tries to hide a pleased smile.

‘Well, I’ve lived here my entire life, and as a police officer you do get a measure of insight into the less flattering side of people’s lives, as you know. But I’m only good for this kind of gossip when it comes to people who live around Skreby. And, like I said, Gabriel went to school with our Trine.’

‘What does he do for a living?’

‘He works at Groth’s. I think he’s in charge of bottling or something along those lines.’

Karen smiles inwardly. A visit to Groth’s whiskey distillery sounds a lot more tempting than driving up into the mountains to talk to men with long grey plaits.

‘How the Huss family has fallen,’ Byle says thoughtfully and gets up to fetch them each a coffee cup. ‘Old Albin wouldn’t have been pleased to know a descendant of his worked for the Groths.’

Karen searches her memory.

‘Albin Huss, the mining baron?’ she asks.

Byle nods and pours the coffee.

‘So Gertrud and Fredrik are related to Old Huss?’ she says thoughtfully. ‘Am I right in thinking that means there’s money involved?’

Thorstein Byle shakes his head and smiles ruefully.