‘Sorry, I meant to say nothing’s missing. Or maybe things are missing, but if so, we don’t know what. What I can say is that whoever did it wasn’t interested in antiques, silver or art. And just so you know, there’s plenty to be had of all three of those things in the house. The bloke seems to have been something of a collector, or he inherited some nice stuff.’

‘You didn’t find a mobile phone, did you? According to his sister he did have one.’

‘It’s not in the house. He probably had it with him when he took the dog out and then it fell out when he was pushed into the quarry. If that’s the case, it’s at the bottom of the quarry now. But we can at least get the call lists.’

‘I’ll talk to the prosecutor’s office about requesting them from TelAB,’ Karen says. ‘But it’s not going to be easy getting hold of people.’

‘It’s incomprehensible to me that the entire country seems to have gone on holiday all at the same time,’ Larsen says.

Brodal mutters something that sounds like agreement and reaches for the gravy boat.

Karen puts her cutlery down with a sigh.

‘You didn’t find a computer?’ she asks. ‘If you didn’t, someone must have taken it.’

‘No, and sure, I suppose that could be what they were after. If he had one, that is.’

‘I think we can assume he did. Fredrik Stuub was a lecturer at Ravenby University, or so I’ve been told.’

Kneought Brodal lets out a snort of derision.

‘You think too highly of the natural scientists, Eiken. I’ve met people from Ravenby University who barely knew how to use email. Not the young ones, obviously, but Stuub had been retired for years. A man of the old school, according to Sven Andersén, but a bit doddery in recent years. Nice bloke, actually.’

‘How do you know? Are you talking to the corpses now?’ Sören Larsen says with a grin.

For a moment, Brodal looks confused.

‘Andersén, obviously. We spent several hours together. Not so bad, actually, for a northerner.’

Sören and Karen exchange a look. It’s highly unusual for the coroner to have anything positive to say about another human being. At least the living kind.

‘All I mean to say,’ Brodal continues, ‘is that even if Stuub held a senior position, that’s no reason to assume he had a computer at home. In the olden days, people got by just fine without staring at an LED screen 24/7.’

‘So what do you think they were looking for in his house, then? Since nothing seems to be missing?’ Karen says and takes a sip of her wine.

‘How the hell should I know. Isn’t finding that out your job?’

She turns to Larsen with a weary sigh.