‘You know I have to ask. Nothing else in the house you haven’t already mentioned? Fingerprints, shoe prints, hairs? Anything?’

‘All of those things. Lots and lots.’ He smiles around a mouthful of fish. ‘If you’re lucky, not all of it belongs to Stuub or his mutt. And there’s always a chance the autopsy tomorrow yields something useful. You’re going, I assume?’

Karen pulls a face.

‘Don’t have much of a choice. So, you don’t have anything for me?’

Larsen wipes a trickle of butter from the corner of his mouth and reaches for the wine bottle. Then he stops mid-movement, resting the bottom of the bottle against the tablecloth.

‘No technical evidence, but I did get this feeling,’ he says. ‘I’m not even sure I should mention it.’

‘Oh, come on,’ Karen coaxes. ‘Just tell us.’

Sören Larsen takes his time topping up their glasses. Karen impatiently watches him carefully push the empty bottle back into the cooler.

‘I had a feeling, just a vague feeling, nothing else, you understand, that the whole thing was a bit too . . . neat.’

Karen lets the word sink in while listening to the sound of Brodal chewing. Neat wasn’t the word she would have used to describe the chaos she’d glimpsed when she opened the front door.

‘Put on?’ she says. ‘Is that what you mean?’

Larsen shrugs.

‘Look, I don’t know. Everything was pulled out, knocked over and in a bloody mess, as you saw. But I got the feeling whoever did it wasn’t really looking for anything. More like someone had tried to stage a break-in, without having a clear idea of what that usually looks like.’

Chapter 14

14

She lets the door slide shut with a click. Doesn’t leave a small gap so Mikkel can see the light from the landing if he wakes up, the gap she’s promised will always be there. The act of betrayal draws a gasp from her that she does her best to muffle with her hand. She stands stock-still with her forehead against the closed door, silent, resting her head against the drawing Tyra made that morning. Her little brother had howled with envy when it was put up with four drawing pins, so when they were done they’d gone down to the kitchen so Mikkel could make his own drawing to hang on the door. But as soon as crayons and paper had been set out on the table, he’d lost interest and run into the living room to watch TV.