‘That’s right. Bottling and shipping. But if you want a performance review, you’ll have to speak to Jens Groth. He manages the logistics, once I’m done with my sniffing. I think he’s around today, but if he is, he’s probably in the warehouse. That’s where his office is.’

‘And what exactly is your role?’

‘Well, you might say I’m in charge of quality.’

William Tryste leans back and gives an enthusiastic and detailed account of his duties, which include overseeing the maturing process, determining which whiskeys to blend and which to preserve as single malts, and deciding when it’s time for bottling.

‘I’m also in charge of the industrial marketing of our products. I leave consumer marketing and sales to Björn and Jens. Björn Groth,’ he adds. ‘He’s the owner, along with his children, Jens and Madeleine. Groth’s is a family business.’

‘OK,’ Karen says when William Tryste finally stops talking. ‘I only have one more question. Can you tell me where you were on the morning of Christmas Day, between half past seven and half past nine?’

It takes William Tryste a few seconds to grasp the implications of the question.

‘Where I was? Are you serious?’

‘I’m afraid so. But it’s a question we’re asking everyone we talk to. To rule them out, if nothing else. If Fredrik’s death turns out not to have been an accident.’

William Tryste still looks taken aback.

‘Well, I guess I’m lucky, then. Normally, I would have been asleep, but on that particular morning, I was in Lysvik.’

Karen raises her eyebrows as a signal for Tryste to go on.

‘I wasn’t completely honest before. One of the reasons Helena and I decided to move back to Noorö was that our son, Alvin, had started using drugs. We spent our last few years in Scotland and there’s no shortage of them there, as I’m sure you know. We realised we had to take drastic measures before things got worse. So when this opportunity at Groth’s opened up, we jumped at it.’

‘And what does that have to do with Christmas Day?’

‘The thing is that we’ve promised to pay for Alvin’s driving licence and buy him a car if he can hold on to his job and stay out of trouble. We’ve given up on making him study, at least for now, and he works at the nursing home in Lysvik. He’s just a care assistant; he cleans and helps with the heavy lifting and sits vigil when needed. Anyway, his shift started at seven on Christmas Day and there are no buses on the weekends, so I’d promised to drive him. Or rather, to let him practise driving with me. You can ask him.’

‘His shift started at seven, you said? What did you do after dropping him off?’