The Consorts of Death Read Online Free PDF Page A

a couple of years before me. When we had finished eating, Hans glanced across at us and said: ‘It might be a good idea if one of you stays here until he has fallen asleep.’
    Cecilie nodded and looked at me. ‘I can stay. After all, you’ve got …’
    She caught herself in time, and I returned a stiff smile. I knew what she had been going to say, but, well, I didn’t have anyone waiting for me any more.
    ‘Fine,’ said Hans.
    I observed Jan. Six, six and a half. Thomas was two and a half. It was strange how dependent you became on such small creatures. As soon as the daily routines were broken, there was a void in your existence, a hole which if you were lucky could be filled with something else, but not necessarily, and not always.
    I sighed, and Cecilie sent me a dejected smile as if to apologise further for her tiny slip of the tongue.
    ‘Well, then I’ll be off.’
    A telephone rang and Hans went to answer the call. Cecilie came over to me. ‘Sorry, Varg. I didn’t mean to open up old …’
    ‘Not at all. Relax, it’s not your …’
    Hans returned. ‘Police on the line. They’re wondering whether one of you could talk to them.’
    I looked at Cecilie, who nodded towards me. ‘OK, I’ll take it.’
    I went into the hall, to the coin-operated telephone on the wall. ‘Veum speaking.’
    ‘Inspector Muus here.’
    ‘Yes?’
    ‘The situation has changed.’
    ‘Uhuh.’
    ‘This woman, Vibecke Skarnes. We went to the hospital to see whether she could receive visitors, but she couldn’t.’
    ‘What do you mean?’
    ‘Er … she wasn’t there any more. She had gone.’
    ‘Gone?’
    ‘Hopped it without leaving much more than her imprint on the mattress.’
    ‘But I suppose you’ve started to search for her?’
    ‘What do you think we are? Idiots?’
    ‘Not all of you.’
    ‘I beg your pardon.’
    ‘No.’
    ‘But we think it might be handy if someone kept an extra vigilant eye on the boy. Until she reappears.’
    ‘I see. I’ll talk to Haavik. If he can’t, I’ll stay here myself. Keep us posted.’
    ‘Fine.’
    We hung up, and I rejoined the others. I looked at Jan and smiled. ‘Don’t you think it’s time to head for bed?’
    He watched from somewhere far away, a land where adults were refused admission. Sometimes I wondered whether that wasn’t a better place to be. But the way back was closed – for most of us, anyway.
    Over some brisk activity, carrying out the soup bowls and plates in two trips, I managed to update Hans and Cecilie on the latest developments. We agreed that Cecilie would stay as planned, but now she would sleep in the same room as Jan, while Hans would inform those on the night shift about the situation.
    ‘But she can’t know where he is, can she?’ Cecilie queried.
    ‘Not as far as I understand things. I wonder whether I should pop up to Wergelandsåsen again in case she turns up there.’
    She looked at me in surprise. ‘But isn’t that the police’s job?’
    ‘Yes, it is.’
    She rolled her eyes in response.
    We went with Hans while he showed Jan where he was to spend the night. It was a room on the first floor with two beds, a table and two chairs in the middle, a double wardrobe and a view onto a mountain face. The only picture on the wall had been taken from a book I vaguely seemed to remember from my own childhood. It showed some children lost in a forest of gigantic toadstools that grew high above their heads. I was not so sure how reassuring that would be.
    However, Jan appeared to be at ease there. He still gave an impression of apathy, and I said to Cecilie that if he hadn’t snapped out of it by the day after, we would have to summon further medical support. She nodded indulgently, as if to say that she didn’t need to be told.
    Cecilie stayed upstairs to help Jan with preparations for the night. I followed Hans back down to the refectory. From the adjacent room the sounds of the ice hockey game had died away. Now the TV had taken over,