“She hasn’t missed you at all,” she sneered as she put on her army jacket and boots. She would pick up Lily at 4:10 p.m., and she would be with her daughter tonight. At last.
It was past ten when Anna entered the department of Cell Biology and Comparative Zoology. In the corridor she met Professor Ewald, who was carrying four thermoses. They had last seen each other at the police station where Professor Ewald had been in tears, and yesterday neither Professor Ewald nor Professor Jørgensen had come to work.
“Ah, there you are,” she said, looking straight at Anna. “Could you give me a hand, please?”
“What are you doing?” Anna asked, baffled.
“Making coffee. We’re holding a memorial gathering for Lars in the senior common room in half an hour. Just the department and people who knew him through work.”
Anna blinked and took the thermos Professor Ewald handed her.
“Don’t you normally hold memorial services after the funeral?”
“Yes,” Professor Ewald said. “But Professor Ravn wants it done this way. Helland has only been dead for two days, but rumors are already spreading like wildfire all over the university. Ravn intends to use the service to try to quash them. Lars will be buried on Saturday, and you’re welcome to attend, if you feel like it.” Professor Ewald’s gaze lingered briefly on Anna.
“So what are the rumors saying?” Anna followed Professor Ewald into the kitchenette, where the older woman slammed the thermoses on the kitchen table and spoke in a shrill voice.
“Rumor has it that Professor Helland was murdered and the police think the killer is someone who knew him very well and might even have worked with him. And do you know something else?” she snorted. “I find those rumors odious. If he was murdered, well, then it’s either me, Professor Jørgensen, Johannes, or you who are the prime suspects. And that doesn’t bear thinking about.”
“Or any one of the five hundred employees at the faculty who wanted Helland dead. Metaphorically speaking, of course,” Anna added quickly.
Professor Ewald started to cry.
“I can’t get the image of him out of my head,” she sobbed and hid her head in her hands. “By God, I hated that man, but he didn’t deserve that.”
Something occurred to Anna.
“Professor Ewald?” she said.
Professor Ewald had sat down on a chair and was cleaning her glasses.
“Do you think Dr. Tybjerg will succeed Professor Helland?”
Professor Ewald momentarily looked lost.
“Tybjerg from the Natural History Museum?”
“Yes, Helland’s colleague. My external supervisor.”
“No, I can’t imagine that,” she said without hesitation.
Anna wrinkled her nose.
“Why not?”
“I don’t know why Lars thought it was his job to push Erik Tybjerg like that. Dr. Tybjerg is extremely talented, there’s no doubt about it, but if you ask me, he’s completely unsuited to the University of Copenhagen and acts primarily as Helland’s errand boy. For years it has been a mystery why Helland drags Tybjerg with him everywhere, even sending Tybjerg in his place. This will stop now, obviously. A Chair is the public face of a department and Tybjerg’s clearly unsuitable. He was once allowed to teach ‘Form and Function’ for one term here because Helland assured us that he could. It was a complete disaster; the students complained about him. He spoke far too quickly, as if he was chanting, and when the students couldn’t understand what he said, he lost his temper and walked out.”
“But he’s my supervisor,” Anna said miserably. “My only supervisor.”
“Honestly, Anna.” Professor Ewald put on her glasses and said gently, “At the time you began your dissertation, some of us did wonder why you had been lumbered with those two. However, it seems to have worked out all right, so—”
“But I still think Dr. Tybjerg’s a good supervisor,” Anna protested. “A thousand times better than Professor Helland—no, a million times better.”
Professor Ewald gave her a neutral look.
“Is that right?” she said eventually. “But you must agree that he’s a bit peculiar? And the University of Copenhagen is a respected state institution, not a madhouse.”
Professor Ewald got up and poured coffee into the thermoses.
Nearly thirty people gathered in the senior common room. Dr. Tybjerg was standing at the far end, his hands folded, and he was staring at the floor. Anna was relieved to see him and tried to catch his eye, but he didn’t look up. Johannes rushed in at the last minute and squeezed in behind Anna, just as the door was closed. She turned to look at him. He smelled of fresh air and frost, and his wild, messed-up ginger hair gave him a haggard appearance. They had both spent the previous day working in the study and something of a toxic atmosphere had reigned. Johannes had made several attempts to strike up a conversation, but Anna had cut him dead. She had things to do. Twice, he had asked if she was still mad at him for what he had said to the police. She had denied it. He had begun making yet another apology, and she had held up her hand to stop him. “What’s done is done,” she said, “forget it.” The truth was, she was hurt. Johannes was the last person she had imagined would let her down. When he flashed her a tentative smile in the senior common room, she intended to smile back, but instead she turned around to look at Professor Ravn.