It was exactly 8.16 when they arrived at the address, a white timber house in Våland. Harry let Kaja pay, got out and left the door open. Studied the house front, which revealed nothing. Inhaled the damp, fresh, though still mild Vestland air. Braced himself. Because he already knew. He might be mistaken, of course, but he knew with the same certainty that he knew Kaja would say ‘Thank you’ after being given the receipt.
‘Thank you.’ The car door closed.
The name was next to the middle of the three bells, by the front door.
Harry pressed the button and heard the bell ring somewhere in the house’s innards.
One minute and three attempts later he pressed the bottom bell.
The old lady who opened the door smiled at them.
Harry noted that Kaja instinctively knew who should speak. ‘Hello, I’m Kaja Solness. We’re from the police. The floor above you isn’t answering. Do you know if anyone is at home?’
‘Probably. Even though it’s been quiet there this morning,’ the lady said. And, on seeing Harry’s elevated eyebrows, hastened to add: ‘You can hear everything here, and I heard people last night. Since I rent out the flat I think I ought to keep an ear open.’
‘Keep an ear open?’ Harry queried.
‘Yes, but I don’t stick . . .’ The lady’s cheeks flushed pink. ‘There’s nothing wrong, I trust? I mean, I’ve never had any problems at all with—’
‘We don’t know,’ Harry said.
‘The best thing to do would be to check,’ Kaja said. ‘So if you have a key . . .’ Harry knew a variety of set phrases would be whirring around Kaja’s brain now, and waited for the continuation with interest. ‘… then we would like to assist you in ensuring that everything is in order.’
Kaja Solness was a bright woman. If the house owner agreed to the proposal and they found something, the report would say they were summoned. There was no question of them having forced their way in or having ransacked the place without a warrant.
The woman hesitated.
‘But you can also let yourself in after we’ve gone,’ Kaja smiled. ‘And then call the police. Or the ambulance. Or . . .’
‘I think it’s best if you come with me,’ the woman said after a deep furrow of concern entrenched itself in her brow. ‘Wait here and I’ll fetch the keys.’
The flat they entered one minute later was clean, tidy and almost completely unfurnished. At once Harry recognised the silence that is so present, so oppressive, in bare flats in the morning, when the hustle and bustle of the working day is a scarcely audible noise on the outside. But there was also a smell he recognised. Glue. He spotted a pair of shoes, though no outdoor clothing.
In the kitchenette there was a large teacup in the sink, and on the shelf above tins proclaiming they contained teas of unknown origin to Harry: oolong, Anji Bai Cha. They advanced through the flat. On the sitting-room wall was a picture Harry thought was K2, the popular killing machine of a mountain in the Himalayas.
‘Check that one, will you?’ Harry asked, nodding to the door with a heart on it and walked to what he assumed must be the bedroom door. He took a deep breath, pressed down the handle and pushed open the door.
The bed was made. The room tidy. A window was ajar, no smell of glue, air as fresh as a child’s breath. Harry heard the landlady take up a position in the doorway behind him.
‘So odd,’ she said. ‘I heard them last night, I did. But there was only one person’s steps.’
‘Them?’ Harry said. ‘You’re sure there was more than one person?’
‘Yes, I heard voices.’
‘How many?’
‘Three, I would say.’
Harry peered into the wardrobe. ‘Men? Women?’
‘You can’t hear absolutely everything, I’m afraid.’
Clothes. A sleeping bag and a rucksack. More clothes.
‘Why would you say there were three?’
‘After one left, I heard noises from up here.’
‘What sort of noises?’
The landlady’s cheeks flushed again. ‘Banging. As if … well, you know.’
‘But no voices?’
The landlady considered the question. ‘No, no voices.’
Harry walked out of the room. And to his surprise saw that Kaja was still standing in the hall by the bathroom door. There was something about the way she was standing – as though facing a strong headwind.
‘Something up?’
‘Not at all,’ Kaja said quickly, lightly. Too lightly.
Harry went over and stood beside her.
‘What is it?’ he asked in a whisper.
‘I … just have a tiny problem with closed doors.’