The pathologist was sweating; his shirt was sticking to his body and he tried to breathe slowly.
“So the fact that potassium levels around each cell have risen since the time of death is in itself not remarkable. It’s normal.”
“And…?”
“The problem is that this level will also rise if you supply the body with potassium in some way. When the person is alive, that is. But then… they die. A rise in the potassium level results in heart failure.”
“But then it must be easy to trace the stuff?”
The pathologist raised his voice:
“Listen to what I’m
Stubo swallowed so loudly that the pathologist heard.
“But where would he get the poison?”
“It isn’t a poison, for Christ’s sake!”
The pathologist was practically shouting. When he opened his mouth again, his voice was trembling and low:
“First of all, both you and I take in potassium every day in our normal food. Not significant amounts, granted, but all the same… You can buy potassium by the pound from the pharmacist! That is, you can buy potassium chloride. If that is then injected into the bloodstream, it separates into potassium and chlorides, to put it simply. The potassium chloride has to be diluted so that it’s not too strong, as it can damage tissues and veins.”
“Can be bought at a pharmacy? But who…?”
“Without a prescription.”
“Yes, but as far as I know, very few pharmacies actually stock it. It can be ordered. There is also a special potassium chloride product that you can only get with a prescription, which is used by patients who are losing potassium. I imagine that most intensive care units would have some in stock.”
“Tell me if I’ve understood this correctly,” said Stubo slowly. “If someone gives me an injection with enough diluted potassium, I’ll die. And then if you get me on your slab more than one hour later, you would only be able to confirm that I’m dead, and not how I died. Is that what you’re saying?”
“Yes. But I would still see a syringe mark.”
“Syringe mar… But there weren’t any injection marks on Kim and Sarah?”
“No, not that I saw.”
“Not that you saw? You did
“Of course.”
The pathologist felt exhausted. His pulse was still high and he breathed in deeply.
“But I have to admit that I didn’t shave them.”
“Shave? We’re talking about two small kids.”
“On the head. We try to minimize incisions and interference when we do an autopsy, as we don’t want the family to be offended or shocked by what we’re required to do. It’s possible to make an injection in the temple area. Not easy, but possible. I have to confess…”
He could hear Stubo holding his breath at the other end of the phone.
“… I didn’t check for syringe marks around the temples. I just didn’t think about it.”
They were both thinking the same thing. Neither dared say it. Sarah’s body was still available to the pathologist. Kim had already been buried.
“Thank goodness we refused permission to cremate,” said Adam eventually.
“I apologize,” said the pathologist. “I really do apologize, with all my heart.”
“I’m sorry too,” said Adam. “As far as I understand, you’ve just described the perfect murder to me.”
FIFTY
My son-in-law is in Copenhagen,” said Adam, and put a young boy down on the floor.
The child was somewhere between two and three. He had brown eyes and black hair and smiled shyly at Johanne while keeping a firm hold on his grandfather’s calf.
“He’s coming back tomorrow morning. I normally have Amund on Tuesdays and every other weekend, but the way things have been recently… I haven’t had a chance to do that. And this was an emergency so I couldn’t say no.”
He squatted down. The boy didn’t want to take off his jacket. Adam pulled down the zipper and let him keep it on. Then he tapped the boy gently on the bottom and said:
“Johanne has some great toys, I’m sure.”
“Come,” she said, and took the boy by the hand. “Let’s see what we can find.”
Amund beamed when she led him to the box of cars. He grabbed a tractor and held it up in the air.
“Red tractor,” he said. “Red truck. Red bus.”
“He’s a bit obsessed with colors at the moment,” said Adam.
“He’ll have a boring time here then,” said Johanne, and helped Amund with a bulldozer that had lost its front wheels.
“It’s exactly a month since Emilie disappeared. Have you thought about that?”
“No,” he said, “but you’re right. Fourth of May. Where’s Jack?”
“I think…” Johanne started. The boy dropped the bulldozer and studied an ambulance that Isak had painted with bright red enamel.
“Red ambulance,” said the boy with some skepticism.
Johanne sat down at the table.
“I think the deal is that the dog goes with Kristiane. And to be honest, thank God for that. I’ve spent an hour getting rid of the smell of dog and puppy piss. Without entirely succeeding, I’m afraid.”
She sniffed the air and wrinkled her nose slightly before adding:
“Looks like something’s bothering you.”
Adam Stubo seemed bigger. It couldn’t just be her imagination; he looked like he’d put on weight over the past few weeks. His cheeks were rounder and his shirt was tighter at the neck. He was constantly running his finger under his collar. His tie was coming loose. Johanne had noticed that he always ate too much and too fast.
“I hope it’s not too rude to ask if you’ve got any food?” he said in a tired voice. “I’m so hungry.”
Amund was asleep in Johanne’s bed. It had taken an hour to put him down. Finally Adam came out of the bedroom. He had stuffed his tie into his pocket now and the top buttons of his shirt were open. He folded up the sleeves and sank into the sofa. It creaked underneath him. He grabbed a Danish pastry from the glass plate and wolfed it down in three fast mouthfuls.
“This potassium theory is truly terrifying,” he said, and wiped the crumbs away from his mouth. “I mean, it’s frightening enough in this case, but if people get wind of it…”
“The problem is the injection mark,” said Johanne pensively. “But if the victim is… if the person is sick or a drug addict or for any other reason might have injection tracks without raising an alarm, well then it’s…”
“Terrifying.”
“But you said that the fluid that’s injected consisted of potassium and something else?”
