Astrid Tomte Lysgaard really, really wished Lukas had given her a different answer. She didn’t doubt that he was telling the truth; they knew each other too well. And yet something had come over him that she didn’t understand. She had admired Lukas ever since they got together in their first year at secondary school, initially because he was attractive, hard-working and kind. With the years came financial obligations, everyday life, and three children. Lukas took everything seriously. Bills were never left unpaid. He had attended every single parents’ evening since their eldest son started nursery, and volunteered as a member of the PTA as soon as the boy started school. Lukas was skilful and industrious, and had built both the extension and the garage himself. It would never occur to him to do anything underhand when it came to money. He always clamped down on any form of racism or gossip.
However, her friends sometimes mentioned that they found Lukas boring.
They didn’t know him as well as she did.
Lukas was anything but boring, but right now she didn’t understand him at all.
The shock of Eva Karin’s murder must have done something to him, something worse than plunging him into grief. The fact that he wasn’t doing all he could to help the police was incomprehensible.
Lukas never did anything wrong.
Not helping the police was wrong.
She poured herself another cup of coffee and sat down on the sofa. She held the cup up to her face, feeling the dampness of the steam as it touched her skin and cooled.
Lukas didn’t have a sister. Of course he didn’t. If Eva Karin had had a daughter from a previous life – whether Erik was the father or not – she would have acknowledged her. If the child had been adopted, she would have told her family. Admittedly, Eva Karin could appear reserved in certain circumstances, almost unapproachable. Astrid had always put this temporary distance down to the fact that, as a priest, Eva Karin carried the secrets of so many other people. She inspired trust. Her voice was quiet, even in the pulpit, with a melodious, considered way of speaking that in itself invited confidences. And Astrid had never known Eva Karin to make a thoughtless remark, not once in all these years.
When it came to herself, on the other hand, Eva Karin was a generous person. She talked openly about things she had done wrong and mistakes she had made. She had an immense respect for life, which sometimes manifested itself in strange ways, making life difficult for others. Her deep faith in Jesus bordered on the fanatical, but never crossed the line. Some years ago she had shed tears of joy after spending a small fortune on the picture of the Messiah that was now hanging on the living-room wall in the house on Nubbebakken. It was said to be the sketch of an altarpiece from a church somewhere in the east of the country, but Eva Karin had explained that only in this particular image did the artist make the Saviour’s eyes ice-blue. Once or twice Astrid thought she might have caught her mother-in-law talking to the figure in the picture, with his short, blonde, tousled hair. Eva Karin had smiled and laughed at herself, before brushing the matter aside and making small talk about the weather.
As far as Astrid knew, the real Jesus must have been dark, with brown eyes and long hair.
Jesus was forgiveness, her mother-in-law used to say.
Keeping a child secret would have meant showing a lack of respect for life.
Abruptly, Astrid put down her cup.
If Eva Karin had given up a daughter for adoption, then surely she would have a photograph of her as a baby.
Lukas wasn’t himself. He was usually the one who sorted things out for her when the world was a mess and everything got a bit too much. Now it was Astrid’s turn. She had to do the right thing for him.
She took her cup into the kitchen and put it in the dishwasher. If she waited, she might change her mind. As she picked up the telephone she noticed that her hands were shaking. Stubo’s number was still there, at the top of the list of incoming calls.
‘Hello,’ she said when he picked up almost at once. ‘It’s Astrid, Lukas’s wife. I think you should come over right away.’
‘You should have told me right away!’
If Rolf wasn’t furious, then he was unusually cross. In the back-ground Marcus could hear a dog barking and a woman’s voice trying to calm it down.
‘I forgot,’ Marcus said wearily. ‘We were going out for something to eat and I just forgot about it.’
‘The police asked me to ring on a serious matter almost a week ago – and it puts me in a fucking bad light if it looks as if I didn’t bother.’
‘I understand that, Rolf. As I said, I’m sorry.’
‘That’s not enough. What the hell’s got into you lately?’
Rolf’s voice had acquired an aggressive tone that Marcus had never heard before. He took a deep breath and was about to embark on another apologetic tirade when Rolf got in first.
‘You’re not really with us,’ he muttered angrily. ‘You forget the most routine things. Yesterday you hadn’t even done little Marcus’s lunch box when it was time for him to go to school, even though it was your turn. I found out by chance and just had time to make him a couple of sandwiches.’
‘All I can do is apologize. There’s… a lot to do. The financial crisis, you know, and…’
Marcus could hear rapid footsteps at the other end of the line.
‘Hang on,’ Rolf mumbled. ‘I’m just moving so I can talk freely.’
Scraping. A door slamming. Marcus closed his eyes and tried to breathe calmly.
‘It’s only three weeks ago since you told me how happy you were about the financial crisis,’ Rolf said eventually, just as angrily as before. ‘You said you were the only person you knew who was making money out of it! You said the company was on the up and up, for fuck’s sake!’
‘But you know that-’
‘I know nothing, Marcus! I have no idea why you lie awake at night. I have no idea why you’ve become so short-tempered. Not only with me, but with Marcus and your mother and-’
‘I’ve said I’m sorry!’
By now Marcus, too, was raising his voice. He got up and went over to the window. The sun was glowing fiery red as it lay low on the horizon. The ice on the fjord was criss-crossed with furrows made by ships. The harbour directly in front of him was covered with slushy ice on top of the black water. The Nesodden ferry had just heaved to at the quayside, and a handful of shivering people poured out into the beautiful, ice-cold afternoon.
‘This can’t go on,’ Rolf said in a resigned tone of voice. ‘You’re at work virtually all the time. It can’t possibly be necessary to…’
He was right.
Marcus had always been proud of the fact that he worked more or less normal office hours. His philosophy was that if you couldn’t get everything done between eight and four, then the fault lay with your own inefficiency. Of course, he had to work late occasionally, just like everyone else. However, since nothing was more important than his family, he still tried to be home at the normal time every day, and to keep his weekends free.
These days he was staying at the office until late in the afternoon and into the evening more and more often. The office at Aker Brygge had become a refuge. A sanctuary from Rolf’s searching looks and accusations. When everyone had gone home and he was left alone, he sat down in the comfortable armchair by the window and watched the evening creep across the city. He listened to music. He read a little – or at least he tried to, but it was difficult to concentrate.
‘For fuck’s sake,’ Rolf went on wearily. ‘You’re not one of those capitalists, Marcus! You’ve always said that the money was there for us, and not vice versa! If the firm is going to take up all our time, then we’d be better getting rid of the whole bloody lot and living a simpler life.’
‘It’s 15 January,’ Marcus protested feebly. ‘A couple of weeks’ stress at work isn’t enough for you to start drawing drastic conclusions, in my opinion. I also think, to be perfectly honest, that you’re being completely
