Gabriel Mørk was about to make his way to the incident room when there was a knock on his door.
“Yes?” he called out.
“Hello, Gabriel.”
Holger Munch entered and closed the door behind him. Gabriel nodded hello and shook the large, warm hand.
“Er, right,” Holger said, scratching his head. “I see your stuff hasn’t arrived yet.”
“No,” Gabriel said. “But that guy . . . he . . .”
“Kim?”
“Yes, Kim, he said it was on its way.”
“Great, great,” Holger Munch said, now scratching his beard. “We had another guy doing your job, but he succumbed to temptation. Pity, but that’s how it goes.”
Gabriel wondered if he could ask what kind of temptation his predecessor had succumbed to, but he decided against it. There was something in Munch’s eyes. Gabriel had seen the same expression in Kim’s. The heavy, burdened expression of someone with a lot on his mind.
“I’m sorry about the somewhat unorthodox hiring process. I normally meet everyone I employ, but there was no time on this occasion, regrettably.”
“It’s fine,” Gabriel replied.
“You came highly recommended.” Munch nodded and patted Gabriel on the shoulder. “Again, I’m sorry about the rush, it’s a bit . . . well, I don’t know. Did Kim brief you?”
Gabriel shook his head.
“Okay, you’ll learn on the job. Have you read today’s papers?”
Gabriel nodded. “On the Net.”
“Any particular news that stood out, in your opinion?”
“The two dead girls?”
Munch grunted. “Mia and I will brief everyone shortly, so you’ll soon know what we’re talking about. You have no previous experience with police work?”
Gabriel shook his head.
“Don’t worry about it. I picked you because of what you know already,” Munch told him. “Like I said, if we had more time, we would have sent you to an orientation course, a short version of the police academy, but there isn’t, so it’ll be learning by doing, and if you have any questions, then just come to me, okay?”
“Sure,” Gabriel agreed.
“Fine,” Munch muttered, looking absentminded again. “By the way, what did you think?”
“About what?” Gabriel said.
“When you read the news today?”
“Oh, right,” Gabriel replied, blushing slightly, feeling he should have realized what his new boss had asked him. “I guess I thought the same as everybody else, I presume. It was a bit of a shock. I’d been following the case about the two missing girls. Hoping they would turn up alive.”
Gabriel thought about the stories in the papers.
Pauline and Johanne found killed . . .
Like two dolls in the trees . . .
Families in deep mourning . . .
White Citroën spotted . . .
Have you seen these clothes . . . ?
“Was that what you meant?”
“What?” Munch had been lost in thought.
“Should I say anything else?”
“No, that’s fine,” Munch replied, placing his hand on Gabriel’s shoulder and turning to the door. “Or no, tell me a bit more.”
Munch gestured for Gabriel to sit down while he continued to lean against the glass wall.
“Well, I don’t really know,” Gabriel began. “When I woke up this morning, I was an ordinary guy, I didn’t know that this was the case I’d be . . . well, working on.”
The words tasted strange in his mouth. Working. On a case. A murder investigation. The newspapers wrote of little else, same for the TV channels. Everyone was talking about the discovery of the bodies of two girls who had been missing for weeks. All of Norway had been hunting high and low for them. It was obvious that the police knew more than they were saying, but they were asking anyone who had seen the clothes to come forward. The dresses. The girls had been found wearing dolls’ clothes. Between the lines a term was starting to appear, a term that had yet to be used, because this was Norway, not the United States or some other country where such things happened, and that term was “serial killer.” It had not been printed anywhere, and yet it was what everyone thought.
“I thought it must be the same killer,” Gabriel said.
“Aha. Go on.”
“I thought it doesn’t seem very Norwegian.”
“Exactly. Go on.”
“I was pleased they were not the children of someone I knew,” Gabriel continued.
Munch gestured for him to carry on talking.
“It was strange that both of them were about to start school. At first I wondered if it might be about a teacher. Then I feared that perhaps more girls will disappear. Then I thought that if I had a six-year-old daughter, I would take extra care of her right now.”
“What did you say?” Munch asked, and he seemed to come around momentarily.
“If I had a six-year-old daughter, I would take extra care of her.”
“No, before that.”
“Perhaps more girls will disappear?”
“Before that.”
“I thought it might be about a teacher.”
“Hmmm,” Munch said, scratching his beard again. He reached for the door. “Incidentally, are you any good at code breaking?”
Gabriel smiled faintly. “I thought that was why you hired me.”
“Oh, yes, so it was.” Munch smiled, too.
He stuffed his hand into his trouser pocket and produced a scrap of paper on which he had scribbled something.
“This isn’t a priority—it’s a private matter—but I’m hoping you might be able to help me.”
Munch handed Gabriel the note.
“I have several nerdy friends who like to challenge me. One of them sent me this, but I haven’t been able to crack it.”
Gabriel looked at the note Munch had just passed him.
Bwdybadynwbonnajgwpm=5
“Can you tell what it is?” Munch asked him with interest.
“Not at first glance,” Gabriel said.
“She’s been testing me for a few days.” Munch sighed. “But I think I have to give up. Let me know if you make anything of it, would you? I hate it when these pals of mine get one over on me.”
Munch chuckled and patted Gabriel on the shoulder again.
“But it’s not a priority; it’s just a private matter, okay?”
“Sure.” Gabriel nodded.
Munch finally left, and this time he made it all the way out into the corridor before he popped his head around the doorframe again.
“Full briefing has been postponed. It’ll be in just under an hour, okay?”
“Sure.” Gabriel nodded once more and stayed in his chair, studying the challenge on the note Munch had just given him.