It was barely five o’clock in the afternoon and yet it was nearly pitch black when Holger Munch reached the police cordons on the far side of Hurumlandet. He pressed his ID card against the windscreen and was quickly waved on by a young officer, who looked a little embarrassed at having stopped him.
Munch parked his car on the verge a few hundred metres inside the cordons and stepped out into the cold autumn air. He lit a cigarette and tightened his duffel coat around him.
‘Munch?’
‘Yes?’
‘I’m Olsen. I’m the head of operations.’
Munch shook the glove-clad hand belonging to a tall, broad, middle-aged police officer he did not recognize.
‘Status update, please?’
‘The victim was found approximately six hundred metres from the road, in a north-north-westerly direction from here,’ Olsen said, pointing through the dark forest.
‘Who is up there now?’
‘Forensics. Pathology. One of yours … Kolstad, is it?’
‘Kolsø.’
Munch opened the boot of the Audi, took out his wellingtons and was about to put them on when his mobile rang.
‘Munch?’
‘It’s Kim. Are you here?’
‘Yes, I’m down by the road. Where are you?’
‘I’m up by the tent. Vik has finished and is getting impatient, but I’ve told them not to move her until you get here. I’ll come down to meet you.’
‘Great. What does it look like?’
‘We won’t be getting much sleep for a while. This is one sick bastard.’
‘What do you mean?’ Munch said, as a sudden, uneasy feeling crept over him.
Holger Munch had nearly thirty years’ experience as a homicide investigator under his belt; by now, he had seen most things. He could usually keep a professional distance from the scenes he encountered and, if the statement had been made by anyone other than Kim Kolsø, he would not have worried. Had it been Mia, who allowed herself to get emotionally caught up in every single case, or Curry, who was up and down like a yoyo all the time, he would have brushed it off, but Kim? This did not bode well.
‘Do you want me to tell you, or see for yourself?’ Kolsø went on.
‘Give me a brief summary,’ Munch said, sticking a finger into his ear as a patrol car from the crime scene suddenly turned on its siren and passed close by him.
‘Are you still there?’ he heard Kolsø say.
‘Yes, yes. Please repeat what you just said.’
‘Teenage girl; sixteen or seventeen, we think,’ Kolsø continued. ‘Naked. It looks like a kind of, how can I put it … ritual? Feathers all around her. And candles …’
Munch stuck the finger back into his ear when yet another patrol car followed its predecessor, with flashing blue lights.
‘… arranged as a kind of symbol …’
Kolsø’s voice cut out once more. Munch glared at Olsen, who was talking on his mobile while gesturing towards something that was happening near the cordons.
‘I can’t hear you,’ Munch said.
‘Some kind of pentagram formation,’ Kolsø went on.
‘What?’
‘Naked teenage girl. Her body twisted into a strange position. Her eyes are wide open. Feathers all over the place …’
More static.
‘I’ve lost you!’ Munch shouted, sticking his finger into his ear once more.
‘… a flower.’
‘What?’
‘Someone stuck a flower in her mouth.’
‘A what?’
‘You’re breaking up,’ Kim crackled. ‘I’m coming to get you.’
‘OK, I’m by the—’ Munch shouted into his mobile, but Kolsø had already rung off.
Munch shook his head and took another deep drag on his cigarette as Olsen came up to him again.
‘A couple of nosy reporters got a little too close at first, but I think we’ve finally managed to cordon off the whole area now.’
‘Good.’ Munch nodded. ‘Have you started door-to-door inquiries? The houses up there?’
‘Yes.’ Olsen nodded in turn.
‘Anyone seen anything?’
‘Not that I’ve been told.’
‘Right, make sure to include the camping site further up the road. I imagine it’s closed down for the winter season, but the caravans are still there. You never know, we might be lucky.’
Olsen nodded again, and disappeared.
Munch put on his wellingtons and found a woolly hat in his coat pocket. He chucked aside the cigarette and lit a fresh one with raw, cold fingers which were barely able to flick the lighter. Good God, surely it had been summer just the other day? It was only late afternoon, and already it was as cold and dark as a winter’s night.
Kim came towards him, appearing in between the trees, his face in darkness behind a large torch.
‘Are you ready for this?’
Ready for this?
‘Stay close behind me. The path is a trip hazard.’
Munch nodded, and followed his colleague towards the path which led up through the woods.