Mia closed the door softly behind her and went into the small room where Curry was sitting on a chair watching Munch and Kim Kolsø, who had already sat down in the interview room with Paulus Monsen on the other side of the table. The young man with the dark curls looked stressed, his eyes flitting from side to side.
‘What’s happening?’ she asked, sitting down on the chair next to Curry.
‘Do you want the short or the long version?’ he said.
‘Short, please,’ Mia said, without taking her eyes off the people on the other side of the window.
‘We were about to leave when that boy stormed across the yard with the girl chasing after him. He seemed hacked off about something, and she looked as if she had been crying, red-eyed and all upset …’
‘This is starting to sound like the long version.’ Mia smiled.
‘Ha-ha,’ Curry said.
He looked better than the last time she had seen him. As if the quarrel with Sunniva had been resolved and he was starting to think like a police officer again.
‘And then?’
‘Paulus admitted growing cannabis in the greenhouse and being in a relationship with Camilla Green.’
‘Really?’
‘Yep.’
‘And why didn’t he tell us earlier? How did he explain that?’
‘She was under sixteen when it started,’ Curry said. ‘Nice guy, eh?’
He leaned closer to the glass as if to scrutinize the young man.
‘Chats up minors, persuades them to come with him to his hideaway, where he gets them high on dope before taking advantage of them.’
‘Hideaway?’
‘He had a kind of love nest on the far side of the estate.’
‘And have we had a look at it?’
‘Forensics are there now.’ Curry nodded, leaning back again.
‘I didn’t know what to say,’ said the young man in the interview room.
Mia turned down the volume in order to hear the rest of Curry’s update.
‘And what about the girl? Benedikte?’
‘She’s in interview room B.’
‘Has anyone talked to her yet?’
Curry shook his head.
‘And what’s her part in all this? Why did you bring her in?’
Mia found a lozenge in her jacket pocket and looked at Paulus, who was sitting very still now.
‘They’re blaming each other,’ Curry said.
‘For the murder?’ Mia was taken aback.
Curry nodded. ‘A crime of passion. Some kind of love triangle. The two of them had a fight right in front of us. We had to handcuff them. Since then neither of them has said very much.’
‘So what’s the plan?’
‘The plan?’ Curry said.
‘Yes. What are we thinking now? What has Munch said?’
‘Not a lot so far,’ Curry said with a shrug. ‘Him first. Then her. Then back to him, I think.’
‘He’s not interviewing them at the same time?’
‘No. Munch thought the girl should be left to stew on her own for a while. Waiting always scares them.’
‘That’s true,’ Mia said, she rose from the chair, went out into the corridor and knocked on the door to the interview room.
Kim Kolsø opened the door for her.
‘Time to swap?’ Mia offered.
‘OK.’ Kolsø nodded, letting her in.
‘The time is 16.05,’ Munch said into the tape recorder. ‘Investigator Kim Kolsø has left the room. Mia Krüger has arrived.’
Mia hung her leather jacket on the back of the chair and sat down.
‘Hi, Paulus. Mia Krüger,’ Mia said, extending her hand across the table.
The young man glanced after Kim, who had just left the room, then looked nervously at Mia before tentatively shaking her hand.
‘Paulus Monsen.’
‘I’ve heard a lot about you. People say you’re a nice guy. Very competent, everybody at the Nurseries sings your praises …’
‘Really?’ the young man said. He sounded a little confused.
‘You’re skilful.’ Mia smiled. ‘Good at your job. Must be nice to hear. That everyone thinks so highly of you.’
‘Er, yes, thank you,’ Paulus said, glancing nervously at Munch, who clearly had not been quite as friendly.
‘And just so you know it, the dope, the plants, we don’t really care about them – it’s not our business, OK? A bit of cannabis, a few plants – so what? That could happen to anyone.’
Mia was aware of a stony stare from Munch, but ignored it.
‘All right?’ She smiled at the young man, who continued to look puzzled.
He glanced quickly at Munch again, but it was clear he was more comfortable looking at her.
‘It was just a few plants,’ he said in a low voice.
‘Like I said, forget about it. Seriously, it’s nothing.’
Mia could see him dropping his guard now. The young man leaned back in his chair slightly, and raked his hands through his curls.
‘It was just for personal consumption. I wasn’t going to sell it or anything, if that’s what you’re thinking.’
‘Exactly. Don’t give it another thought.’
Munch was about to open his mouth, but Mia nudged him under the table.
‘But what is a little more serious …’ Mia said, pretending to mull it over.
She could sense that the young man on the chair had started to get nervous again.
‘What?’ he said.
‘Well, it’s Benedikte. She …’ Mia said at length, letting the remark linger in the air.
‘What did Benedikte say?’ the young man demanded to know.
Mia gave a light shrug and raised her eyebrows.
‘That bitch!’ Paulus suddenly burst out. ‘Is she saying that I killed Camilla?’ His eyes were flashing now. ‘She’s lying,’ Paulus said desperately, getting up from the chair. ‘You have to believe me.’
‘Sit down,’ Munch ordered him.
The young man continued to stand. He looked imploringly at them both.
‘Sit down,’ Munch ordered him again.
Paulus sat down and buried his head in his hands. ‘You have to believe me, Benedikte is out of her mind, bonkers, I’m going to …’
‘Kill her, too?’ Munch said calmly.
‘What?’ He looked up at them, wide-eyed.
‘Are you going to kill Benedikte, like you killed Camilla?’
‘What? No, for God’s sake. I didn’t kill Camilla, I keep telling you!’
‘I thought you had confessed,’ Munch went on. ‘I thought that was why you’re here?’
‘Confessed? No, I’ve only confessed to growing the plants.’ He looked at Mia again, hoping she would come to his rescue, but Mia said nothing, she just let Munch carry on.
‘So you started a relationship with Camilla Green when she was under the age of consent. You drugged her in your hideout and had sex with her. Is that what happened?’
‘No,’ Paulus said, fixing his eyes on the table again.
‘So you weren’t in a relationship with Camilla?’ Mia said amicably. ‘You weren’t a couple?’
‘Yes, but …’
‘But what?’
‘It wasn’t like he said.’ He nodded towards Munch. ‘He made it sound really ugly.’
Mia cut in. ‘So how was it, then? Between Camilla and you?’
‘It was … beautiful,’ Paulus ventured.
‘You were fond of her?’
‘I loved her,’ the young man said, and Mia could see that he was struggling to keep the tears at bay now.
‘And she loved you, too?’
The young man seemed as if he needed time to think before he replied. As if he did not know the answer.
‘I think so,’ he said, after a while.
‘But …?’
‘But she … Camilla was special. She wanted to live her own life. She was a totally free spirit, if you know what I mean?’
Paulus looked up again but avoided making eye contact with Munch; he looked only at Mia now, with almost pleading eyes.
‘Please believe me: I didn’t kill her. I would never do anything to hurt Camilla. I loved her. I would have done anything for her.’
‘But she didn’t want you and so you just took what you wanted anyway,’ Munch asserted crudely.
Mia glared at Munch and shook her head in despair. Mia Krüger had nothing but respect for her boss but, at times, he could be rather too simplistic.
‘No,’ Paulus said, retreating into himself again.
Mia glowered at Munch, who merely shrugged his shoulders.
‘You mentioned something to my colleagues,’ she said cautiously, ‘which I’ve been wondering about.’
‘What?’ Paulus said, not looking at her.
‘As far as I can gather, you accused Benedikte of having killed Camilla, is that right?’
There was a short silence before the young man replied. ‘It was just something I said in the heat of the moment. I was angry.’
‘With Benedikte?’
‘Yes.’
‘Why?’
‘She came down to my hideaway,’ the young man said, raising his gaze again. ‘Started babbling about how we were meant for each other, how great it was that Camilla was gone, so now she and I could finally be together, and that was why she had sent the message.’
‘What message?’ Munch asked.
‘Eh?’ Paulus said. He did not seem to be completely there.
‘What message?’ Munch asked again.
‘The one from Camilla’s mobile.’
‘Benedikte had Camilla’s mobile?’
Mia glanced quickly at Munch, who returned her look of surprise.
‘She found it in Camilla’s room after she disappeared,’ Paulus went on. He was clearly exhausted now.
‘I want to be quite clear about this,’ Munch said. ‘Which text message are we talking about?’
Paulus ran his hand across his forehead. ‘She sent a message to Helene saying everything was all right.’
‘From Camilla’s mobile?’
Paulus nodded quietly.
‘And that’s when I lost my cool. I didn’t mean to accuse Benedikte of having killed her. I’m sorry I said it. She may be crazy, but she would never do anything like that.’
‘Did she say anything about why she sent the text message?’ Mia wanted to know.
‘So no one would look for her.’
‘Because if Camilla was gone for good, the two of you could finally be together?’
‘Something like that,’ the young man mumbled, looking like he found talking difficult now.
‘Let’s take a break,’ Munch said, looking at Mia, who nodded back. ‘Are you hungry, Paulus? Would you like something to eat or drink?’
The boy with the curls gave a light shrug and replied without looking at them.
‘A burger, perhaps. And a Coke. I haven’t been eating much recently …’
They could see that he could barely manage it now, to hold back the tears.
‘The time is 16.32. Interview with Paulus Monsen terminated,’ Munch said, turning off the tape recorder.