Soleane Publishing was located in Kristian Augusts gate, across from Café Amsterdam. There was no enormous, flamboyant sign above the entrance, just a small nameplate on the door that said the office opened at nine o’clock.
Emma checked the time on her mobile and sent a text message to Amund Zimmer, the head of the publishing house, saying she was waiting outside as arranged. Two minutes later, the door opened and an overweight man in his sixties appeared, a copy of Forever Number One in one hand and a phone in the other.
‘Emma?’ he asked.
She nodded.
‘Apologies,’ Zimmer said, waving his mobile as if it explained his tardiness.
‘It’s OK,’ Emma assured him. ‘I’m just glad to get my hands on a copy before it reaches the bookstores.’
‘Here,’ Zimmer said, handing her the book. ‘Write something nice about it.’
‘Do you know what she’s up to today?’ Emma asked, as he turned to go back inside. She pointed at the photo of Sonja Nordstrøm on the front of the book.12
While Zimmer did seem prepared for the question, at the same time it clearly made him uncomfortable – as if he’d hoped she wouldn’t ask. He ran his hand through the wisps of blond hair on his head and made a face. His mobile buzzed, and he checked it quickly, before saying: ‘No.’
‘No?’
He shook his head.
‘You’ve no idea why Sonja Nordstrøm didn’t show up on Good Morning, Norway today?’
‘No. I haven’t managed to get hold of her yet.’
‘Is it … normal for her not to turn up to appearances like that?’
Zimmer hoisted his shoulders and immediately let them drop again. ‘Sonja Nordstrøm has always been something of a prima donna,’ he said, ‘but I can really only answer for what she’s been like when we’ve had meetings with her. We’ve found her to be one hundred per cent professional. So it’s a bit … odd that she didn’t appear for the broadcast earlier today. She’s not the type to oversleep.’
Zimmer’s phone started ringing again. He checked the screen, but once again decided to ignore it.
‘What else do you have planned for her today?’
‘Well…’ he began, ‘she should really be all over the place. TV in the morning, and then radio. There’s a press conference here scheduled for noon’ – he used his thumb to indicate over his shoulder – ‘and we’ve got almost all the newspapers in the country signed up for that. And if I know the media, there’ll probably be more radio or TV in the afternoon and evening, even though they haven’t asked yet. We’ve requested she keep the whole day free, more or less, and she was OK with that; she was prepared to do it.’
His mobile stopped vibrating.
‘She’ll probably turn up eventually,’ Emma said.
‘Yes, I suppose so,’ Zimmer said, with a fleeting smile. ‘No doubt she will.’
His phone rang again.13
‘I have to dash inside again. It…’ He raised his mobile in the air.
‘Thanks for the book,’ Emma said. ‘I’m looking forward to reading it.’
‘My pleasure.’
Zimmer let himself in, answering the call at the same time.
Emma stood deep in thought for several seconds. Then she located Sonja Nordstrøm’s number and phoned her.
‘Hello, you’ve reached Sonja Nordstrøm. I can’t take your call right n—’
Emma hung up and spent a few moments pondering the situation: should she sit in her regular café and race through the book, or…?
A tram came jangling past. Number eighteen. Emma knew it went up to Ekeberg, where Sonja Nordstrøm lived. She broke into a run and caught up with it at the courthouse.