What the hell kind of place is this?” Nymand yelled after he’d stepped out of the car and peered down the rows of identical gravestones.
“It’s a private graveyard from back when the old orphanage owned the forest,” Louise explained. She led Roskilde’s deputy commissioner to the body.
Nymand had headed the investigation when Frederik’s young niece had been kidnapped; it was the beginning of a family tragedy. She hadn’t spoken to him since, but she caught something in his eye that told her he knew about the episode at the gamekeeper’s.
“It’ll be half an hour or so before emergency and the techs arrive,” he said. Meanwhile he wanted to know how they’d found the body.
Eik stood a few meters away, lighting a cigarette. “It was the dog; he started digging. But Charlie is experienced—he knows when to stop.” Eik sounded a bit proud as he stuck the pack of cigarettes in his pocket and blew smoke out.
“In other words, he ruined the crime scene,” Nymand stated sullenly. “Why the hell isn’t that dog leashed?”
Louise was afraid that her partner would lock horns with Nymand. Criticizing Eik’s new best friend wasn’t the way to get on his good side; she’d found that out. But he merely tilted his head.
“If the dog had been on a leash, there’d be no crime scene,” he said drily. “And if you walk over and look at the grave, you’ll see that he only dug down to the hand. I’m the one who uncovered the arm, and we haven’t touched the rest of the grave.”
Nymand grunted.
“Charlie’s a police dog, not an amateur,” Eik continued. Louise had to look away to keep herself from smiling.
“There’s probably not much left that can help us anyway,” the deputy commissioner admitted. He joined his men.
Louise followed and asked if there was anything more they needed to know before she and Eik took the dogs back to the manor house.
Nymand shook his head. “But we need to talk to Frederik.” He looked over at Camilla’s husband, standing in the background with his hands in his pockets.
“You might get more out of talking to his manager,” Louise said. “Tønnesen has been around for decades. Frederik has only lived here the last twenty years.”
“It’s possible we’ll wait to search the area until early tomorrow,” Nymand said, as if he hadn’t heard her.
Louise nodded and looked toward the grave.
“But of course we’ll secure the crime scene right now,” he continued, “and take the remains in to Forensics when the techs finish tomorrow.” He gazed around. “We probably should cordon off the area.”
From whom? Louise thought. She told him that she was staying with Camilla that weekend, and she mentioned the hit-and-run and the missing boy seen in the forest.
“Frederik,” Nymand called out, ignoring her. “Can we talk in the morning?”
“I can stay out here. I’d like to help if I can.”
Nymand shook his head violently. Clearly he didn’t want any outsiders contaminating the crime scene. “Go on. I’ll call if I need you.”
Louise noticed that Frederik hesitated.
“We’re taking the dogs back,” Eik yelled. “Drive on ahead and grab a few beers. I could sure use one, anyway.”
* * *
Camilla lay sleeping on the sofa when they returned. Out in the kitchen, it was obvious that the boys had made toasted sandwiches. Sliced bread, ham, and cheese were scattered around the counter beside the big toaster oven, which smelled of melted cheese. The two boys flew down the stairs.
“Where’ve you been?” Markus called before he had even reached the kitchen.
Louise and Frederik glanced at each other. They had agreed to tell the boys what had happened, but without making a big deal about it.
“Eik and Louise found a dead person out in the forest,” Frederik began.
“Possibly someone who took their own life.” Louise lied to make it sound less dramatic, but she could see it didn’t work. “The police are there, and we really don’t know much yet.”
“So maybe there’s a murderer in the forest?” Markus asked, his eyes wide as he looked from Eik to Louise to Frederik.
“But it is a murder, right?” Jonah said.
She spread her hands in exasperation. “Boys, it’s way too early to be certain of anything. But yes, it’s possible that someone hid a body out in the forest. It doesn’t necessarily mean that the person was killed here.”
Jonas’s shoulders slumped; Markus gave the chair in front of him a push, the legs stuttering across the floor. Obviously, both of them were uneasy with what they’d heard.
“Could it have something to do with what happened to Mom?” Markus asked.
Louise quickly shook her head. “No, definitely not.” She walked over and put her arm around his shoulder, stroking his hair lightly. “This probably happened years ago. Long before you moved here. And nobody can say this is where it happened.”
Everyone seemed to take in what had been said.
“Can we take the big bottle of cola up with us?” Markus asked Frederik. With that, the boys’ moods lifted, as if the corpse no longer had anything to do with them.
Louise smiled when they grabbed two glasses out of the cupboard and hit Frederik up for the bag of chips on the top shelf.
“Is there anything you’d like?” he asked after the boys had gone back upstairs. “You hungry?”
Louise shook her head and suggested they make a few liver pâté sandwiches. She felt a bit dizzy, so she sat down while Frederik rounded everything up.
First the session with Bitten, Thomsen threatening her, ordering her to stay away. Then Camilla being run down in the forest. And now this. Thoughts swirled in her head. After a few bites, she pushed her plate away. “I think I’ll lie down,” she said, even though it was only a few minutes past eleven. “Are you going back to town?” She looked at Eik.
Frederik quickly intervened. “You’re welcome to stay. It might be best, if the police need both of you.”
Eik needed no encouragement. “Great. I just need to find out what to do about feeding the dog. I’m not nearly as well organized as Jonas, who brought along a doggy bag for Dina.”
Frederik pointed to the refrigerator. “We have steaks in there, so if Charlie isn’t a vegetarian, you’re welcome to give them to him.”
* * *
Louise had her own bureau drawer in the guest room, with everything she needed for an unexpected visit. Camilla had arranged it—she felt obligated to do so, since she had moved out on her friend in Frederiksberg.
The only time Louise had slept with Eik had been in this guest room, the night after Camilla and Frederik’s wedding. They drank tons of champagne and kissed for the first time. Louise had no idea how she had gotten up the stairs and into bed, but now she suddenly remembered every second of that night with him, the feel of his skin, the stubble on his face, his hands.
In the bathroom, the thought of his caresses aroused her. She rinsed her face off when she heard him come up the steps and walk into the guest room.
Eik had confided in her that night. He told her about the woman he had lost, about sailing with her and two friends in the Mediterranean during his vacation, then quarreling with her outside Rome. He’d left the boat and returned to Copenhagen, where he heard about the accident. Sailors had found their rented boat drifting around a small harbor. Their two friends had drowned, but his girlfriend had disappeared without a trace. No one had seen her since. It had left a black hole inside Eik, into which he sometimes fell. Once in a while it was hard to pull himself out of it.
Eik knocked on the bathroom door. “Are you okay in there?”
Louise turned off the water. “I’m coming,” she said, and dried her face.