In the Darkness by Karin Fossum

hope you’ve got all you need here.’
    He looked around, as if he were checking.
    ‘I hope they take the time to pop in and sit on your bed now and again – the staff here. They say they do. I hope they’re telling the truth.’
    She didn’t reply. She stared at him with her light eyes as if waiting for something more.
    ‘I haven’t brought anything with me. It’s a bit difficult, they tell me flowers aren’t very good for you, and there’s not a lot else to choose from. So I’ve just brought myself. Kollberg’s in the car,’ he added.
    Her eyes relinquished him and turned towards the window.
    ‘It’s overcast,’ he said quickly. ‘But nice and bright. Not too cold. Hope you’ll be able to lie out on the veranda when summer comes. You always did like to get out as soon as you had the chance, just like me.’
    He took her other hand as well, they were lost in his own.
    ‘Your nails are too long,’ he said suddenly. ‘They should be clipped.’
    He felt them with his finger, they were thick and yellow.
    ‘It would only take a couple of minutes, I could do it, but I’m a bit clumsy I’m afraid. Haven’t they got people here who take care of that kind of thing?’
    She looked at him again, with her mouth half open. Her false teeth had been removed, they claimed that they only got in her way. It made her look older than she really was. But her hair was combed and she was clean, the sheets were clean, the room was clean. He gave a small sigh. He looked at her again searching hard for the least sign of recognition, but found none. She shifted her gaze once more. When at last he got up and went to the door, she was still staring out of the window, as if she’d already forgotten him. Out in the corridor he met one of the nurses. She smiled invitingly at the tall figure, he gave a quick smile back.
    ‘Her nails are too long,’ he said quietly. ‘Would it be possible to do something about that?’
    Then he left to struggle with the depression which always came over him after his visits to his mother. These depressions lasted a couple of hours, and then lifted.
    Later, he drove out to Engelstad, but first he made a couple of phone calls. A question had arisen in his mind, and the answers he received gave him something to think about. Even people’s tiniest movements create ripples, he thought, just as the fall of a minute pebble could be registered in a totally different place on a totally different shore, a place you hadn’t even dreamt of.
    Eva Magnus opened the door, dressed in a voluminous shirt which was covered in black and white paint. A block of wood wrapped in sandpaper was in her hand. He could see from her face that he was expected, and that she’d already made up her mind what she was going to say. It infuriated him.
    ‘Nice to see you again, Mrs Magnus. It’s been some time.’
    She gave a small nod.
    ‘The last time it was Maja Durban – and now it’s Egil Einarsson. Strange, isn’t it?’
    His comment caused her to take a deep breath.
    ‘I’ve only got one small question.’ He spoke politely, but not diffidently. He was never diffident. He exuded authority and, if he wanted to, could make people a trifle nervous – as he was doing now.
    ‘Yes, I’ve already heard about it,’ she said, and retreated a little way into the hall. She shook her long hair back over her shoulder and closed the door behind him. ‘Jostein phoned. But I’ve got nothing to add. Just that I saw that poor man float in, and that I rang you. At around five in the afternoon. Emma was with me. I can’t remember who I spoke to, if that’s what you’re wondering, but if you’ve neglected to register a call, that isn’t my problem. I did my duty if you can call it that. I haven’t got anything more to say.’
    She’d rattled off her speech. She’d clearly practised it several times.
    ‘Help me a little with the voice anyway, so I can deal with this neglect of duty. It’s really quite serious if this