The House That Jack Built by Jakob Melander Page A

he was doing; she saw only his thin hair sticking up above the back of the chair. Out by the reception, an elevator opened. The small ping reached them even through the closed door.
    â€œIt was easier in the old days,” Ulrik said. “No trafficking, none of this callous violence.” Suddenly the chair spun around. Ulrik was facing her again. “What do you think we should do?”
    â€œMe?”
    â€œYes, you. Aren’t you the sharpest investigator in all of Jutland?”
    â€œOh, that —” She was on the verge of telling him about her conversation with Lars the night before. But something stopped her. It probably wasn’t a good idea to mention it right now. “As far as I’ve been able to uncover, glutaraldehyde isn’t something you can buy over the counter. Hospitals and dentists buy it wholesale, and farmers use it for cleaning pigpens. But Forensics has assembled the remains of the glass eye. It arrived this morning.”
    â€œYes?” Ulrik squinted, rested his fingertips on either side of the desk pad.
    â€œIt’s green. In fact, it’s a really bad fit, so it wasn’t made for Mira. It was suitably large enough so as not to fall out as long as she was alive —” She swallowed. “We didn’t find all the shards, so the reconstruction isn’t complete, but you get a good idea of how it looked. They also pulled half a thumbprint from the back.”
    â€œAnd?” Ulrik got up halfway in his chair.
    â€œUnfortunately, it’s not on file.”
    Ulrik waved a hand in front of him. The apathy that had weighed on him only minutes earlier was gone. His gaunt frame suddenly exuded vitality and energy. Even his grey skin began to glow.
    â€œListen: the two brothers supply girls to a customer who wants something quite specific — girls with glass eyes.”
    Sanne’s jaw dropped. “That sounds like something from a bad episode of CSI .”
    â€œYou’d be surprised.” Ulrik looked out the window.
    â€œThen what about —”
    â€œFirst and foremost, we need to follow up on that eye. That’s the best lead we’ve got right now.”
    Sanne got up. She had better get hold of Allan.
    â€œAs for the Bukoshi brothers,” Ulrik continued, “I’ll get a court order for a wiretap. We’ll put the club under surveillance too. It’s vacation time, so you and Allan are going to have to take quite a few shifts.”
    Sanne nodded. Sometimes she regretted having left Kolding at all.

Chapter 20
    M aria was sitting in the cathedral-like assembly hall below the giant copy of Thorvaldsen’s classic sculpture Jason with the Golden Fleece . She was nervous, biting her nails even though that was frowned upon here. A pair of high heels attached to a pair of ridiculously long legs power-clicked across the marble tiles. An aggressive echo followed them all the way through the assembly hall. A couple of girls from her class sat at the table next to her, staring at an iPad. In less than forty-five minutes, it was her turn. Mock exam in oral Danish. Yikes . Mom said, “It’s only a mock exam,” but what did she know? And Dad? Did he even know she had another exam today? He hadn’t mentioned it on the phone.
    She started thinking about the cab ride the night before. Why did he act like such an idiot? It had actually turned out to be an OK night, and then he couldn’t even give her a proper answer when she asked him about something important.
    She tried concentrating on the photocopy in her hands. Søren Ulrik Thomsen’s Poetry in the Night. One line read, “The Path of the Intoxicated.” No wonder their teacher had chosen that poem. It had been a long time since she had seen such a well-kept drinker’s nose.
    Luckily none of her parents had problems with alcohol. Well, Ulrik might have a few too many sometimes, more than was good for him, but then again he