fast as he could, grabbed the sack, and ducked back into the bushes. Then he heard tires whining and a sound like an animal crying out, followed by a thunk. He thought about the deer with the markings on its chest.
The silence returned. He held the sack close to his body, which covered up his rapid breathing.
Far off through the trees, the headlights glared and moved away from him. Soon it was dark again. He groped his way back to the tree stump and knelt in a small pool of clear moonlight.
His fingers were stiff, but he managed to tear off the paper around the roll of sweet biscuits. He stuffed them greedily in his mouth, the crumbs flying. He felt around for the blanket with his other hand, then carefully pulled it out of the sack.
After wrapping himself up in the warm wool, he leaned back against the tree stump and sorted through the rest of what was in the sack.
16
L ouise’s phone alarm startled her. She stared confusedly at the dark-gray ceiling for a moment before realizing she was in her childhood bedroom, in Lerbjerg. Slowly, everything came back to her.
She had taken the train from Holbæk after the meeting with René Gamst. Exhaustion had won out over anger as she walked to the station and sat down in the Copenhagen train, but when they reached Vipperød she called her father and asked him to pick her up at Hvalsø station. She wasn’t ready to go home just yet. First she had to stop by the Starling House and talk to René’s wife.
Louise swung her legs off the bed and sat a moment. She’d told her parents that Jonas was staying with a friend; that it was convenient for her to stay there because she had an interrogation in the area the next morning. She took a quick shower and hoped that Bitten hadn’t already left to drop her daughter off. René’s wife worked for Hvalsø Kommune, the local government.
She finished her shower at twenty past eight, and soon after wrestled her mother’s green bicycle out of the old horse stall and pedaled angrily into the forest, thinking about René’s scornful words.
Camilla could be right: He might have wanted to hurt her. At least that could be part of it. But Klaus’s parents didn’t believe he’d committed suicide, either. And others had to be punished if it turned out they were involved.
Louise hopped off the bicycle and leaned it against a tree. She walked down an uneven stone pathway to the old forest ranger’s house. Hollyhocks lined an outer wall with small-paned windows, their tops leaning over toward the thatched roof’s overhang. She knocked on the stable door and glanced around but saw no sign of anyone apart from the pink child’s bike lying on the lawn.
She knocked again and stepped back. She heard a noise inside the house, then Bitten opened the door and stared at her in obvious surprise. She was wearing one bath towel and drying her hair with another.
“Yes?” she said. She seemed uneasy about her unannounced morning visitor.
“I’d like to talk to you for a few moments,” Louise said.
The last time they had spoken together, a sort of confidentiality had arisen between them. But of course that was before Louise put her husband behind bars.
“This isn’t such a good time,” Bitten said, but Louise was already halfway in the hallway. She pushed Bitten into the living room. Before they reached the sofa, she noticed a dark shadow in the bathroom doorway. Big Thomsen stepped out. He had just taken a shower; a small pool of water formed at his feet while he wrapped himself in a dark-blue bathrobe.
Louise guessed that Thomsen had appropriated René’s robe, seeing that it barely covered his stomach and stretched tightly across the shoulders.
“What do you want?” he asked. He stood behind Bitten, acting as if he were master of the house.
“I just want to hear how Bitten is doing,” Louise ad-libbed.
“She’s doing just great,” he said. He grabbed Bitten’s narrow hips, pulled her back, and began grinding against her ass.
The silence returned. He held the sack close to his body, which covered up his rapid breathing.
Far off through the trees, the headlights glared and moved away from him. Soon it was dark again. He groped his way back to the tree stump and knelt in a small pool of clear moonlight.
His fingers were stiff, but he managed to tear off the paper around the roll of sweet biscuits. He stuffed them greedily in his mouth, the crumbs flying. He felt around for the blanket with his other hand, then carefully pulled it out of the sack.
After wrapping himself up in the warm wool, he leaned back against the tree stump and sorted through the rest of what was in the sack.
16
L ouise’s phone alarm startled her. She stared confusedly at the dark-gray ceiling for a moment before realizing she was in her childhood bedroom, in Lerbjerg. Slowly, everything came back to her.
She had taken the train from Holbæk after the meeting with René Gamst. Exhaustion had won out over anger as she walked to the station and sat down in the Copenhagen train, but when they reached Vipperød she called her father and asked him to pick her up at Hvalsø station. She wasn’t ready to go home just yet. First she had to stop by the Starling House and talk to René’s wife.
Louise swung her legs off the bed and sat a moment. She’d told her parents that Jonas was staying with a friend; that it was convenient for her to stay there because she had an interrogation in the area the next morning. She took a quick shower and hoped that Bitten hadn’t already left to drop her daughter off. René’s wife worked for Hvalsø Kommune, the local government.
She finished her shower at twenty past eight, and soon after wrestled her mother’s green bicycle out of the old horse stall and pedaled angrily into the forest, thinking about René’s scornful words.
Camilla could be right: He might have wanted to hurt her. At least that could be part of it. But Klaus’s parents didn’t believe he’d committed suicide, either. And others had to be punished if it turned out they were involved.
Louise hopped off the bicycle and leaned it against a tree. She walked down an uneven stone pathway to the old forest ranger’s house. Hollyhocks lined an outer wall with small-paned windows, their tops leaning over toward the thatched roof’s overhang. She knocked on the stable door and glanced around but saw no sign of anyone apart from the pink child’s bike lying on the lawn.
She knocked again and stepped back. She heard a noise inside the house, then Bitten opened the door and stared at her in obvious surprise. She was wearing one bath towel and drying her hair with another.
“Yes?” she said. She seemed uneasy about her unannounced morning visitor.
“I’d like to talk to you for a few moments,” Louise said.
The last time they had spoken together, a sort of confidentiality had arisen between them. But of course that was before Louise put her husband behind bars.
“This isn’t such a good time,” Bitten said, but Louise was already halfway in the hallway. She pushed Bitten into the living room. Before they reached the sofa, she noticed a dark shadow in the bathroom doorway. Big Thomsen stepped out. He had just taken a shower; a small pool of water formed at his feet while he wrapped himself in a dark-blue bathrobe.
Louise guessed that Thomsen had appropriated René’s robe, seeing that it barely covered his stomach and stretched tightly across the shoulders.
“What do you want?” he asked. He stood behind Bitten, acting as if he were master of the house.
“I just want to hear how Bitten is doing,” Louise ad-libbed.
“She’s doing just great,” he said. He grabbed Bitten’s narrow hips, pulled her back, and began grinding against her ass.
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