The Water's Edge by Karin Fossum

agreed. They went out into the busy street, the dog half running alongside them to keep up. For a while they walked in silence, the older man and the younger, and as they approached a level crossing, they noticed two girls coming towards them. The girls walked closely together on the pavement and they walked arm in arm like girls do, their heels clicking against the tarmac like castanets.
'Take a look at those two,' Skarre said.
Sejer looked at the girls. They were smooth and firm like tulips right before they bloom. A low, intimate chatter flew through the September air.
'How old would you say they were?' Skarre asked.
Sejer studied the girls.
'Sixteen, perhaps?'
Skarre rolled his eyes. 'Honestly, you're miles off, they're thirteen or fourteen. Remember there's a lot of icing on those cakes.'
'Icing?'
'Make-up.'
They passed the girls. Skarre sent them one of his most dazzling smiles.
'Not a day over fourteen,' Skarre whispered.
'Where are you going with this?'
'I'm flying a kite; we work with morality and it gives rise to plenty of food for thought. Imagine a young man out looking for a girlfriend. My point is: the girls look like this and yet they're still off limits. And I'm thinking about the age of consent, it's sixteen in Norway.'
'Correct,' Sejer said. 'Do you have any objections?'
'Perhaps it should be lower,' Skarre. 'What kind of signals were they sending out, the two girls we just passed? Here we are, arm in arm, we're attractive and we're up for anything.'
Sejer turned to get a second look.
'If one of them meets a boy,' Skarre said, 'and they end up in bed and she later regrets it, he could be put away for two to three years. And labelled a sex offender.'
'We need to have some rules,' Sejer stated. 'We must protect children and we do that by setting a limit.'
'But girls today are so grown up,' Skarre said. 'And whether we like it or not, they're sexual beings.'
'You don't have children,' Sejer said, 'you don't understand the instinct to protect them. It rises up in you, once you're responsible for another human being. A young person,' he added, 'your beautiful daughter, perhaps, goes out into the world. Only you aren't allowed to come with her any more, you just have to stay at home and wait for her to come back. While you imagine the worst.'

They made themselves comfortable with their beers.
'The thing is,' Skarre said, 'I was wondering if we could have a chat about sex.'
Sejer bent down and started patting his dog. 'You go first,' he said quickly.
'In Sweden,' Skarre went on, 'the age of consent is fifteen.'
'Right.'
Sejer was drinking Pilsner Urquell. His face had a closed expression, but he was paying attention.
'In other words,' Skarre continued, 'a man is branded a sex offender and given a severe sentence in Norway, but the same act is legal in Sweden.'
'Is that a problem?'
'Of course it is, it's too arbitrary. The problem with sex is that it becomes about morality. Let's take another example,' he said. 'Think of oral sex.'
Sejer kept his eyes firmly on his dog.
'In a few states in the US it's considered a perversion,' Skarre said, 'and consequently it's a criminal offence. My point is: what's abnormal, what's perverted? And what constitutes an assault?'
'We're working in Norway,' Sejer said, 'and here the rules are clear. And we should be thankful for that.'
'Possibly,' Skarre said. 'But there's something else I've been thinking about quite a lot, there's something we have to face up to. When it comes to paedophiles, it's a fact that the offender himself has been unable to develop normally. He may himself have been the victim of abuse and he seeks out children to solve a problem. I just wanted to remind you of that side of the argument.'
'Many people have problems,' Sejer said. 'There are several acceptable ways of solving them and then there are unacceptable ways. Many paedophiles never give in to their urges, it's a question of staying in control. Our man didn't do that.'
'Nevertheless,' Skarre said, 'the