Mia felt sick. Karen ran her icy fingers across her face as if she were a blind person trying to imagine what she looked like.
‘What happened, Mia?’
Mia was really struggling to stay calm. She was sorely tempted to bite the sick woman’s finger, but she refrained.
‘The wife couldn’t be bothered to hand in the film. She only showed up a couple of days ago,’ Mia said calmly.
‘Aha.’ Karen smiled. ‘She didn’t like him very much, did she?’
Mia made no reply.
‘I can see her point.’ The strawberry-blonde woman laughed. ‘He was so thick. But you have it now?’
Mia nodded tentatively.
‘Good. Then all we need to do is wait for it to go bang.’
Karen smiled and sat down at the table again.
‘So the house isn’t far from where we are?’ Mia said.
‘Yes, isn’t it brilliant? We’ll hear it go bang and perhaps we get to see something as well? If we have time.’
Karen got up and disappeared from view. Mia could feel the chill from the evil woman behind her. She glanced at the monitor again. She had a shock when she realized that Marion was about to wake up.
No, no, Marion, lie still.
‘Not you, by the way,’ a voice whispered in her ear. ‘You won’t hear it go bang.’
Karen stroked her cheek.
‘You’re going to die now. Won’t that be nice?’
Mia made a last, desperate attempt to free herself, but she was stuck. She couldn’t control herself any more. She felt the rage boil inside her and it was unstoppable. Her body felt as if it was about to explode.
‘You crazy bitch!’
‘Now, now, now, language, Mia,’ Karen warned her.
Mia felt the tape over her mouth again. The taste of adhesive on her tongue. Breathing became difficult. Panic. Don’t panic. Breathe calmly through your nose. Don’t wake up, Marion, don’t let her see you. Lie still. This is a trap, Holger. Don’t send anyone into the house. She’s going to take everybody with her. Don’t let anyone enter. Holger. Don’t go in. Don’t send in Kim or Curry or Ludvig or Gabriel or Anette, don’t send anyone in. We can’t afford to lose anyone, Holger.
Mia felt a prick in her right hand. She looked down and saw that Karen had inserted an intravenous needle. Mia could hear the strawberry-blonde psychopath fumble with something behind her; she hung a bag on a stand and Mia felt something seep into her. It stung; it made her veins cold and numb.
‘There we are,’ Karen said, sitting down at the table again. ‘It’s a shame that we couldn’t play any longer, but it’s best that you die now. I would like a little time alone with Marion. We need some time together before we go, just her and me. We can’t have you around then.’
She giggled.
‘Won’t it be funny when they find out that you died just a few houses away? If they survive, that is. Those who survive. Who do you think will live, Mia? Munch? Kim? That Larsen guy who thinks he’s so tough? Won’t that be fun to know?’
Mia mumbled behind the tape. The strawberry-blonde psychopath was not entirely lucid; she didn’t realize that Mia couldn’t reply. Karen drummed her fingers on the table. Made small clucking sounds with her tongue. Scratched her face. Got up. Disappeared outside of Mia’s field of vision. Returned with a double-barrelled shotgun. Broke the weapon open, checked there were cartridges in both barrels. Snapped it shut and laid it on the table next to her.
‘The one we never mention liked hunting,’ she said, scratching her face again. ‘We had that in common. We both liked killing. Watching something die is funny, isn’t it, Mia? It’s fun when they stop breathing? When they finally depart?’
Karen got up and went out into the hallway. Mia could hear a door open and close. A small gust of fresh air slipped into the room. Then it disappeared. Karen returned.
‘I’m not going to shoot you, if that’s what you’re thinking. I don’t think the girls will like having a teacher without a face, do you? No, it’s just in case anyone should come in. You can never be too careful, isn’t that right, Mia?’
Mia felt the back of her hand sting again. Something almost metallic was entering her bloodstream. She began having problems seeing clearly. She tried focusing on the screen. Marion was no longer there. Marion was gone. Had Karen been down there? What had she done to the little girl?
Karen shook her head faintly and smiled to herself.
‘I like watching people fall. That idiot who made the movie, he fell really well. For a moment, I thought he might be able to fly. Just like Roger Bakken. Roger even had wings. It was wonderful to watch. Did you feel like that, Mia? When you killed?’
Mia disappeared for a moment, went away, almost leaving the disgusting room for good. She jerked as she came round again. Karen had packed a suitcase.
‘And I was so sure that you knew,’ Karen said again. ‘That you knew why.’
Mia could see Sigrid now. In her white dress. Running slow motion through the field.
Come to me, Mia, come.
‘Markus Skog,’ Karen said. ‘She wasn’t very bright, my sister, she wasn’t, but she was kind. It wasn’t her fault. He wasn’t a good person. But what can you do? Men, eh? Not worth the hassle, are they? She killed herself after you shot him. Not with an overdose, no, she hanged herself. An overdose would have been better, don’t you think, Mia? Like Sigrid? I bet she felt good when she died? She didn’t have to jump from a tree with a rope around her neck.’
Karen glanced at the door, scratched her face briefly again.
‘Well, that’s love for you. What would I know?’
Mia could no longer keep her eyes open. She had lost sensation in her arms or legs.
Karen got up from the table, came over to her and caressed her cheek.
‘Have a nice trip, Mia Moonbeam.’
Across the field, Sigrid came running towards Mia. She stopped in front of her with a teasing look. She waved to her sister.
Come to me, Mia, come!
I’m coming, Sigrid. Wait.
I’ll be Sleeping Beauty and you’ll be Snow White?
Yes, Sigrid, I’d like that.
Come to me, Mia, come!
I’m coming, Sigrid. I’m coming now!
Mia let go.
And she followed her sister’s billowing white dress across a field of golden wheat.
Chapter 82
‘Delta 1, come in.’
Munch released the transmit button on the walkie-talkie and waited for a reply.
‘9, this is Delta 1, over.’
‘This is 9. What’s your position, over?’
Munch glanced at Kim, who sat with the Glock in his lap. He wore a bullet-proof vest and a grim expression on his face. Curry was sitting in the back; he, too, was wearing a bullet-proof vest and holding a pistol in his hand. They had driven down the forest track with the headlights switched off, and they could make out the house now; it wasn’t far away.
‘9, this is Delta 1. Eyes on location in forty metres. No target in sight, over.’
‘Delta 1, this is 9. Hold your position. Don’t shoot until I give the order. Received, over?’
‘9, this is Delta 1, received, over and out.’
‘It’s pitch black,’ Curry whispered, leaning forward between the seats.
Munch took out his night-vision binoculars and aimed them at the dilapidated old building in front of them. There was nothing to suggest that the small cottage was inhabited. That was probably the intention. The GPS coordinates from the film had taken them to this place. He was grateful to Gabriel Mørk, who, with the help of a friend, had managed to identify the location in record time. The guy had really turned out to be a find. Munch pressed the walkie-talkie again.