‘Those notes are private,’ Jakob said. ‘Surely the only madness is that I predicted who was going to die, and as I still believe the deaths are related to the sexual abuse of children, then I was also right about the four men being the worst offenders in this town.’ He flung out his arms. ‘I’ve nothing to do with the murders themselves, obviously. Do you want me to come up with an alibi for the nights of the murders—is that what you’re saying? Now that would be truly mad. And since when is it illegal to write poetry and to love nature, or is that the preserve of murderers? I don’t know what it’s like back in Horsens, but where I come from we still have free speech.’
‘I happen to be from Stensballe, not Horsens, not that it matters.’ Mortensen nudged the brown notebook. ‘And the jigsaw puzzle piece? What about that? A signature? You know how this works. No serial killer ever wants to get away with his crimes—deep down he’s desperate for the world to admire his work. Am I right?’
‘I agree, but that knowledge doesn’t turn you or me into a serial killer. And as far as the puzzle piece goes, I’ve no idea how it ended up on the deceased.’
‘The deceased? You mean Anguteeraq Poulsen? That’s true. Now, what did you say again? That you would bloody well kill him and gut him yourself?’
‘For God’s sake, sir. We had just left the apartment. The girl could barely walk. He… he had just… Karlo was angry too. Men like Anguteeraq Poulsen shouldn’t get away with destroying children. Surely you agree?’
‘Of course, Pedersen, but it’s something we have to let the law deal with. Our job is solely to collect the evidence, if there is any.’
‘Also to prevent crime, surely,’ Jakob objected angrily.
‘Yes, that’s correct, but did you see a crime in progress while you were there? Did anyone report anything? How about witnesses?’
‘I knew he had raped her! I could tell from all their faces. From their eyes. The way she walked and her body language towards her father. She hurt all over. They were covering it up.’
‘But has anyone reported it? Where’s the evidence? There might be another explanation, don’t you think?’
‘Everyone is too bloody scared to speak out,’ Jakob yelled. ‘And even if they do, who will help them? The kids are simply sent back to their families. For God’s sake, we need to protect those children.’
‘And who will protect men against false accusations, if we start acting purely on a hunch?’
‘Men? Protect men?’ Jakob stared at the chief of police in disbelief. ‘The men… they—’
‘Deserve to die?’ Mortensen completed Jakob’s sentence.
Jakob looked at the floor. ‘To hell with the men. We ought to be protecting the girls.’
‘Work with me here, Pedersen. You have this bizarre notebook where you’ve written down the names of four men—before they were killed. You have publicly expressed a desire to kill one of them. You removed that man’s daughter from her home shortly before he was killed. And a piece from your jigsaw puzzle was found on the dead man’s forehead.’ He exhaled heavily. ‘Can you see where I’m going with this, Pedersen? We have, as far as I’m aware, at no point had another suspect under consideration, but if you look objectively at the facts I’ve just listed, what would you call the man hiding behind them?’
‘I do have some suspects now,’ Jakob remarked dryly.
‘I would call such a man a suspect,’ Mortensen continued, pushing his own argument. ‘Wouldn’t you?’
Jakob shook his head. ‘I had a visit last night. Actually, “intruders” would be more accurate. Jørgen Emil Lyberth and Kjeld Abelsen. They forced their way into my house, along with a strong, ruddy-looking man from the Faroe Islands.’
Mortensen frowned and picked up a cigar stump. ‘Are you still going on about that? Didn’t I say I wanted to hear nothing more about it?’
‘With all due respect, sir, you need to let me speak, because all these events are connected.’
‘Very well—get it off your chest, then.’
‘Like I said, they entered my home last night, and they brought this big, red-haired man with them. They threatened me, told me to abandon my investigation into the children, and said I should charge an innocent man with the murders. They told me to arrest Thomas Olesen from Block 16 today. After the fourth murder, that is, but at the time they were probably the only ones who knew that a fourth murder had been committed.’
‘Pedersen, why would Jørgen Emil Lyberth and Kjeld Abelsen threaten you and have a random man go to jail for murders he has nothing to do with?’
‘Because they have something to do with the murders. The man with the red hair ripped up my shirt and pressed a knife against my chest, while Abelsen told me that I could easily end up gutted as well.’ ‘Tell me why, Pedersen. Why would Lyberth and Abelsen want all these men killed? Yes, and on top of that, why would they threaten you, a police officer, with your life, unless you agreed to close the case?’ He shook his head. ‘I simply don’t see the logic, my good man.’
‘I don’t know.’ Jakob heaved a sigh and his shoulders slumped. ‘I think they’re involved in the assaults on the children. Perhaps they take part. Perhaps they establish contact with the fathers, who then hire out their daughters to high-ranking politicians or civil servants from Denmark. Perhaps the four men got greedy and wanted more money for their silence. Paneeraq mentioned that Lyberth and Abelsen had previously been to her parents’ apartment together with an older Danish man, and that this man was addressed as “Minister”.’
‘And did she say exactly what had happened?’
Jakob shook his head slowly. ‘She’s only eleven years old.’
Mortensen slammed both palms against his desk and drummed his fingers. ‘I’m not about to accuse two prominent citizens and the Minister for Greenland of murder and sexual assault just on your say-so. We work with evidence here, and if I’ve understood you correctly, you have nothing to support your accusations. Nothing. I wouldn’t even go to the trouble of telephoning them.’
‘I have another witness.’ Jakob stumbled over his words. ‘A woman who saw, among others, Lyberth and the man from the Faroe Islands near Ari Rossing Lynge’s place on the night that Lynge was killed and Najak disappeared. She saw them out in the street and heard them argue upstairs. I believe… I have reason to believe that she heard the murder itself.’
‘So she saw these people through a window at night when it was dark and it was snowing, and heard something through the ceiling?’ Mortensen held up a hand in order to stop further protest. ‘It won’t stand up—not without evidence, Jakob. And even if your crazy theories are right, you’re still not in the clear. I have your notebook here, you’ve made threats in public, and you made sure that the girl was out of the apartment on the night of her parents’ murder. So… I’m suspending you for now. I need you to hand in your warrant card and your key to the police station immediately. I’ll try to get a handle on what’s going on today. There’s going to be one hell of an outcry from the powers that be.’
Jakob removed a key from his key ring, and tossed it and his warrant card onto the desk next to his notebook. ‘You can all go to hell.’
‘Thank you, thank you. We’ll get there eventually.’ Mortensen picked up Jakob’s warrant card. ‘Please go home and stay there until further notice. That’s all for now.’
Jakob stopped halfway to the door. He was seething with rage. ‘Najak may still be alive!’