‘Yes,’ the man said. ‘Of course I remember Kimmie very well. She helped build this place up, you know? I think she was with us close to three years – the same years that we were expanding to become an import and procurement centre.’

‘Procurement centre?’

‘Yes. If a farmer in Hammer has a place with forty llamas or ten ostriches that he’d like to get rid of, then we enter the picture. Or when mink farmers want to switch to raising chinchillas. Small zoos contact us, too. We actually employ both a zoologist and a veterinarian.’ Then the crow’s feet appeared. ‘We’re northern Europe’s largest wholesaler in every type of certified animal. So we get everything from camels to beavers. That was something Kimmie got started, in fact. She was the only one at the time with the necessary animal expertise.’

‘She was a trained veterinarian, is that right?’

‘Yes, well, almost. And she had a good commercial background, so she could evaluate the animals’ origins, the trade routes and all the paperwork.’

‘Why did she quit?’

He tilted his head from side to side. ‘Well, it was a long time ago, but when Torsten Florin began to shop here, something changed. Apparently, they already knew each other. And then she met another man through him, I think.’

Carl watched the pet-shop manager. He seemed reliable. Good memory. Well organized. ‘Torsten Florin? The fashion mogul?’

‘Yes, him. He’s exceedingly interested in animals. In fact, he’s our best customer.’ He tilted his head again slowly sideways. ‘That’s an understatement today because he owns a majority stake in Nautilus, but back then he came in as a customer. A very pleasant and successful young man.’

‘I see. He must really be interested in animals.’ Carl looked across the landscape of cages. ‘They already knew each other, you say. How did you know?’

‘Well, I wasn’t present when Florin came here the first time. They must have said hello when he was about to pay. She was in charge of that. But in the beginning she didn’t seem especially excited about seeing him again. I really can’t say what happened later.’

‘The man you mentioned, the one Torsten Florin knew, was it Bjarne Thøgersen? Do you recall?’

He shrugged. Evidently he didn’t remember.

‘She moved in with him in September 1995, you know,’ Carl said. ‘I’m sure she worked here at that time.’

‘Hmm. Maybe. She never talked about her private life, actually.’

‘Never?’

‘No. I didn’t even know where she lived. She handled her own personnel forms, so I can’t help you with that.’

The manager stood in front of a cage where a pair of tiny, deep-set, dark eyes was looking at him with fervent trust. ‘This one is my favourite,’ he said, and removed a monkey the size of his thumb. ‘My hand is its tree,’ he said, holding it up in the air as the Lilliputian creature clung to two of his fingers.

‘Why did she stop working at Nautilus? Did she give a reason?’

‘I think she just wanted to move on with her life. No particular reason. You know what I mean?’

Carl exhaled so loudly that the monkey sought refuge behind the fingers. To hell with all these questions and to hell with this line of interrogation.

So he put on his mask of annoyance. ‘I think you know why she quit, so would you be so kind as to tell me?’

The man put his hand into the cage and let the little ape disappear into the deep.

Then he turned to Carl. All that snow-white hair and beard didn’t help him seem friendly any more; now it seemed more like a crowning halo of unwillingness and defiance. Though his face was still soft, his eyes were hardening. ‘I think you should leave now,’ he said. ‘I’ve tried to be obliging. You’ve no right to accuse me of standing here feeding you lies.’

So that’s how you want to play it, Carl thought, smiling his most patronizing smile.

‘I was just wondering,’ he said. ‘When was a business like this last inspected? Don’t these cages seem awfully close together? And is the ventilation system all in order? How many of your animals actually die during transportation? Or here?’ He began staring into the cages one at a time, where small, frightened bodies sat, breathing rapidly in the corners.

Now the pet-shop manager smiled, displaying a fine set of dentures. It was clear that for all he cared Carl could say whatever he wished. Nautilus Trading A/S had nothing to worry about.

‘You want to know why she quit? Then I think you should ask Florin. After all, he’s the boss here!’

28

It was a lethargic Saturday evening, and the radio news gave equal attention to the birth of a tapir in Randers Rainforest and the Conservative Party chairman’s threat to abolish the new county delineations he himself had demanded be established.

Carl punched in a number on his mobile, glanced across the water at the sunbeams reflected on the surface, and thought, Thank God there’s still something they can’t mess with.

Assad picked up at the other end. ‘Where are you, boss?’

‘I just crossed Zealand’s Bridge on the way to Rødovre High School. Is there anything special I should know about this Klavs Jeppesen?’

When Assad was thinking, one could actually hear it. ‘He’s frust, Carl. That’s the only thing I can say.’

‘Frust?’

‘Yes. Frustrated. He sounds slow, but that’s probably just emotions blocking the free word.’

The free word? Next Assad will be waxing lyrical about the ‘light wings of thought’.

‘Does he know why I’m coming?’

‘More or less, yes. Rose and I have been working on the list the entire afternoon, Carl. She would like to talk to you about it then.’

He was about to protest, but Assad was gone.

So was Carl, in a way, once Rose set her acid tongue in motion.

‘Yes, we’re still here,’ she said, shaking Carl out of his train of thought. ‘We’ve been studying this list all day and I think we’ve pinpointed something we can use. Would you care to hear it?’

What the hell did she think?

‘Yes, please,’ he said, almost missing the left-turn lane towards Folehaven.

‘Do you recall the case on Johan’s list with the couple who disappeared on Langeland?’

Did she think he was suffering from dementia, or what?

‘Yes,’ he replied.

‘Good. They were from Kiel, and they vanished. Some effects were found near Lindelse Cove that could have belonged to them, but it was never proven. I’ve been tinkering around with the case a little.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘I found their daughter. She lives in her parents’ house in Kiel.’

‘And?’

‘Take it easy, Carl. Surely someone who’s done such damn fine police work is allowed to draw the story out a bit?’

He hoped she couldn’t hear his deep sigh.

‘Her name is Gisela Niemüller, and she’s actually rather shocked by how the case was handled in Denmark.’

‘What’s that supposed to mean?’

‘The earring. Do you remember that?’

‘Come on, Rose, for Christ’s sake. We were just talking about it this morning.’

‘About twelve years ago she contacted the Danish police and told them she could now identify with absolute certainty the earring found near Lindelse Cove as her mother’s.’

At this point Carl was as close as humanly possible to torpedoing a Peugeot 106 with four noisy young men inside. ‘What?’ he shouted, as he slammed on the brakes. ‘One moment,’ he continued, pulling to the side of the road. ‘She couldn’t identify it back then, so how could she now?’

‘The daughter had been at a party with some relatives in Albersdorff, in Slesvig, and she’d seen some old photographs of her parents at a family gathering. And what do you think her mother was wearing in the photos? Just asking.’ She emitted a pleasure-filled growl. ‘Yes, the earrings, damn it!’