When Iben puts down the receiver, her hand is shaking. ‘I spoke to Dorte Jørgensen. The investigation is closed. Malene has written on her home computer that she was aware of having a split personality. She admits to having killed Rasmus.’
All work ceases. It seems unbelievable at first and then Malene’s image changes in an instant. They decide to phone again to make sure Iben hasn’t misheard. Anne-Lise makes the call.
Iben is shocked, but then, they all are. They had put together a shared memory of Malene, like a jigsaw puzzle. Now it has come apart and every piece takes on a new meaning.
The rumours about Malene spread rapidly through the world of human rights. Anne-Lise hears Iben speaking to one of the callers: ‘Naturally I’m deeply grateful for Malene’s self-sacrifice. Deeply. But I did wonder. It didn’t fit somehow. It’s understandable now. She was tormented by her guilt over having killed Rasmus. And, perhaps, she was mentally ill. That would explain a lot.’
Iben listens to the voice at the other end of the line, and continues.
Absolutely. What she did wasn’t the response of a healthy human being. In fact, her self-sacrifice in no way contradicts the theories I discussed in my articles in Genocide News on evil.’
55
Paul opens the front door with a bang and steps into the office, beaming happily at everyone. He’s barely over the threshold before he starts announcing his news. ‘At last, I can tell you all!’
‘Hi, Paul! Tell us what?’
‘It’s such a relief to be able to tell you. I promised not to whisper a word before it was official. Today’s the day! Morten Kjærum has accepted a post at the United Nations in New York. His directorship at Human Rights will be advertised soon, possibly as early as May.’
Iben gets in first. ‘Is it yours for the asking, then?’
‘So far, that’s impossible to tell.’
‘But you seem over the moon, right?’
Paul slings his jacket over one chair and sits down on another. ‘Put it this way: to be honest, the heavyweight contenders are Frederik and myself. I’m the boss for this place as well as a member of the board at the Centre for Democracy. We’ve been very active at DCGI, organising things like conferences and other stuff that’s kept us in the public eye — quite unlike the Democracy Centre. Take that successful Yugoslav conference at Louisiana — Frederik’s people didn’t have a chance, organisation-wise. It means that I have the edge. Also, Frederik removed himself from our board not long ago. One way or the other, he’s lost quite a bit of power.’
‘How long have you known this?’ Anne-Lise wants to know.
‘Two weeks.’
Iben, Anne-Lise and Camilla exchange glances. It’s suddenly clear to all of them why Paul has behaved so strangely over the past few weeks. They pretend to be pleased for him, but it doesn’t take Camilla long to see that the news is to their advantage too. Paul obviously wants to stay in charge of DCGI and will set about merging it with the DIHR as soon as possible.
Iben will get a whole crew of intellectuals with whom she can argue all day long.
Anne-Lise will have other librarians around her.. She’ll want that, even if she and Iben make a great show of getting on ever so well. Camilla can clearly see that Anne-Lise would love to have other colleagues to talk to. Now her dreams will come true, and without the hassle of looking for a new job.
Only one of them has any reason to worry and that person is Camilla herself. She knows that when this kind of place merges with another one, the bosses will always try to save on secretarial posts.
It’s only three o’clock but Iben starts clearing her desk. She seems very happy these days and has stopped staying late at the office every night. Apparently she sees rather a lot of Gunnar Hartvig Nielsen.
Her bag is packed and on her desk, when that seedy old fusspot Erik Prins ambles in. As usual he stops at Iben’s and Anne-Lise’s desks for a chat. He starts telling them about a new book he has come across. Talking about it reminds him of Iben’s articles.
He continues in his high-pitched voice: ‘You know the way everyone harps on about how odd it is that concentration-camp officers would go home from work and behave like decent loving fathers? What’s so odd about it? We’re all like that.’
Iben nods and says she agrees. It seems she’s not in such a great hurry to get home after all. They chat away and then she launches into one of her spiels.
‘We let rip with idealism and grand words, but it’s nothing but rationalisations of our own egoistic behaviour. Not only do we lie to others; we also lie to ourselves. Each one of us lives inside a house of mirrors — our own instinctive self-righteousness distorts the way we view reality so that we can justify our actions to ourselves. And there’s no way we can escape.’
Iben and Erik are completely on the same wavelength. Camilla, however, can easily see how badly Anne-Lise takes it, and feels she can’t stand much more of it either.
Earlier Camilla might have shouted, ‘What about Malene? Everyone is capable of choosing to be an exception from your theories! Otherwise life wouldn’t be worth living.’ But there’s no point in saying, ‘What about Malene? If you’re a guilt-ridden murderer and sick in the head, then you can be an exception.’
Anne-Lise suddenly gets up and hurries off to the toilet. She’s behaving just like she used to.
On her way home Camilla collects Dennis from an after-school club and takes him with her to the supermarket.
When they arrive home, Finn’s car isn’t there yet. They’re just inside the door when the phone rings. She puts the shopping bags down and runs to answer.
A man’s voice is speaking English. ‘Hi, Camilla.’
She recognises the voice instantly. The skin down the back of her neck and spine seems to contract. If he’s using his mobile phone he could be nearby. Right outside the door, for all she knows! He’s capable of anything. He might get inside her home. It wouldn’t matter a damn to him if Finn were there. She concentrates on hiding her fear from her son and covers the mouthpiece of the telephone.
‘Dennis, it’s for me. Why don’t you run along to play Counter-Strike on your dad’s computer?’
Dennis shouts, ‘Yeaaah!’ and rushes away upstairs. With Dennis out of earshot, she speaks to the caller.
‘What do you want?’
She knows already, of course. He wants what he always wants when he’s in Denmark and has the time.
‘I hate you!’ Camilla shouts. ‘You sold yourself and all your chances in life. Zigic had your name on his list. I know the kind of things you’ve done for him. You’ve worked for him for years.’
He only makes a snorting noise.
It upsets her even more, but she tells herself to remain cool or Dennis will hear her. She musters all her self-control.
‘Dragan, remember that I know you well. I know that you don’t have to be like this.’
‘And you know that I can get into your house any time I like. Or turn up where you work. Camilla, for all you know, I could be in your bedroom now.’
She takes a deep breath. ‘You think that when you say things like that you’ll make me want you. I don’t. It’s no good. I think you’re a loser.’
Dennis is standing in the doorway. ‘Hey, Mum, who are you talking to?’
‘No one special, sweetie.’
‘It’s got to be someone.’
‘Yep, that’s right. Look, why don’t you go out and play ball in the garden?’
‘Why?’
‘Because I’d like you to.’
‘Can’t I play CounterStrike now?’