Only One Life (40 page)

BOOK: Only One Life

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“But we think she should have a few minutes with you before she undergoes the medical tests,” Camilla added, smiling at Sada. Then she gave Aida a kiss on the forehead and started back down the stairs.

Louise followed her, but promised before she left that the family would receive a detailed description of what had happened. One of the ambulances had followed them back to Dysseparken and was now standing by to transport the family to Holbæk Hospital.

When Louise got back to the police station, she went straight into her office and shut the door firmly behind her. She needed to gather her thoughts and pack away all her personal and private feelings before questioning Michael Mogensen. It wouldn’t do her any good to sit there face to face with the indicted man and his appointed defense lawyer with all her raw emotions tumbling around in her head.

In annoyance she removed the envelope that had been placed on top of the case file that had been sitting on her desk when she had hurried out the door following Henrik’s call. Then she got curious, because it was anonymous, with no police logo on it, nor did it have any name on it. Mik was absorbed in something on his computer, taking notes from whatever he was reading.

Louise tore open the envelope and pulled out a photocopy of a map. Confused, she tried to find Cape Tuse or Hønsehalsen on it. She was assuming it was a map of the crime scenes that she was supposed to use during the questioning, but she couldn’t make any sense of it.

“It’s Växjö, in Sweden,” Mik told her from the other side of the desk, tossing her another anonymous envelope. “Here’s a little about the route we’ll paddle.”

She stared at him, unable to get her brain working and not wanting to be surprised with anything whatsoever.

“I’m not paddling any route,” she finally said.

“Yes, you are. In eight days, you and I are going to Sweden to do a little paddling on a lovely system of lakes. It’s right in the middle of mushroom-picking season, and we’ll camp and cook our food over a campfire.”

She stared at him with her mouth open and was about to protest vehemently, but he beat her to it.

“That’s the kind of stuff people do with their good friends,” he explained. “If you and I were dating, I’d have invited you to Paris, but we’re not, are we?”

Her eyes fell and she closed her mouth as she considered this. She shook her head. No, they weren’t. Then she pulled out the contents of the second envelope and started studying them.

“Well, then. I can’t wait,” she finally said with a smile, as she stood up with the case folder under her arm, ready to accompany him down to the interrogation room.

Acknowledgments

Only One Life
is fiction. All of it could have happened, some of it did, but most of it came from my imagination, and the characters in the novel bear no similarity to real people.

I chose to set the story in Holbæk, Denmark, because I’ve known the town since I was a kid and love it and the area around it. But I used authorial freedom to change some of the locations a bit, as with the police station—I moved the Criminal Investigation Division over into the large, red building even though they’re actually on the other side of the street. The brewpub at the end of Ahlgade, Dysseparken, Højmark School, Mik Rasmussen’s farm, and
Morgenavisen
are not real. The Station Hotel, on the other hand, is, although I’ve also taken the liberty to permit myself a few changes.

In this book as in my previous books, it was crucial for me to do thorough research so I could create a realistic and credible picture. For this reason I would like to dedicate a heartfelt thank-you to all of you who met with me, spent your time answering all my questions, and offered me insight into your experiences, some of them painful.

Many thanks to Naser Khader, who patiently spent time explaining cultural concepts and differences and helped to flesh out some of my characters, both in terms of their lives and their behavior. A special thanks to the man on the National Police’s Mobile Task Force who was more help to me than I really had a right to ask for. And a big thanks to my friend in the Pathology Lab, who’s always game right from the beginning. Without him, there would never have been a book. And to my friends in the Murder Division at the Copenhagen Police Department, without whose help I couldn’t have built a world around Louise Rick.

Also a big thanks to my capable editor, Lisbeth Møller-Madsen, who is an immeasurable help. Without her it wouldn’t have been fun. And to Lotte Thorsen and Jeppe Markers, who read for me; and to my husband, Lars; his two beautiful daughters, Emma and Caroline; and my wonderful son, Adam, because you put up with me withdrawing to do my work.

Sara Blædel

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this ebook onscreen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Interior design by Maria Fernandez

Only One Life
by Sara Blaedel was first published in 2007 by Lindhart og Ringhof in Copenhagen, Denmark, as
Kun ét liv.

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