Free Farewell to Freedom by Sara Blædel Page A

aware of it, she was telling the pastor about the previous night.
    â€œI wasn’t prepared for the fact that it had made such a strong impression on Markus,” she admitted, offering to set the table.
    â€œJonas woke up too, and came into my room. I suppose an experience like that will affect them for a while,” he said, and then added that Louise was welcome to stay for dinner if she wanted. “There’s plenty of food.”
    Camilla smiled at him and explained that she and Louise had known each other since high school in Roskilde.
    â€œShe works in homicide with the Copenhagen PD, and she’s also Markus’s godmother. Maybe I should have thought of it myself, asking her to come over and have a chat with them. But it’s good that they figure these things out on their own without my help.”
    As Camilla set out the plates, she admitted that the event had also affected her more than she would have expected.
    â€œI keep feeling that tiny little body against me.”
    The pastor poured wine and lit the candles. Then he gestured to the bench.
    â€œLittle kids who are suddenly left without parents always make a big impression,” he said, sitting down across from her while they waited for the rice to finish cooking. “They’re so tremendously vulnerable.”
    He explained that many years before, he had worked in a refugee camp in Bosnia.
    â€œI had just become a pastor and really wanted to make a difference somewhere before I found a permanent parish position. My wife and I went and worked at the camp for two years, and it’s never quite left me. Especially the children who’d lost their families in the war.”
    Camilla didn’t have any trouble picturing him in a place like that, but this was the first time he’d mentioned his wife.
    â€œMy wife died when Jonas was four,” Henrik continued, interrupting her train of thought. “She was born with a rare blood disease, which in the best-case scenario she might have lived with her whole life. But she wasn’t that lucky.”
    The timer went off for the rice, and Henrik got up.
    Camilla watched him. He seemed as though he’d put the worst of it behind him. She felt safe in his company as she took the pot he passed across the table to her and he called the boys down.
    Louise was in the lead when they came downstairs.
    â€œWe set a place for you,” Henrik said, gesturing to the table.
    Louise smiled at Jonas when he invited her to sit next to him.
    â€œThat’s so nice of you,” she said, “but I have to get home. I haven’t gotten much sleep the last couple of nights, so I’m planning to turn in early tonight.”
    Both boys stood in the kitchen doorway waving as she left.
    â€œShe was super cool,” Jonas said, filled with admiration as he moved over to the table. “She knew all about how the police work and what they do when they find a little baby that’s been abandoned like that. Plus she was really nice,” he added.
    Camilla could tell how proud her son was that Louise had made such a good impression on his friend.
    â€œMaybe we should watch the news?” Jonas suggested, looking at his dad. “Maybe there’s some news about the baby.”
    Camilla got the sense that Henrik was about to say no, but shrugged his shoulders and then asked her if she minded.
    Jonas took that as a yes and turned on the TV that was mounted on the wall. They were showing ads at first, but then the news came on, leading with the abandoned-baby story for the second day in a row. The first image was the blue towel that the police deputy superintendent held up as he explained that the baby had been wrapped in a towel just like it when she was found at Stenhøj Church.
    The cameraman had done his or her job well—there was plenty of footage of the pastor’s residence and street while the CSI techs were working at the church the day before.
    â€œAs