Free In the Darkness by Karin Fossum

However, he could find that out. Just to be on the safe side; you could never tell. A new name on the list. And he had plenty of time.
    He finished his meal, rinsed his soup bowl under the tap and went to the phone. He rang the club and booked a jump that Saturday, unless it was too windy, he stipulated, because he couldn’t abide wind. After that, he looked up the name Magnus in the phone book, allowing his finger to run slowly down the list of names. Just as he’d known it would, the name jumped out at him as soon as he saw it: Jostein Magnus. Civil engineer. Address: Lille Frydenlund. He went back to the kitchen, filtered a large cup of coffee and made for his chair in the living room. Immediately Kollberg came and laid his head on Sejer’s feet. He opened the newspaper, and halfway through a glowing report on the EU, he fell asleep.

Chapter 9
    EMMA WAS BACK home again. It was a relief. Eva had no more thoughts to think, she’d merely gone over the same ones again and again, so it was better to have the girl around, with all the hurry and fretting that entailed. Now it was just a case of waiting. She took her daughter’s hand, her plump, soft hand and led her out to the car. She hadn’t said a word about the pink school bag that was waiting at her father’s; it was to be a surprise. She wouldn’t rob him of those shrieks of delight, his life had few enough of those already. Emma got into the back of the car and did up the seat belt herself, she was wearing a brown trouser suit which suited her quite well, and Eva had helped her with her hair. Her father lived some distance off, well over half an hour’s journey in the car, but after only five minutes Emma began to whine. Eva became irritated. Her nerves were at full stretch, she couldn’t take much more.
    ‘Can I have an ice cream?’
    ‘We’ve just got into the car. Can’t we drive to Grandad’s just
once
without buying anything?’
    ‘Just an ice lolly?’
    You’re too fat, Eva thought, you shouldn’t eat anything for a long time.
    She’d never told Emma she was fat. She had the idea that Emma didn’t realise it herself, and that were she to say it out loud, her obesity would become a real problem for the first time. Become visible to Emma herself.
    ‘Can we at least get out of town first?’ she said shortly. ‘Anyway, Grandad’s waiting. Perhaps he’s made dinner, and we mustn’t ruin our appetites.’
    ‘You can’t ruin an appetite,’ came Emma’s uncomprehending retort. She wasn’t acquainted with the phenomenon, she always had an appetite.
    Eva made no answer. She was thinking that school would begin soon, and then Emma would have to see the school doctor. Hopefully, there’d be several pupils with the same problem; it was a possibility as there were twenty-six in the class. It was strange, here she sat thinking about the future, a future she might not even have a share in. Perhaps it would be Jostein who’d take her to school. Manage her unruly hair, hold her chubby hand.
    The traffic flowed evenly, and she stuck rigidly to the speed limit. It had become a sort of mania with her not to give anyone the excuse to stop her for anything, not to attract any attention. As soon as they were out of the town centre they passed a twenty-four-hour Esso service station on the left.
    ‘It’s easy to stop, Mum, if we want to get an ice cream!’
    ‘That’s enough now, Emma!’ Her voice was sharp. She relented and added in a milder tone: ‘Perhaps on the way back.’
    There was silence. Eva saw the girl’s face in the mirror, with her round cheeks and the wide jaw she’d got from her father. It was a serious face, which had no inkling of the future, and all the things she might have to endure, if …
    ‘I can see right down to the road,’ Emma said suddenly. She leant forward in her seat and stared down at the floor of the car.
    ‘I know, it’s rust. We’re going to buy a new car, I just haven’t got round to it.’
    ‘But we can