Mikkel Birkegaard - The Library of Shadows

Jon cleared his throat before he went on.

'How does a person go about getting activated?'

After Tom Nшrreskov told them about the Shadow Organization and Luca's involvement, Jon had tried to reprogram his brain with the new information. After spending twenty years feeding it with speculations, allegations and anger, it felt as if he now had to switch the two halves of his brain around in order to find the true meaning. It was something he had to do alone, and after dropping Katherina off in front of Libri di Luca, he went straight home to his flat.

He unlocked the door, took off his jacket and went into the living room. The cleaning woman had been there, judging by the scent and the way the lifestyle magazines were stacked neatly on the black coffee table. The afternoon sun was shining through the newly washed windows, making him squint as the light reflected off the white floorboards and white walls. He went over to the black leather sofa and sat down with a sigh. The only other piece of furniture in the living room was a low grey bookcase along the opposite wall. On top stood a wide-screen TV and surround-sound system, taking up most of that wall. The wall behind him and the spaces between the windows were dominated by small black banners printed with Chinese characters in silver and red.

Jon leaned forward, picked up the stacks of magazines and set them on the floor. He then shoved them under the sofa without looking at them. The last thing he wanted to do right now was read.

As Jon sat on the sofa with his eyes fixed on the blank TV screen, the sun sank behind the rooftops and softer light filled the room. He found himself immersed in a swirl of questions and theories that refused to let him go. He went back and forth endlessly between his own childhood experiences and Tom Nшrreskov's story. Hunger finally made him get up from the sofa and go out to the kitchen, where he threw together a meal from food he found in the cupboards. Then he dragged himself off to bed.

After a sleepless night Jon decided to go to the office. Partly so he could think about other things, and partly to re-establish contact with his former life, which now seemed so distant that he needed to see whether it really existed or was just a dream.

Jenny gave him a friendly nod when he arrived, but she didn't say anything, and Jon thought he glimpsed a mixture of relief and concern in her eyes. He found out the reason for her concern an hour later when he was summoned to Halbech's office.

'Hello, Campelli,' said Frank Halbech in a businesslike tone after Jon had closed the door behind him and sat down on a chair in front of his boss. 'Nice of you to show up.'

Jon, who was prepared to defend himself for taking time off, nodded. 'Yes, there were still some things to take care of following my father's death, and since the Remer case can't move forward as long as the main player won't give us the information we need, I thought it would be okay.'

Halbech's expression didn't change, but he gave Jon a searching glance.

'I've tried to get him to answer my queries,' Jon went on. 'But he's always either unavailable or he keeps mixing up other things in the case that have nothing to do with the charges.'

'That doesn't match up with what he told me,' said Halbech, leaning back in his office chair with his arms crossed. 'I spoke to him yesterday, since you weren't here. He wants you off the case.'

Jon did his best to hide his surprise.

'Remer claims that you seem uninterested, lazy, that you're not taking the case seriously. According to him, he's been available the whole time, and he was the one who had to contact you to get some sense of what was going on.'

Jon shook his head. 'That's not at all what happened. Remer's the one who's been impossible to reach. He doesn't even answer his emails.'

'Well, you've done something to piss him off, Campelli,' said Halbech, leaning forward. 'Remer puts a lot of money into this firm. So much that we can't afford to lose him because of the family matters of one of our co-workers. Of course it's regrettable that your father died, but you can't let that affect your work.'

'And I don't think I have,' said Jon. 'I can show you the correspondence that-'

'Right,' Halbech cut him off. 'I'm familiar with the correspondence. Remer read some of it to me, and I have to admit that I had expected you to use a more professional tone with our best client.'

Jon looked at him wide-eyed.

'Heread it to you?' he asked.

'Yes,' Halbech confirmed, sounding annoyed.

'On the phone?'

'No,' replied Halbech, clearly annoyed now. 'I told you that he was here yesterday. He had copies of your correspondence, and he gave me a few examples, and I must say that…'

Jon was no longer listening; a shocking realization forming in his mind. He pictured Remer sitting in the same chair where he now sat, reading aloud to Halbech, the co-owner of the law firm, who would have listened carefully and receptively to what the firm's notorious cash-cow had to say. Jon could guess how the tone of the text might seem, given his absences from work this last week, but what if Remer was a transmitter? Halbech wouldn't have had a chance.

As he sat there explaining how Remer had reviewed the material for him, Halbech seemed genuinely convinced that he was spouting his own appraisal, as if he had in fact formed an opinion about the material and had independently drawn his own conclusions.

'… and so we've decided to take you off the case,' Halbech finished saying.

'Okay,' said Jon with resignation. He started to get up.

'In fact,' said Halbech, raising his voice, which made Jon stay in his chair. 'In fact, we've had to take another look at your employment with the firm.'

Jon stared in shock at the man behind the desk.

'This office has no use for individuals who don't take our clients seriously,' Halbech elaborated without blinking. 'The clients come to us because they're in a bind, in one way or another, and it's our bloody obligation to treat them professionally. If word gets around that we're not serious about our work, whether it's true or not, we're finished in this business.'

'What is it you're trying to say?'

'That you're fired,' said Halbech curtly without taking his eyes off Jon. 'Relieved of your duties. Pack up your personal possessions and leave the building immediately.'

Jon knew there was nothing to be done. It wouldn't do any good to try to argue or explain. Remer had won this round, that much was clear. Jon looked down at his hands, as if they were what had prevented him from working. He noticed a rage growing inside him. Halbech was not the enemy here – he merely thought he was protecting his business. Jon nodded.

'Fine,' he said and got up.

'Jenny will escort you out,' said Halbech with a nod towards the door. 'Goodbye, Campelli.'

Jon turned on his heel without saying goodbye and walked over to the door. Outside Jenny was waiting, tears in her eyes.

'I'm so sorry, Jon,' she said at once.

'It's okay,' said Jon, giving her a hug. She was trembling, and she held onto him for a long time until Jon gently cleared his throat.

Jenny reluctantly released him. 'I have to ask you for your mobile and car keys,' she explained, stifling a sob and giving him an apologetic look.

Jon nodded. 'Let's get it over with.'

Ten minutes later he stood out on the pavement with no job or car or phone. He hardly knew which was the greatest loss. His job had secured him a certain standard of living, and the car had allowed him to get around, but without a mobile he felt very alone, cast out from the flow of information and unable to reach anyone who might help him. That was of course a load of crap, he persuaded himself. But it still took a long time before he found a public telephone that was functioning, and when he did find one, he decided to forget it. Partly because he didn't know what number to ring – all his phone numbers were stored in the mobile that he had just turned in – and partly because it suddenly seemed much too public to be talking on a pay phone in the middle of Strшget, the pedestrian street – much worse than if he'd used his mobile in the same place.