Mikkel Birkegaard - The Library of Shadows

'There's something I forgot to tell you,' said Katherina. Everyone turned to look at her. 'When I was sitting alone in the car, while Henning was out surveying the neighbourhood, I tried to pick up if there was something going on inside – if anyone was reading, and if so, what they happened to be reading.' She took another sip of her cognac. 'I was able to pick up several reading classes, words mostly from easy-to-read books, but there was something else – a number of voices that were different, that stood out because the reading was more focused and had a bigger impact.'

'Do you mean…' Clara didn't finish her sentence.

'I'm convinced it was a group of transmitters,' said Katherina.

'How many?' asked Iversen.

'Maybe four or five.'

'So is the Demetrius School the Shadow Organization's recruitment centre for Lectors?' said Clara. 'Have any of you heard of the place before?'

Jon shook his head. Katherina and Henning did the same.

'Demetrius?' said Iversen to himself, tilting his head back to look up at the ceiling. 'Isn't that the name of a character in a Shakespeare play? FromA Midsummer Night's Dream, as far as I recall. Demetrius drinks a love potion and falls in love with the wrong person.' He lowered his eyes. 'That doesn't exactly fit with our situation.'

'Under any circumstances, the school is our best lead,' said Jon. 'I'd like to propose that I go out there and take a closer look at the place. If the school is the centre for the Shadow Organization's activities, there must be something inside the building that will prove it.'

'You mean break in?' asked Iversen.

'If that's what it takes,' replied Jon.

'I'll go with you,' said Katherina.

Jon was about to object but was stopped by her expression. It was obvious she had made up her mind. Iversen, on the other hand, tried to persuade her not to go, supported by Clara, but Katherina firmly believed that a receiver needed to go along, for safety's sake.

When everything had been decided, Pau chimed in. 'If a receiver needs to go along, I want to join the party too.' He got up from his place on the floor. 'You need to have a sceptic present, someone who can keep your feet on the ground so you don't go off on some big conspiracy trip.'

'If that's what it'll take to convince you, it's okay by me.' Jon turned to look at Katherina.

Her resolve seemed to have vanished. Her eyes flickered and she hesitated for a moment before she nodded. 'But we're going to do this our way, Pau,' she insisted.

'Sure, sure,' said Pau cheerfully. 'Don't worry, I'll behave myself.'

They had agreed to meet at three a.m.

Jon and Katherina went together to their respective flats to pick up what they thought they might need. Afterwards they collected Pau at Trianglen before continuing on to the embassy area, which wasn't far away. None of them said anything in the car.

Jon parked the car about a hundred metres from the school and they all got out. The sky was free of clouds, and the multitudes of stars were very bright. Jon's dark jogging suit offered little protection from the night chill and he regretted not dressing more warmly, but it was the only dark clothing he owned aside from a suit.

He'd brought along a sports bag containing various tools from the workshop in the basement of Libri di Luca. He had no practical experience of burglary, so he'd brought a large assortment of tools. Pau was also dressed in dark clothing and he carried a crowbar in a plastic bag. Jon had the feeling that the young man was not altogether unfamiliar with this kind of activity. Katherina had put on a pair of jeans, trainers and a dark windbreaker. Her red hair was drawn back into a knot at the nape of her neck, and she had pulled a black cap down over her forehead.

They walked calmly along the pavement towards the school. The buildings in the neighbourhood were all in darkness. They were mostly large, grand villas, many of them now embassies for smaller countries. At this time of night, the area was completely deserted, almost ghostly, and the few parked cars were most likely overflow from nearby streets that were subject to a shortage of parking spaces.

The street lighting was sporadic, and in the shadows they walked all the way up to the front gate of the school.

Without hesitation Jon reached for the handle and pushed the wrought-iron gate open. He was surprised but also relieved to find it wasn't locked. Even though no one was around, it wouldn't have looked good if they had been forced to climb over the three-metre-high gate in the middle of the night. The three of them quickly entered the grounds and slipped into the shadow of the hedge to the left of the gate. As the last person in, Katherina pushed the gate closed. Then they all stood still for a moment to get their bearings.

To the right of the gate was a wall of a similar height that extended past the building and disappeared into the darkness. The hedge next to them continued along the pavement for the full width of the property. At the end they could just make out another wall, also three metres high, screening off the neighbouring building to the left of the school. In front of them lay the schoolyard, a stretch of asphalt painted with ball layouts and hopscotch grids, and behind that the redbrick school. In the middle of the building wide, granite steps led up to a sturdy front door. The door had a few tiny windows, all of which were covered by a solid-looking grating.

There were no lights on inside the building.

'Can you feel it?' whispered Pau. 'Can you feel the energy?'

Jon held his breath for a moment, trying to sense the force that Pau claimed was present.

'No, nothing,' he whispered back after a few seconds, wondering if Pau was making fun of them.

'Me neither,' said Katherina in a low voice.

'Hmm,' muttered Pau, disappointed. 'That way,' he whispered, pointing to the nearest corner of the building, where a passageway was visible running alongside the outer wall to the back.

They crept along the wall over to the passageway, which took them to the other side of the school. A strip of grass formed a small yard with shrubbery, and a few fruit trees lined the outer walls. The back of the building had two doors – one that opened onto an industrial kitchen, and a basement door at the bottom of a staircase four metres deep.

Jon motioned to the others that they should try the basement door, and Pau stepped forward at once to descend the stairs while Jon and Katherina remained standing at the top. They watched as he first peered into the windowpanes on the door and then tried the handle. When the door opened, he gave a start and glanced up in surprise at his companions. Then he broke into a big grin that gleamed an eerie white in the darkness.

Jon and Katherina crept down the stairs to join the triumphant Pau.

'Please come in,' he whispered merrily, holding the door open for them.

They stepped into the darkness, followed by Pau, who closed the door behind them. Jon reached into his sports bag and pulled out a torch, aiming it down at the floor before he switched it on. They found themselves in a whitewashed corridor with three doors in addition to the one they had just entered by. The panes of the entry door behind them were covered on the inside with sheets of plywood, making it impossible to see in or out. The doors to the right and left were both ajar, and each was adorned with a WC symbol, one for boys and one for girls. The door at the end of the corridor was closed.

'Does anyone besides me think it's odd that the door wasn't locked?' whispered Katherina. Jon agreed.

At that moment a light went on, and the harsh glare reflecting off the white walls made them both squint. Jon instantly spun round. Pau stood behind him with a finger pressed to the light switch inside the door.