He opened the hutch and lifted out the rabbit. A chubby, lop-eared rabbit, the colour of coffee with a lot of cream. It kicked its legs vigorously but calmed down as soon as Ragnhild took it in her arms. For a moment she was utterly still. She could feel its heart pounding against her hand, as she stroked one of its ears cautiously. It was like a piece of velvet between her fingers. Its nose shone black and moist like a liquorice drop. Raymond stood next to her and watched. He had a little girl all to himself, and no one had seen them.
"The picture," Sejer said, "along with the description, will be sent to the newspapers. Unless they hear otherwise, they'll print it tonight."
Irene Album fell across the table sobbing. The others stared wordlessly at their hands, and at her shaking back. The woman officer sat ready with a handkerchief. Karlsen scraped his chair a bit and glanced at his watch.
"Is Ragnhild afraid of dogs?" Sejer said.
"Why do you ask?" she said with surprise.
"Sometimes when we're searching for children with the dog patrol, they hide when they hear our German shepherds."
"No, she's not afraid of dogs."
The words reverberated in his head. She's not afraid of dogs.
"Have you had any luck getting hold of your husband?"
"He's in Narvik on manoeuvres," she whispered. "On the plateau somewhere."
"Don't they use mobile phones?"
"They're out of range."
"The people who are looking for her now, who are they?"
"Boys from the neighbourhood who are home in the daytime. One of them has a phone with him."
"How long have they been gone?"
She looked up at the clock on the wall. "More than two hours."
Her voice was no longer quavering. Now she sounded doped, almost lethargic, as if she were half asleep. Sejer leaned forward again and spoke to her as softly and clearly as he could.
"What you fear the most has probably not happened. Do you realise that? Usually, children disappear for all sorts of trivial reasons. And it's a fact that children get lost all the time, just because they're children. They have no sense of time or responsibility, and they're so maddeningly curious that they follow any impulse that comes into their head. That's what it's like to be a child, and that's why they get lost. But as a rule they turn up just as suddenly as they disappeared. Often they don't have a good explanation for where they've been or what they were doing. But generally" – he took a breath – "they're quite all right."
"I know!" she said, staring at him. "But she's never gone off like this before!"
"She's growing up and getting bigger," he said persuasively. "She's becoming more adventurous."
God help me, he thought, I've got an answer for everything. He got up and dialled another number, repressing an urge to look at his watch again – it would be a reminder that time was passing, and they didn't need that. He reached the Duty Officer, gave him a brief summary of the situation and asked him to contact a volunteer rescue group. He gave him the address in Granittveien and gave a quick description of the girl: dressed in red, almost white hair, pink doll's pram. Asked whether any messages had come in, and was told none had been received. He sat down again.
"Has Ragnhild mentioned or named anyone lately whom you didn't know yourself?"
"No."
"Did she have any money? Could she have been looking for a shop?"
"She had no money."
"This is a small village," he went on. "Has she ever been out walking and been given a ride by one of the neighbours?"
"Yes, that happens sometimes. There are about a hundred houses on this ridge, and she knows almost everyone, and she knows their cars. Sometimes she and Marthe have walked down to the church with their prams, and they've been given a ride home with one of the neighbours."
"Is there any special reason why they go to the church?"
"There's a little boy they knew buried there. They pick flowers for his grave, and then they come back up here. I think it seems exciting to them."
"You've searched at the church?"
"I rang for Ragnhild at ten o'clock. When they told me she had left at eight, I jumped in the car. I left the front door unlocked in case she came back while I was out searching. I drove to the