Harry Hole Oslo Sequence 10 - Police

pear trees. At least, Dad stubbornly maintained they were pear trees, but no one had ever seen any pears on them. Aurora was twelve years old and a bit too big for a swing and a bit too big to believe everything her dad told her.
    She had come home from school, done her homework and gone into the garden while Mum went to the shop. Dad wouldn’t be home for dinner; he’d started working long days again. Even though he’d promised her and Mum that now he would come home like other dads, he wouldn’t do police work in the evenings, just do his psychotherapy in his consulting room and then come home. But now he was working for the police after all. Neither Mum nor Dad had wanted to tell her exactly what it was he was doing.
    She found the song she was looking for on her iPod, Rihanna singing that if he wanted her he should come and take a walk with her. Aurora stretched out her long legs to get more speed. The legs that had become so long she had to fold them underneath her or hold them up high so they wouldn’t drag along the ground under the swing. She would soon be as tall as her mother. She leaned her head back, felt the weight of her long, thick hair hanging from her scalp. So nice. Closed her eyes to the sun above the trees and the swing ropes, heard Rihanna singing, heard the low creak of the branch whenever the swing was at the lowest point. Heard another sound as well, the gate opening and footsteps on the gravel path.
    ‘Mummy,’ she called, not wanting to open her eyes, not wanting to move her face away from the sun which was so wonderfully hot. But she didn’t receive an answer and remembered she hadn’t heard a car pull up, hadn’t heard the hectic growl of her mother’s little blue dog kennel.
    She dragged her heels along the ground, slowing the swing down until it was stationary, her eyes still closed, not wanting to abandon the wonderful bubble of music, sun and daydreams.
    She felt a shadow fall across her and at once it was cold, like when a cloud passes in front of the sun on a chilly day. She opened her eyes and saw a figure standing over her, no more than a silhouette against the sky, with a halo round the head where the sun had been. And for a moment she blinked, confused by the thought that had struck her.
    That Jesus was back. That he was standing here, now. And it meant that Mum and Dad were wrong. God really did exist, and there was forgiveness for all our sins.
    ‘Hello, little girl,’ the voice said. ‘What’s your name?’
    Jesus could speak Norwegian if push came to shove.
    ‘Aurora,’ she said, squeezing one eye shut to see his face better. No beard or long hair, anyway.
    ‘Is your father at home?’
    ‘He’s at work.’
    ‘I see. So you’re on your own, are you, Aurora?’
    Aurora was about to answer. But something stopped her; quite what, she didn’t know.
    ‘Who are you?’ she said instead.
    ‘Someone who needs to talk to your father. But you and I can talk. Since we’re alone, I mean. Can’t we?’
    Aurora didn’t answer.
    ‘What kind of music are you listening to?’ the man asked, pointing to her iPod.
    ‘Rihanna,’ Aurora said, pushing the swing back. Not just to get out of the man’s shadow but to see him better.
    ‘Oh yes,’ the man said. ‘I’ve got lots of her CDs at home. Would you like to borrow some?’
    ‘I listen to the songs I haven’t got on Spotify,’ Aurora said, establishing that the man looked quite normal, at least there wasn’t anything particularly Jesus-like about him.
    ‘Oh yes, Spotify,’ the man said, crouching down, not just to be at her height but lower. It felt better. ‘You can listen to all the music you like then.’
    ‘Almost,’ Aurora said. ‘But I’ve got the free Spotify, and there are lots of ads between the songs.’
    ‘And you don’t like that?’
    ‘I don’t like the talking. It messes up the atmosphere.’
    ‘Did you know there are records where they talk and they’re the best songs?’
    ‘No,’ Aurora said, tilting her head, wondering why the man spoke so softly, it didn’t sound like it was his usual voice. It was the same voice that Emilie, her friend, used when she was asking Aurora for a favour, such as to borrow her favourite clothes, but Aurora didn’t like lending them because it was such a messy arrangement. You never knew where your clothes were.
    ‘You should listen to Pink Floyd.’
    ‘Who’s that?’
    The man looked round. ‘We can go inside to the computer and I’ll show