The Dinosaur Feather

couldn’t help smiling. ‘You need to be at the station tomorrow morning at ten.’ A pause followed.
    ‘I have something else for you,’ she said.
    ‘Aha?’
    ‘I know who infected Professor Helland with
Taenia solium
.’
    Total silence now.
    ‘Are you there?’ Anna said.
    ‘What did you say?’
    ‘I know who infected Lars Helland.’
    ‘Who?’
    ‘His name is Asger Moritzen. He is Lars Helland and Hanne Moritzen’s son. His address is 12 Glasvej, north-west Copenhagen. Dr Tybjerg revealed the link. He has been friends with Asger since they were undergraduates. Asger used to work at the university, but was made redundant when his department was closed. Dr Tybjerg told me Asger had no idea that Professor Helland was his father. Tybjerg discovered it by chance and was blackmailing Helland with that knowledge. When Asger finally found out, he became very odd and distant. Tybjerg said they’re not friends any more.’
    Søren tried to break all this information into bite-sized pieces.
    ‘Go on,’ he said, brusquely.
    ‘I spent almost two hours with Professor Moritzen today. That’s why I couldn’t wait for you and I didn’t answer mymobile. I had to see her. Hanne is my friend and she lied. She has a son! I was really angry when I got there, but she . . . she told me everything. She has known all weekend that Asger killed Helland. She wanted to go to the police, but . . . mothers and their children,’ Anna suddenly burst out. ‘Mothers will do anything to protect their children.’
    Søren was about to say something when she continued.
    ‘I promised Hanne that you’ll take good care of him when you pick him up. Asger’s mentally frail, but not dangerous, she assured me. I think he’s mostly scared.’
    Søren swallowed.
    ‘So you know where Dr Tybjerg is?’ he said.
    ‘Yes,’ Anna said. ‘I’ve known all the time. Sorry.’
    ‘Why didn’t you tell me?’ Søren said, angrily.
    ‘Dr Tybjerg is on the verge of a breakdown, so I couldn’t run the risk. I want to have my viva next Monday. I have to get it over and done with. I have a three-year-old daughter. I have to become her mother again.’
    ‘So where is he?’ Søren said, appeased.
    ‘I’ll tell you later.’ Anna’s voice was calm. ‘Tomorrow. But I can’t be with you at ten. There’s something I have to do first. I’ll be there at one. And now I’ve got to go.’
    ‘Anna, I demand to know where Dr Tybjerg is!’
    ‘Trust me.’
    And she was gone.
    Søren sat at his desk, staring at the telephone.
    Søren went to visit Professor Moritzen.
    ‘Come in,’ she said, hoarsely, buzzing him in. She was wearing a soft grey outfit and was waiting for him in thedoorway when he came up the stairs. Her hair was wet as though she had just had a shower.
    They sat down in the living room. Like her holiday cottage, her flat was carefully furnished, limited to bamboo and white, broken only by splashes of bright red and orange. Professor Moritzen perched on the edge of the sofa and waited for Søren to begin.
    ‘I’m here because Anna Bella Nor called me an hour ago and told me—’
    ‘I asked her to call you,’ Professor Moritzen interrupted him.
    ‘So you suspect that your son, Asger Moritzen, infected Professor Helland with parasites?’ he said.
    She nodded.
    ‘And the late Lars Helland was your son’s biological father?’
    She nodded again.
    ‘Why do you think your son infected his father with parasites?’ Søren wondered if Professor Moritzen was mad. Did she even have a son or was she making it all up?
    ‘Asger told me last Thursday,’ she said. ‘He was very scared, but he felt better for telling me. When will you be picking him up?’ She looked beseechingly at Søren. ‘Asger is very delicate. You can’t just barge in on him. You need to go there, alone, and talk to him. You won’t just barge in, will you?’ she repeated. ‘He has dangerous bugs and reptiles in there,’ she added.
    ‘In his flat?’ Søren frowned.
    ‘Yes, he has tanks full of them,’ she replied. ‘So, are you going to get him?’
    ‘When did you last speak with him?’
    ‘Perhaps you could just let me tell you the whole story,’ she said.

CHAPTER 18
     
    ‘Asger’s a good boy,’ she said and didn’t seem to have heard his question. ‘Please don’t hurt him. He didn’t mean to kill Lars . . . The silly boy thought he had given his father a tape-worm. A tapeworm! He just wanted to annoy him a little, but he didn’t mean