The Dinosaur Feather

theory, yes, but it’s unlikely.’
    ‘Why?’
    Professor Moritzen looked directly at Søren.
    ‘Because I’m the head of that department and I know who comes and goes, what leaves the department, who with and why. It’s a legal requirement.’
    ‘Dr Bjerregaard estimated that Helland became infected three to four months ago,’ Søren stated, and looked back at her.
    ‘That, too, sounds highly improbable,’ she said, locking eyes with him.
    ‘Why?’
    ‘Because it seems very unlikely that anyone could live in that state for several months. Have you ever pricked yourself on a cactus?’ she asked. Søren shook his head.
    ‘Its spikes are thin and transparent but scalpel-sharp and they dig deep into the palm of your hand. After just a few hours, they cause irritation and in only a few days each cut turns into an infected abscess. Imagine the same thing occurring in vital tissue. It’s unrealistic, don’t you see?’
    Søren nodded.
    ‘But maybe Helland’s an exception?’ she suggested. At first, Søren thought she must be joking, but her silver eyes looked gravely at him.
    ‘Perhaps the locations of the cysticerci were such that he could still function? We know from brain tumours that it’s a question of where the pressure is. Some people collapse when the tumour’s the size of a raisin, others are fine until it’s the size of an egg.’ She shrugged.
    ‘This has really shocked you,’ Søren said, scrutinising her. ‘You’re trying to hide it, but I can sense it.’
    ‘Death
is
shocking,’ Hanne Moritzen replied in a neutral voice. ‘And I, more than anyone, can appreciate the hell he must have been living in, if Dr Bjerregaard’s timeline is right. Of course I’m shocked at such an unpleasant death, and of course I want to know how it could have happened. I’m also sorry for his daughter. It’s hard to live without your father.’ She flashed Søren a look of defiance.
    ‘So you didn’t know Lars Helland personally?’
    ‘No,’ she replied. ‘He taught “Form and Function” in the second term when I was a student. He was a good teacher. When I started working in the same building as him, we would run into each other from time to time and we would say hello. That’s all.’
    ‘Are you married? Do you have children?’ Søren asked.
    ‘Excuse me, how is that relevant?’
    He just stared at her and repeated his question.
    ‘No, I’ve never been married and I have no children,’ she then said. ‘Getting to this level in my profession requires many sacrifices.’
    Søren nodded. ‘Do you know if Professor Helland had any enemies?’
    Hanne Moritzen laughed a hollow laugh, but didn’t look even vaguely amused.
    ‘Of course he had enemies. Professor Helland was a brilliantly gifted man who was never afraid to take centre stage. If the rumours are to be believed, he drove his closest colleagues to the brink of madness. That’s a recipe for making enemies, some might say. People who court controversy are often hated. Like I said, I barely knew him, but I instinctively liked him. He had drive and he entered the arena of academic debate with all guns blazing – it made him a real asset to the faculty. For example, for years he has been at the forefront of a completely ridiculous and – allegedly – scientific row about the origin of birds. It provided the faculty with masses of press coverage even though, in my opinion, it’s a total waste of column inches.’
    ‘Why?’
    ‘Because birds are dinosaurs. The end. Every kid has read that on the back of a cereal box. When Anna told me it was the subject of her dissertation and that she would be spending a year or more explaining Helland and Tybjerg’s storm in a teacup, I was outraged. That dissertation will do nothing for her career, and I tried telling her that. It’s much ado about nothing, if you ask me. That Canadian, whom Tybjerg and Helland are squandering their grants doing battle with, is a fool, and—’
    ‘Are you saying that Clive Freeman—’
    ‘Oh, yes, that’s his name,’ Professor Moritzen interrupted him.
    ‘Do you think he might have infected Helland with parasites as an act of revenge?’
    Hanne Moritzen laughed out loud.
    ‘No, I promise you I don’t think that for a second! I can’t imagine why anyone would go around infecting other peoplewith parasites . . .’ She hesitated. ‘That would be completely insane.’
    ‘I understand that you know Anna Bella Nor. Do you know anyone else from