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up behind them. “There’s a big parking lot at the end of the forest road that runs over there. Stokkebo Road could be the gravel road that continues out of the woods.”
    She couldn’t recall any other entrances into the woods within such a short distance.
    “There are some houses there at least,” she added.
    The forensic officers had begun searching the area around the body for evidence. The stroller had been pushed away from the path a little. For a moment Louise was struck by the intenseconcentration that always descended over a new crime scene. Everyone was working on their assignment, and nothing could be overlooked.
    Today she just wasn’t part of the team.
    “We need to take the kids back to the address,” Mik said to his female colleague.
    His leadership and way of assigning tasks seemed relaxed and natural. Though this was the first time Louise was working with him as he headed an investigation, Jonas had recently told her that Mik had been promoted. They still kept in touch. And shared Dina.
    The yellow Lab was actually Mik’s dog, but after Jonas lost his father and moved in with Louise, Mik had offered him the puppy. And she knew that very few twelve-year-olds would be able to turn down an offer like that. Nonetheless, she’d been furious. Because they had failed to consult her, and she had no plans whatsoever of being tied down by a dog needing food and walks at regular intervals throughout the day.
    Now Mik walked over and stood beside her. “I was a bit puzzled when I saw that the dispatcher had put you down as the person who found her.”
    “I should have notified you guys that we were driving down here,” she apologized. It was standard procedure to check in when conducting investigations in other police districts even when they were the ones who had asked for assistance. “There was an accident out here last week,” she went on, telling him that they had come to see the place where the woman had fallen to her death. “And then we’re going to talk to the guy who found her.”
    He told her that he was the one who had passed on the case to them.
    “Could the two cases be connected?” Louise asked.
    Mik shook his head. “There’s no indication that the woman from last week was the victim of a crime. We brought the dogs out here to search the area but they didn’t come up with a thing. Of course we shouldn’t rule out anything but the autopsy shows that she died from the injuries she sustained in the fall, and her footprints were the only ones by the edge. Did you find out her identity?”
    “Not yet, but we’re working on it.”
    She was happy to see him but could tell that whatever had existed between them was now gone. In exchange, no anger remained, either; only the camaraderie and the professional relationship, which suited her just fine. It suddenly seemed very natural to be standing there, talking as colleagues. Louise smiled at him.
    “It’s good to see you,” she whispered before anyone else could overhear. Eik had left the children in the care of the female officer and was now leaning against a tree, smoking a cigarette.
    “Have you settled into your new position?” he asked.
    She automatically started to nod but then caught herself. “Not really,” she admitted. “But I’m sure it’s just teething troubles.”
    She sometimes experienced pangs—she’d miss Mik, then snap out of it quickly, realizing it had needed to end and she was far better off without him. Given the familial ties that had grown between them, she’d felt a void after the breakup. Of course she had Jonas and Melvin—their retired neighbor in the downstairs apartment, who loved to spoil them a little and cook dinner when Louise did not make it home in time. But that still left the nights. And Louise just had to accept the fact that she was the kind of person willing to give up sex if it meant also giving up the pressure of having to be something for someone else.
    “Do you need us for anything