Three Dog Night Read Online Free Page A

the body of a man at the foot of Gjerrild Cliff. The man appeared to have a bullet hole in his back.
    Mark quickly ended the call, made a second call to Århus, then got hold of Jepsen and briefed him.
    â€˜Go to Nørrevang and talk to Nina’s parents. Hopefully the officers from Århus will soon be there with the dogs. They know where, and what it’s about, so they can just get started. Otherwise I’m on my mobile, OK?’
    Jepsen blinked like a frightened animal. After six weeks he still seemed surprised every time Mark asked him to do something. What were they used to out here in Djursland? A glass of port and a friendly word? A matey pat on the shoulder? He could do neither.
    Jepsen nodded, red-eyed but composed. Mark hoped this was because he had let the New Year in with a bigger bang than his boss’s own damp squib.
    â€˜I’m going to the cliff to have a look. But it won’t be long before the others get there: the ambulance crew, the forensics team, the SOC people. Anyone who can do the things we can’t,’ he said.
    Jepsen nodded once more, with panic in his eyes now, possibly in response to the guest list Mark had just reeled off. He wasn’t wild about it, either. He put on his coat and gave a last glance round his office. He should have opted for a career in the army.
    â€˜See you later.’
    Mark closed the door behind him slightly too hard. Århus. He bounded down the stairs, suppressing his irritation that officers from Denmark’s second largest city would now be hurrying here to solve a case he could have solved himself if he’d had the staff. He doubted there was a single detective in Århus with more experience than he had after eight years in Copenhagen. But it made no difference. He would just have to get used to the role of rural police officer and having no say in murder cases.

5
    P ETER WATCHED THE black Puffa jacket as it moved up and down along the shore. She refused to go home. He had offered to stay behind and deal with the police. It was obvious she was unwell. But no. She refused to let anything go, and that included Ramses who was lying there looking as if he was frozen senseless, which of course he was.
    Peter looked at the remains of Ramses and cursed him to hell and back. He had been a nice enough bloke, but he had never been blessed with much intelligence. Now the lack of brain cells had probably brought his life to an end and, well, so be it. It was worse that it had happened right here, by the cliff – right in the middle of the life Peter had hoped to rebuild without being dragged back by his past. That had been the plan: a nice, easy life, just him and the dog; seeing good friends when the opportunity arose; the job which he enjoyed; the outdoors; and possibly at some time in the future a dream of the normal family life he’d never had himself. Now that Ramses was lying there, he’d been forced to contact the authorities, people he would have preferred to give a wide berth, and who had never done him any good in the past.
    â€˜The police are here.’
    It was as if noises were amplified in the clear frost. A car fought its way through the snow, the engine sounding as if it was about to explode with anger. They’d only had time to exchange a few words and she had politely patted Kaj on the head. She stopped doing that now.
    â€˜You go back up and I’ll stay here,’ she suggested.
    He nodded and lumbered up the cliff to meet them. The policeman – so far there was only one – introduced himself as Mark Bille Hansen from GrenÃ¥ Police. He had shoulder-length black hair, like an Indian’s, and a lined face that looked anything but Danish. He didn’t come across as especially friendly and Peter concluded that he was either stressed or hung-over. The latter was only to be expected on New Year’s Day.
    They talked for a little while before clambering down to the beach, where the woman