Worlds Apart

Chapter 10

A T H Y M Y

Sep. 09 2020 08:13 CET

The Måne Café, Dalbyen

Elin was late. Owen and Daisha had arrived early—Dai had lectured him for an hour straight about professionalism—and had found a weary, dark-haired man with kind, downturned eyes sitting awkwardly at a table, staring at the door with a pinched look. He had recognised them immediately, and introduced himself as Vilhelm Elden, so Owen guessed Elin told him who to look for. But she hadn't been there with him. Now, Daisha was politely interrogating him between sips of still-steaming coffee, while Owen twiddled with the hem of his sleeve, a kernel of betrayal and disappointment forming in his stomach, getting larger by the minute.

Which was extremely stupid! But the feeling refused to go. He hadn't realised how much he'd been looking forward to seeing her, especially after that conversation he and Daisha had had about her. He wanted to know if she really was right... if there was something she was still hiding from them.

He hoped to God she wasn't, especially anything important, but Daisha was right about one thing at least, that he was overlooking her as a suspect just because his feelings had completely clouded his judgement. He was prioritising his emotions over his job. Which was a dangerous thing to do in his line of work. But none of this made him feel any less horrible about suspecting her.

"Why can't things just be simple?" he whispered to his untouched cinnamon bun.

The gentle chime of a bell echoed through the shop, and the muted click of heels on the carpeted floor followed it, halting next to their table. Owen glanced up at the familiar delicate scent of damp earth to find Elin smiling widely at him.

She sat down next to Vilhelm, apologising hastily. "Asta's been very fussy all morning. She just wouldn't let me leave. She's my cat," she added to Owen and Daisha.

Daisha raised an eyebrow. "You're chipper today."

Elin smiled, her eyes blank. She tilted her head. "Oh, you know, a good night's rest does one a world of good and all that."

Something was wrong. Very wrong. Her smile was clearly plastered on, her hair was tied back into a perfect, silky ponytail, and—Owen did a double-take. Was it just him or were her eyes darker than usual?

"Uh huh," Daisha nodded slowly. She turned to face Vilhelm again, but not before scrutinising Elin for a moment too long. "Right. Where were we? You said you and Ms. Ihle met at Nilsen Hospital?"

"Ah, yes. I had been working there for about four years, Regine for two. Normally, neither of us have too big of a workload, but the past month or so has been very busy. We had somehow managed to get a day off on the same day so we could take a break, and we decided to make the most of it... but that was the night she disappeared." Vilhelm looked sad, but in the way people are when they're trying so hard to hide it that it looks painful instead. But Owen knew what that look meant because he'd seen it so many times, everywhere he looked, after Milo—

"Right. So, Elin, I had meant to ask earlier—what were you doing on Friday between seven to eight pm?" Daisha asked, leaning forward on her elbow.

For a moment, Elin didn't speak. A strange look crossed her face, somewhere between defiance and irritability, but it vanished as soon as Owen noticed it. Daisha narrowed her eyes. "As I told you earlier, I was at home when I saw her leave, and I stayed there until Vilhelm came."

Daisha nodded slowly. "Did anyone else see her leave? Neighbours, perhaps?"

Owen fought down a frown, aware that technically, this was procedure. They needed at least two people to attest to something for it to be considered fact, but... it still felt they were just doubting her. But why shouldn't they? Especially since he'd seen it—that annoyance at cooperating with them that he was certain hadn't shown up even once until then. The kernel had grown into a cold, hard block in his gut.