lunch together on a fresh rye loaf from the baker,two different cheeses and low-fat liver paté – Camilla’s special. No different from so many other days.
Camilla is slightly overweight, but not so plump that she needs to wear the long, floppy tops she likes to hide beneath. She and Anne-Lise are both in their early forties. It makes them older than Iben and Malene by only ten years or so, but there is a marked generation gap. Camilla and Anne-Lise seldom go out in the town. They live quietly in the suburbs with their respective husbands and children. Things like new films or music hardly matter to them.
Camilla is talking about how much she’s saving by going to the dentist in Sweden. ‘And if you take into account that Finn is going there too, we saved more than three thousand kroner last year.’ Camilla has developed her telephone voice over many years of secretarial work and everyone comments on its cheerfulness, unexpected in an office dedicated to human tragedy. Still, optimism is important if the routine work of the Centre is to be endured.
They talk for a while about a particular journalist from an evening paper who interviewed Iben about her time as a hostage.
Then Camilla is off again about the family trips to Sweden. ‘You see, once we’ve had our teeth fixed in Malmö we go for a drive. Sometimes we simply pack a picnic and pile the kids into the car. Last time, we went to the Dinosaur Park. It’s such fun …’ She glances at Malene and hesitates. ‘At least, anyway … if you’re there with children.’
Malene gets up. ‘Now we’d better be good.’
This signals that the lunch break is over. They pour themselves fresh mugs of coffee and go back to their desks.
Later that afternoon Camilla finds some new Internet clips from Chris and the Chocolate Factory . They laugh so hard that Anne-Lise comes out from the library to join them.
Malene has sensed tension between herself and Iben all day. Iben probably thinks that she will try to prevent her from seeingmore of Gunnar. Malene decides to amuse them with a few impersonations.
‘You know, I think having fun together now and then is really important. It unites people.’ She turns to Camilla, her voice still full of laughter. ‘Imagine if someone sponsored a kind of reconciliation project where stand-up comics went to entertain mixed groups of Serbs and Bosnians, just so they could experience laughing together.’
Anne-Lise stands over by the library door and turns to Malene. ‘There are twelve million Serbs and four million Bosnians.’
Malene wants to be nice to her and smiles. ‘Oh, it was just a thought. A bit of fun. I didn’t mean it literally.’
That evening Malene finds an email waiting for her on her home computer:
YOU, MALENE JENSEN, HAVE SWORN TO YOUR SECRET EVIL,
AS LEADER AND CHANCELLOR OF YOUR REICH, LOYALTY
AND BRAVERY.
YOU HAVE PLEDGED TO EVIL AND THE SUPERIORS
APPOINTED BY EVIL, OBEDIENCE UNTO DEATH *
SO HELP YOU GOD.
* DEATH, WHICH I WILL BRING YOU VERY SOON.
Nothing happens when she double-clicks on the sender’s address, which is [email protected] .
She recognises many of the words from the oath of allegiance sworn by SS officers to Hitler, but changed so that ‘Hitler’ is replaced by ‘your secret evil’ and so on. She walks over to a window facing the street, looks out and then closes the curtains.
After getting a piece of chocolate, she phones Rasmus in Cologne, but he must be in a meeting or something because his mobile is switched off.
Instead she calls Iben. It turns out that Iben has had a threatening email too and has completely freaked out. She ran outwithout a jacket and is somewhere on Nørrebro Street.
Malene thinks Iben’s reaction is over the top, even given their place of work. It was just an email after all. She tries to empathise and calm down Iben at the same time. However, she finds herself listening for sounds in her own flat, though she can’t take herself
Camilla is slightly overweight, but not so plump that she needs to wear the long, floppy tops she likes to hide beneath. She and Anne-Lise are both in their early forties. It makes them older than Iben and Malene by only ten years or so, but there is a marked generation gap. Camilla and Anne-Lise seldom go out in the town. They live quietly in the suburbs with their respective husbands and children. Things like new films or music hardly matter to them.
Camilla is talking about how much she’s saving by going to the dentist in Sweden. ‘And if you take into account that Finn is going there too, we saved more than three thousand kroner last year.’ Camilla has developed her telephone voice over many years of secretarial work and everyone comments on its cheerfulness, unexpected in an office dedicated to human tragedy. Still, optimism is important if the routine work of the Centre is to be endured.
They talk for a while about a particular journalist from an evening paper who interviewed Iben about her time as a hostage.
Then Camilla is off again about the family trips to Sweden. ‘You see, once we’ve had our teeth fixed in Malmö we go for a drive. Sometimes we simply pack a picnic and pile the kids into the car. Last time, we went to the Dinosaur Park. It’s such fun …’ She glances at Malene and hesitates. ‘At least, anyway … if you’re there with children.’
Malene gets up. ‘Now we’d better be good.’
This signals that the lunch break is over. They pour themselves fresh mugs of coffee and go back to their desks.
Later that afternoon Camilla finds some new Internet clips from Chris and the Chocolate Factory . They laugh so hard that Anne-Lise comes out from the library to join them.
Malene has sensed tension between herself and Iben all day. Iben probably thinks that she will try to prevent her from seeingmore of Gunnar. Malene decides to amuse them with a few impersonations.
‘You know, I think having fun together now and then is really important. It unites people.’ She turns to Camilla, her voice still full of laughter. ‘Imagine if someone sponsored a kind of reconciliation project where stand-up comics went to entertain mixed groups of Serbs and Bosnians, just so they could experience laughing together.’
Anne-Lise stands over by the library door and turns to Malene. ‘There are twelve million Serbs and four million Bosnians.’
Malene wants to be nice to her and smiles. ‘Oh, it was just a thought. A bit of fun. I didn’t mean it literally.’
That evening Malene finds an email waiting for her on her home computer:
YOU, MALENE JENSEN, HAVE SWORN TO YOUR SECRET EVIL,
AS LEADER AND CHANCELLOR OF YOUR REICH, LOYALTY
AND BRAVERY.
YOU HAVE PLEDGED TO EVIL AND THE SUPERIORS
APPOINTED BY EVIL, OBEDIENCE UNTO DEATH *
SO HELP YOU GOD.
* DEATH, WHICH I WILL BRING YOU VERY SOON.
Nothing happens when she double-clicks on the sender’s address, which is [email protected] .
She recognises many of the words from the oath of allegiance sworn by SS officers to Hitler, but changed so that ‘Hitler’ is replaced by ‘your secret evil’ and so on. She walks over to a window facing the street, looks out and then closes the curtains.
After getting a piece of chocolate, she phones Rasmus in Cologne, but he must be in a meeting or something because his mobile is switched off.
Instead she calls Iben. It turns out that Iben has had a threatening email too and has completely freaked out. She ran outwithout a jacket and is somewhere on Nørrebro Street.
Malene thinks Iben’s reaction is over the top, even given their place of work. It was just an email after all. She tries to empathise and calm down Iben at the same time. However, she finds herself listening for sounds in her own flat, though she can’t take herself
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