Page 139 of All I Want for Christmas

‘He wants me to meet him at University Old Library on Fiolstræde at eight a.m. sharp tomorrow morning.’

‘What for?’

‘He doesn’t say.’

Freja met her gaze. ‘Think Max is sending him as his messenger?’

‘Well, ifhecouldn’t talk me out of doing my professional duty, I don’t know why he thinks Viggo would be able to.’

‘You have got a soft spot for the old guy.’

‘Not that soft...And besides, I’m not sure Viggo would do it. He’s not driven by money. He’s there for the love of the work. He’s got these things calledprinciples?’

Freja rolled her eyes. ‘So then I wonder what he wants to see you for, if not emotional blackmail? You really can’t think?’

‘No.’

‘Will you go?’

‘Of course. It’s Viggo.’ Darcy bit her lip. ‘...I trust him.’

Chapter Thirty

Darcy stood at the bottom of the library steps and looked up. Viggo was bundled up in his heavy overcoat and scarf, his hat on, reading the opening times on the wall plaque. Was there anyone else left in this city who still wore a trilby? she wondered.

‘Morning, Viggo,’ she said, shivering in the cold and rubbing her hands together. Two paces to her right, a couple of empty wine bottles had been left standing politely against the wall, traces of last night’s festivities in the student quarter.

He turned. ‘Ah, Darcy, I’m glad to see you here.’

‘Are we the only people up?’ The city felt as if it was still asleep. The bike racks were empty, birds silent in the small trees clustered in the courtyards. All the shop shutters were still pulled down – even Paludan was at rest – and their only company was a stray cat padding silently over the cobbles with a mouse in its mouth.

In the distance, several streets away, she could hear the clatter of bins being emptied into refuse lorries, commuters disgorging from Nørreport station and heading to their office buildings; but there was an aura of suspension still in these back roads, the city balancing on the tines of night and day.

‘It does appear the Christmas getaway may have begun,’ he agreed, peering around at the handsome Victorian brickbuildings she knew well. If the university was her world, these were her temples.

‘And what arewedoing here, so bright and early?’ she asked.

‘I thought we should do this together.’

‘Do what?’

The lights inside the building switched on, falling through the windows onto the street in huge golden tiles, and they heard the sound of bolts being drawn back. A lock turned and one of the arched doors opened.

‘Oh!...Good morning,’ a woman said, looking out and seeming surprised to find them standing there.

‘Good morning,’ Viggo replied, with an almost leisurely air. ‘We’re here for the unsealing of a bequest.’

‘...Oh,’ she said again, stepping back. ‘Well, come in. You’re very early.’

Viggo motioned for Darcy to step through first into the impressive pale brick hallway. A huge turning staircase lay immediately before them like a sleeping dragon, set behind arches and lit by high-set round windows. The entrance to the library lay off to their right, and Darcy let Viggo lead the way. She knew the space well – she often worked here – but he was the only one who knew what they were really doing here today.

The space was double height and majestic, an aisle running through a central colonnade with book-lined chambers flanking off on either side. There was a round window at the very end of the central aisle and huge arched windows sat at the end of each book stack, sucking in natural light. But for the books that lined every wall, floor to ceiling, it could have been a grand church.

They walked through, footsteps sounding out of step onthe stone floor. A librarian was standing at the large black desk in the middle of the aisle, tapping on a computer. He looked up at their approach, seeing that they were not typical students.

‘We’re here for the unsealing of the Johan Trier bequest,’ Viggo said quietly.

Darcy’s head whipped round to look at him. The what?

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