Page 140 of All I Want for Christmas

‘Ah...you’re ahead of me,’ the man said, tapping something into his screen. ‘It’s still...Yes, it’s still in the vault. We weren’t anticipating a rush.’ He looked back at them, curious that they should be so keen. ‘If you’d like to take a seat in the reading room at the end down there, I’ll bring it through to you?’

‘Thank you,’ Viggo said, removing his hat and slowly making his way. They moved past the reeded columns, in and out of the shadows on the ground, past the thousands of books that lent their powdery, slightly almond-like scent to the dusty floors and old timbers.

They sat down together at a table in the small room at the end. It was no different to any of the other chambers, save for a glass wall that partitioned them from the open space and provided some privacy.

‘So, Johan Trier made a bequest?’ Darcy murmured, unzipping her jacket but not removing it. It would be a while before the central heating made itself known.

‘Indeed. He made a gift to this library in 1923, but the bequest was granted on the condition it was not to be opened for fifty years following his death.’ Viggo shrugged. ‘And he died on the nineteenth of December 1974, aged seventy-nine. So here we are.’

Darcy tried to come up with a reason why 1923 would have been a notable date in Trier’s life.Her Childrenwas completed and sold...He had been on the cusp of leavingCopenhagen as the work dried up...Lilja and Casper were dead, of course.

‘What is the bequest – letters? Sketches?’ she asked.

‘No one knows,’ he shrugged. ‘But we’ll find out soon enough.’ He looked across at her, changing the subject. ‘...I’ve missed you this week.’

It was a simple statement but Darcy crumpled at it, dropping her head. ‘I’m sorry, Viggo. I haven’t been avoidingyou.’

‘Oh, I know.’ He watched her, seeing how she fiddled with her fingers. ‘...It must have been quite a showdown between you both—’

Darcy looked up at the comment. What exactly did Viggo know about what had happened? And how did he know it had been between her and Max?

‘I didn’t expect him to react like this.’

She swallowed. ‘Like what?’

‘I thought he’d dig his heels in harder. Normally he likes the fight. I assumed you would be the last person he wanted to see this – but bringing you here was his idea.’

‘He wanted me to know about the bequest?’

‘Seemingly so.’

She frowned. ‘Does Helle know?’

‘By good fortune, she’s skiing with her family in Sweden now. Max assured her he’d oversee this in her absence. He’s the family’s representative, not just a corporate lawyer.’

Darcy was quiet for a moment. If that was so, she couldn’t understand why – having tried deflection and distraction strategies for all this time – he should suddenly choose to bring her in on this. Johan Trier had been both a friend and a foe to the Madsen family, so who knew what they were going to discover here today? Max knew she already knew enough about their complicity in Lilja’s death to besmirch the family’sgood name. Was this the white flag of surrender? Or a favour he would somehow call in?

‘...How long haveyouknown about it?’

‘Oh, decades.’ He gave her a knowing look. ‘Officially, since Trier died and the bequest was revealed during the reading of his will. Unofficially, since 1961.’

Darcy blinked. Officially? Unofficially? The date registered with her. ‘1961 was when the Madsen Foundation was formed, wasn’t it?’

‘Correct. It’s also when Arne Saalbach died.’

‘Arne?’

‘Yes. And when he died, he left a letter for Frederik Madsen, revealing his relationship with Lilja and his paternity of Emme.’

‘He confessed it?’ Darcy’s eyes widened. ‘And you knew?’ It stung that Viggo had kept this from her when he knew how relevant it was to her research. She had discovered the truth of Arne and Lilja’s relationship herself, the hard way.

‘If Helle had had her way, once you identified Lilja, I wouldn’t have let you down the stairs, Darcy. But I made it clear to her that I would do my job with you, as I would for anyone else. I would assist without leading.’

Darcy bit her lip, knowing it was a fair position to have taken; they had both been trapped in a power struggle between more powerful figures. She nodded in acceptance. ‘Why did he wait until after he died to publicly claim her?’ she asked instead.

‘Partly because when both Lilja and Casper died, he found he couldn’t actually prove hewasher father. Back in the 1920s, it wasn’t like it is now – sending off a hair from a comb in the post. Not to mention, he would have had no rights, certainly no power, against a family with resources like theirs. If the Madsens had known Casper wasn’t the father, they might have disinherited the child. And if they’d known Arne was thefather, they could have sacked him – and his parents – and taken Emme away...Whatever they liked.’ He shrugged. ‘He was in an impossible position.’

‘So, what did happen?’

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