The Library of Shadows

by Mikkel Birkegaard

  'You're sure it was Kortmann's chauffeur?' asked Clara after Henning had explained why they'd gone out to the villa in Hellerup.

  'Absolutely sure,' replied Katherina in a hoarse voice. She took a sip of her cognac and grimaced as she swallowed the liquor.

  Clara nodded solemnly.

  'Then there's no longer any doubt,' she said. 'This Remer is somehow involved in what's been happening, and most likely there is some sort of larger organization behind it all. An organization that won't stop at committing murder to reach its goal.'

  Everyone except Pau agreed by nodding or murmuring their assent.

  'You're all crazy,' Pau declared, taking a step towards Iversen. 'Can't you see this is part of their plan? They're trying to divert attention from themselves. Who's the only person who actually saw Kortmann's chauffeur?' He pointed at Katherina without looking at her. 'A receiver. And who benefits from murdering Kortmann?' He pointed the other hand at Clara. 'The receivers. Can't you see it? They're manipulating us just like they've been doing all along.'

  'You're forgetting that Kortmann never would have allowed a receiver inside his house,' Jon pointed out.

  Pau raised his arms towards the ceiling. 'Not voluntarily, of course. They could have forced him to do it, caught him by surprise while he was reading and made him open the gate for them.'

  'Would that be possible?' asked Jon.

  'No,' said Clara firmly. 'We can't steer people by remote control like that; the most we can do is affect their emotions and their attitude towards whatever they're reading.'

  Pau had let his arms drop. 'We only have your word for it that it's not possible. None of us knows what you can really do.'

  'Rubbish,' said Iversen. 'You're grasping at straws now, Pau. Those of us who have been part of the Society for a long time know that it's true. As Clara said, we need to accept that the Shadow Organization is a reality, and the sooner we do that, the better we can fight back.'

  Pau opened his mouth to object but was cut off by Iversen.

  'Sit down, Pau. Take a moment to think about what has happened, and you'll come to the same conclusion.'

  Sulking, Pau walked over to one of the bookcases and sat down on the floor.

  'As I was about to say,' Clara began, casting a quick glance at Pau, 'we must be getting close since they're reacting so violently. It's no coincidence that just as the Society is being reunited, Kortmann ends up murdered. His role was done – they had no more use for him.' She sighed. 'We need to acknowledge that Kortmann was their man, in the sense that he was under the influence of his chauffeur, whom we have to assume is a receiver. So they've known all along what the transmitters were doing, and they were even able to get Kortmann to make decisions that fitted in with their plans.'

  'Which first and foremost concerned keeping their own organization secret,' said Iversen. 'But when I think back, I'm sure that Kortmann has had that chauffeur for only seven or eight years. That's still a long time, but it doesn't explain Kortmann's involvement in the break-up twenty years ago.'

  No one said anything for a while. Jon could sense a despondent mood. His own emotions were mixed. He too was shocked by the murder, but he and Kortmann had not really cared for each other. From that moment at the funeral when they met for the first time, Jon had felt a certain wariness on Kortmann's part, as if he were sizing up a competitor. In that sense, Jon could have better accepted the situation if Kortmann had proved to be their adversary. But now, when it looked as if he was innocent, things were murkier than ever. What was still worrisome, and what no one was saying out loud even though they were probably all thinking it, was that since the Shadow Organization had been able to get so close to the leader of the transmitters, it was impossible to know who else might be involved, either directly or indirectly. Wasn't it naive to think there were no spies among the receivers?

  'So what's left that we need to work on?' asked Iversen, breaking the silence. 'What's the next step?'

  Everyone in the shop glanced at each other.

  'The school,' suggested Jon. 'The Demetrius School. It must mean something, since that was where Remer went to meet Kortmann's chauffeur.'

  'There's something I forgot to tell you,' said Katherina. Everyone turned to look at her. 'When I was sitting alone in the car, while Henning was out surveying the neighbourhood, I tried to pick up if there was something going on inside – if anyone was reading, and if so, what they happened to be reading.' She took another sip of her cognac. 'I was able to pick up several reading classes, words mostly from easy-to-read books, but there was something else – a number of voices that were different, that stood out because the reading was more focused and had a bigger impact.'

  'Do you mean…' Clara didn't finish her sentence.

  'I'm convinced it was a group of transmitters,' said Katherina.

  'How many?' asked Iversen.

  'Maybe four or five.'

  'So is the Demetrius School the Shadow Organization's recruitment centre for Lectors?' said Clara. 'Have any of you heard of the place before?'

  Jon shook his head. Katherina and Henning did the same.

  'Demetrius?' said Iversen to himself, tilting his head back to look up at the ceiling. 'Isn't that the name of a character in a Shakespeare play? FromA Midsummer Night's Dream, as far as I recall. Demetrius drinks a love potion and falls in love with the wrong person.' He lowered his eyes. 'That doesn't exactly fit with our situation.'

  'Under any circumstances, the school is our best lead,' said Jon. 'I'd like to propose that I go out there and take a closer look at the place. If the school is the centre for the Shadow Organization's activities, there must be something inside the building that will prove it.'

  'You mean break in?' asked Iversen.

  'If that's what it takes,' replied Jon.

  'I'll go with you,' said Katherina.

  Jon was about to object but was stopped by her expression. It was obvious she had made up her mind. Iversen, on the other hand, tried to persuade her not to go, supported by Clara, but Katherina firmly believed that a receiver needed to go along, for safety's sake.

  When everything had been decided, Pau chimed in. 'If a receiver needs to go along, I want to join the party too.' He got up from his place on the floor. 'You need to have a sceptic present, someone who can keep your feet on the ground so you don't go off on some big conspiracy trip.'

  'If that's what it'll take to convince you, it's okay by me.' Jon turned to look at Katherina.

  Her resolve seemed to have vanished. Her eyes flickered and she hesitated for a moment before she nodded. 'But we're going to do this our way, Pau,' she insisted.

  'Sure, sure,' said Pau cheerfully. 'Don't worry, I'll behave myself.'

  They had agreed to meet at three a.m.

  Jon and Katherina went together to their respective flats to pick up what they thought they might need. Afterwards they collected Pau at Trianglen before continuing on to the embassy area, which wasn't far away. None of them said anything in the car.

  Jon parked the car about a hundred metres from the school and they all got out. The sky was free of clouds, and the multitudes of stars were very bright. Jon's dark jogging suit offered little protection from the night chill and he regretted not dressing more warmly, but it was the only dark clothing he owned aside from a suit.

  He'd brought along a sports bag containing various tools from the workshop in the basement of Libri di Luca. He had no practical experience of burglary, so he'd brought a large assortment of tools. Pau was also dressed in dark clothing and he carried a crowbar in a plastic bag. Jon had the feeling that the young man was not altogether unfamiliar with this kind of activity. Katherina had put on a pair of jeans, trainers and a dark windbreaker. Her red hair was drawn back into a knot at the nape of her neck, and she had pulled a black cap down over her forehead.

  They walked calmly along the pavement towards the school. The buildings in the neighbourhood were all in darkness. They were mostly large, grand villas, many of the
m now embassies for smaller countries. At this time of night, the area was completely deserted, almost ghostly, and the few parked cars were most likely overflow from nearby streets that were subject to a shortage of parking spaces.

  The street lighting was sporadic, and in the shadows they walked all the way up to the front gate of the school.

  Without hesitation Jon reached for the handle and pushed the wrought-iron gate open. He was surprised but also relieved to find it wasn't locked. Even though no one was around, it wouldn't have looked good if they had been forced to climb over the three-metre-high gate in the middle of the night. The three of them quickly entered the grounds and slipped into the shadow of the hedge to the left of the gate. As the last person in, Katherina pushed the gate closed. Then they all stood still for a moment to get their bearings.

  To the right of the gate was a wall of a similar height that extended past the building and disappeared into the darkness. The hedge next to them continued along the pavement for the full width of the property. At the end they could just make out another wall, also three metres high, screening off the neighbouring building to the left of the school. In front of them lay the schoolyard, a stretch of asphalt painted with ball layouts and hopscotch grids, and behind that the redbrick school. In the middle of the building wide, granite steps led up to a sturdy front door. The door had a few tiny windows, all of which were covered by a solid-looking grating.

  There were no lights on inside the building.

  'Can you feel it?' whispered Pau. 'Can you feel the energy?'

  Jon held his breath for a moment, trying to sense the force that Pau claimed was present.

  'No, nothing,' he whispered back after a few seconds, wondering if Pau was making fun of them.

  'Me neither,' said Katherina in a low voice.

  'Hmm,' muttered Pau, disappointed. 'That way,' he whispered, pointing to the nearest corner of the building, where a passageway was visible running alongside the outer wall to the back.

  They crept along the wall over to the passageway, which took them to the other side of the school. A strip of grass formed a small yard with shrubbery, and a few fruit trees lined the outer walls. The back of the building had two doors – one that opened onto an industrial kitchen, and a basement door at the bottom of a staircase four metres deep.

  Jon motioned to the others that they should try the basement door, and Pau stepped forward at once to descend the stairs while Jon and Katherina remained standing at the top. They watched as he first peered into the windowpanes on the door and then tried the handle. When the door opened, he gave a start and glanced up in surprise at his companions. Then he broke into a big grin that gleamed an eerie white in the darkness.

  Jon and Katherina crept down the stairs to join the triumphant Pau.

  'Please come in,' he whispered merrily, holding the door open for them.

  They stepped into the darkness, followed by Pau, who closed the door behind them. Jon reached into his sports bag and pulled out a torch, aiming it down at the floor before he switched it on. They found themselves in a whitewashed corridor with three doors in addition to the one they had just entered by. The panes of the entry door behind them were covered on the inside with sheets of plywood, making it impossible to see in or out. The doors to the right and left were both ajar, and each was adorned with a WC symbol, one for boys and one for girls. The door at the end of the corridor was closed.

  'Does anyone besides me think it's odd that the door wasn't locked?' whispered Katherina. Jon agreed.

  At that moment a light went on, and the harsh glare reflecting off the white walls made them both squint. Jon instantly spun round. Pau stood behind him with a finger pressed to the light switch inside the door.

  'Isn't that better?' he asked without lowering his voice so that his words echoed between the bare walls.

  Jon turned off his torch and headed for the door at the end of the corridor. It had white panels and a brass handle. This door was also unlocked, and Jon slowly nudged it open until he could poke his head inside. What he found was yet another hallway, which apparently ran the full width of the front of the school. Up near the ceiling, at intervals of a few metres, were windows that allowed the light from the stars to shine in on the pale walls. A wide-mesh grating in front of the windowpanes cast shadows like a huge spider's web over the floor and walls.

  Without opening the door any wider than necessary, Jon slipped into the hallway and motioned the others to follow. Pau closed the door behind them. A series of doors lined the wall they were huddled against, while at the end of the corridor they glimpsed a set of stairs, leading up into the building.

  'You mean you still don't notice it?' asked Pau, sounding slightly annoyed.

  Both Jon and Katherina said that they didn't notice a thing.

  'It's strongest over there,' said Pau, pointing away from the stairs leading up.

  Jon turned on the torch and aimed it in the direction Pau had indicated. At the end of the hall another stairway led down yet another level. They crept over to the stairs, with Jon going first, keeping the torch pointed at the floor. Right in front of the stairs was a strong, black iron gate, which stood open.

  'I don't like this,' murmured Katherina as she grabbed hold of the gate. The bars were twisted wrought iron, at least two centimetres thick. 'It all seems too easy, don't you think?'

  'Maybe they have nothing to hide,' Pau suggested. 'What sort of secrets would a school have, anyway?'

  'You're the one who keeps noticing something strange,' Katherina pointed out angrily.

  Jon shushed his two colleagues and shone the torchlight down the stairs in front of them.

  'You're sure this is the way we should go?' he asked, turning to point the torch at Pau's face.

  'Yeah, I'm sure,' replied Pau, holding up his hand to block out the beam of light. 'Can't you sense it? This is where the energy is coming from. Trust me.'

  'You've certainly become awfully sensitive all of a sudden,' muttered Katherina.

  Jon shone the light back on the stairs and began descending. After a couple of metres the stairs turned sharply round a corner. At the turn, Jon noticed a strange tingling of the hairs on the back of his neck, the same sensation he'd felt the first time he entered the library in the basement of Libri di Luca.

  'Okay,' he admitted. 'I think we're on the right track. Now I can feel it too.'

  Katherina confirmed that she also felt the energy.

  'What did I tell you?' muttered Pau.

  Cautiously Jon continued down the stairway. With each step he could feel the energy getting stronger, at the same time as the air got damper and stuffier. At the foot of the stairs was a corridor that led forward a couple of metres before it turned yet another corner. As far as Jon could tell, it ran along the back of the school.

  The walls were more rustic in this part of the building, with big uneven patches and exposed granite.

  They found two more doors when they turned the corner. The metal door on the right had a peephole of the type that might be expected in the door to a prison cell. The other door marked the end of the corridor and was made of heavy oak with black iron hinges and handle.

  Jon peered into the hole in the metal door, but it was too dark to see anything. He pressed his ear against the door and listened hard. When he didn't hear anything, he pressed the metal handle down and opened it.

  Inside was a small room, no more than two metres wide and about five metres long. The walls were covered with pale wooden panels. In the middle of the room two big leather chairs faced each other. They both had wide armrests, and over the back of each hung a metal helmet connected to a jumble of wires. With the beam of his torch, Jon followed the wires to where they gathered into one thick cable coming out of the wall. That same wall was dominated by a big window, which provided an adjacent room with a view of the chairs.

  Jon found a light switch and turned it on. Fluorescent light flooded the room and all three of them stepped inside. As soon as Jo
n crossed the threshold, he sensed the energy disappear, as if someone had turned off a switch. Judging by the others' reaction, they had noticed the same thing.

  'It must be shielded in some way,' Pau concluded.

  'What is this place?' asked Katherina.

  'The electric chair?' suggested Pau. 'All teachers must have an urge to use this sort of thing on their pupils once in a while.'

  Jon leaned towards the glass pane and peered into the room next door. He glimpsed a series of red and green LEDs, and in the light from the cell he could see a table right on the other side of the window and a row of computers and printers along one wall. On the table stood a computer monitor surrounded by papers and half-empty coffee cups.

  'Remer said they had the equipment to measure the powers,' said Jon. 'This must be where they do it.'

  Katherina picked up a helmet. 'Very likely,' she said, looking with disgust at the helmet in her hands. 'The shield must prevent the measurements from being disturbed by the energy down here, wherever it's coming from.'

  'Okay, Mr and Mrs Sherlock, shouldn't we find out where it's coming from?' said Pau, moving towards the door. 'This place is giving me the creeps.'

  'Do you still think this is an innocent school building?' asked Katherina, but Pau didn't answer.

  Out in the corridor they again felt the familiar tingling, and it got stronger as they headed for the oak door at the end of the hall. That door wasn't locked either, and it gave them free access to the room they had seen through the window in the cell room. In addition to the rows of computers, the printers and the table with the papers, there was another door leading further into the school.

  Jon set his sports bag on the floor and went over to the table to have a look at the papers.

  They were covered with graphs, sketches of parts of the brain and rows of numbers, some of them underlined or circled in pencil. At the top of each page was the name and age of the person being tested. Judging by these documents, the latest test subjects were aged ten to twelve. For some of the individuals, the numbers were a measurement of their actual strength, while for others the numbers represented an estimate of the person's expected potential.