The traffic on Webersgade was still pretty busy at this time of day. But as long as there were no cops, it would be okay. She would just have to keep an eye out for cyclists and pedestrians. And when there was a lull in the traffic, she would drag the body out to the Ka and stuff it in.
Anneli held the door ajar, and from behind the crack in the door she could see that there were still people cycling up and down the street. Why the hell would you be cycling at this time of day? Couldn’t people just stay at home?
She heard cheerful laughter down from the corner by ?ster Farimagsgade and saw a couple of girls walking directly toward her house. One of them was walking with her bicycle while the other one was walking next to her, chatting away. They didn’t seem to be in a hurry.
Stupid bitches, she thought. Now the jabbering brats were heading directly toward her car.
Watch where you’re going, she thought. Couldn’t they just cross the street to the other side?
She pulled the door closed when the girl without the bike banged her knee against the trunk of the Ka.
“Ouch! Goddamn it! Who the hell parked their car on the pavement?” she shouted, banging her fist on the roof of the car several times while she walked around it.
Anneli stood paralyzed with pursed lips as she watched dent after dent appear on her car roof.
Damn brat! If only she knew what Anneli could do to a girl like her.
Meanwhile, the girls were swearing like a couple of drunken sailors, looking over their shoulders several times and giving the finger. It was only when they reached Fredensbro that Anneli dared to put her arms around Denise’s chest and drag her out to the car door.
When she tried to push the body into the car, the upper body had already completely stiffened up, so she had to lean the passenger seat all the way back and use all her might to force the body downward in order to be able to close the door on the stiffened arm.
It meant that the body was almost leaning over the gearshift when Anneli had shut the door and sat in the driver’s seat.
It was obvious that given the awkward position the body was lying in, any passerby would react if they saw it.
If anyone spotted her, she would just have to floor it.
She struggled a bit with the stiff arm while pushing the body into a more or less upright position.
She inspected the result. Apart from the almost entangled legs, Denise’s open eyes, and the unnatural angle of the neck and the head, it looked fairly normal.
Anneli jumped out of the car and opened the passenger door so she could get the seat belt around the body. But that also proved to be complicated.
When she finally succeeded, she realized that a young guy was watching her from the opposite sidewalk.
They stood for a moment silently watching each other.
What should I do? she thought. He’s seen me struggling with the body!
She nodded to herself, made a split-second decision, walked around the car, and took a couple of steps toward him with a broad smile.
“Is she okay?” he shouted.
She nodded back. “Yes, but I don’t think she can avoid having her stomach pumped,” called Anneli with a laugh, her pulse racing.
He returned her smile. “Good thing for her that the University Hospital is just around the corner!” he shouted and continued along the pavement.
Anneli held her hands up to her face, wiping the sweat from her cheeks. Then she got in the car and looked down along the row of houses. If she was going to get off the sidewalk and bicycle path and onto the road, she would have to drive a good hundred meters past people’s front doors.
If someone suddenly walks out of their door, they’ll walk straight in front of the car, she thought, knowing full well the damage that could cause.
She eased the car forward in first gear past the houses and realized for the first time ever that there was a no-parking sign between the bicycle path and the sidewalk exactly where the parking spaces stopped. If she could get her car through the tight space, she would be back on the road.
As she reached the parking meter twenty-five meters before the place where she could get back on the road, a police car driving past honked at her.
Anneli stopped in front of a house with a light-blue door and rolled her window down. She did all she could to remain calm in the ominous flashing blue light from the patrol car.
“I know—sorry!” she shouted. “But I’m dropping my mother-in-law off at the next house. She is really unsteady on her feet.”
The officer in the passenger seat was just about to get out of the car but was stopped by the other officer. They exchanged a few words, and then the first officer nodded at Anneli.
“You won’t get away with that again, madam. Just hurry up and get out of here before one of our colleagues sees you.”
Anneli watched the patrol car until it was out of sight and nudged the body to make sure the belt was in place. Then she released the clutch.
—
She breathed a sigh of relief when she finally reached Lyngbyvej. Now all she had to do was drive up Bernstorffsvej and all the way to Bernstorff’s Park, and she would have reached her destination. At this time of day, there definitely wouldn’t be anyone out walking their dog, and there was sure to be a free parking space outside the park. Of course, Denise wouldn’t be easy to drag, but if she drove around the monument on the roundabout at the end of Femvejen, the car would be facing in the right direction so the passenger door opened out to the park. Then she would just have to drag the body across the bicycle path and sidewalk and onto the path.
She intended to complete her plan in two steps. First, she would drag the body into the nearest bushes and take a break to catch her breath. If the coast was clear, she would then drag it on to the next group of bushes, and when she was far enough away from the road she would leave the body and the gun in the densest undergrowth she could find. It was very likely that a dog would sniff out the body the following morning, but never mind. As long as it wasn’t found by an amorous couple or a fanatical jogger before Anneli had made it back to the city, cleaned the car, thrown her footwear in a Dumpster, and wrapped herself in her quilt.
Only a few more streetlights and she would be there. She laughed at how well things were going.
“Now Aunty Anneli is going to take you for a little trip to the park, Denise. Aren’t you excited?” she said, giving the shoulder a good strong pat. But she shouldn’t have. Defying all laws of gravity, the body fell toward her with the result that the head ended up leaning against her chest with vacantly staring eyes.
Anneli tried to push the body back up with the strength she could muster with her one free hand, but the body seemed to be stuck.
When she made one final attempt, elbowing the body hard in the shoulder, she realized that it was the seat belt that was stopping her from pushing the body back.