Character List for The Scarred Woman

Department Q

Deputy Chief Inspector Carl Mørck—the head of Department Q, an unsolved crimes (cold case) unit of the Copenhagen Police HQ; HQ is on the second floor, and Department Q is in the basement

Hafaz el-Assad—a Syrian immigrant and self-appointed investigator in Department Q; his exact background is a bit of a mystery; Carl thinks of him as “Curly”

Rose Knudsen—an office-worker-turned-investigator in Department Q; she appeared in Department Q in 2008, having previously flunked out of the police academy after failing the driving test

Gordon Taylor—on long-term “loan” from Bjørn’s team; he sticks around because he’s smitten with Rose

Others Connected to Copenhagen Police HQ

Marcus Jacobsen—the former head of homicide in the now-defunct Department A and Carl’s former boss; now retired for four years but obsessed with the Gundersen case

Lars Bjørn—Jacobsen’s successor and Carl’s current boss; officially in charge of the Rigmor Zimmerman case, the Gunderson case, the nightclub robbery, and the hit-and-run cases

Bente Hansen—police superintendent

Terje Ploug—an investigator on the nightclub robbery case

Lars Pasgård—lead investigator on the Zimmerman case

Catarina Underberg Sørensen—a gatekeeper on the second floor

Lis—secretary for homicide department

Tomas Laursen—the canteen manager at Police HQ; he was formerly a forensic technician with the police

Janus Staal—head of communications for police

Oleg Borg-Pedersen—Station 3 TV producer to whom Bjørn has given permission to “shadow” Department Q on their investigations

Mona Ibsen—police psychotherapist with whom Carl was previously romantically involved, although he hasn’t spoken to her in years

The Zimmermans

Fritzl Zimmerman—the patriarch, a former German (Nazi) army officer (supposedly wanted at one time by Poland for war crimes as Sturmbannführer Bernhard Krause); dead under unusual circumstances in 2004

Rigmor Zimmerman—Fritzl’s wife and Denise’s grandmother; she’s murdered early in the story

Birgit Zimmerman—Denise’s mother and Rigmor’s daughter

James Lester Frank—aka Mark Johnson; Denise’s father and Birgit’s ex-husband (divorced when Denise was 7 years old); an American serviceman and subsequently a U.S. Army deserter

Dorrit “Denise” Frank Zimmerman—Rigmor’s granddaughter and Birgit’s daughter; she is also a client of Svendsen’s at the social security office

Connected Through the Vesterbro Social Security Office

Anne-Line “Anneli” Svendsen—the unhappy case worker

Michelle Hansen—one of Svendsen’s clients; she’s been living with Patrick Pettersen but illegally claiming benefits for another rented room

Patrick Pettersen—Hansen’s boyfriend; he works as a bouncer at the Victoria nightclub

Jazmine Jørgensen—one of Svendsen’s clients who works the system using serial pregnancy and adoption

Birna Sigurdardottir—a social security office client; she’s purportedly the leader of a girl gang called Black Ladies

Senta Berger—aka Oline Anjou, aka Anja Olsen; a client from the social security office where Anneli worked prior to Vesterbro

Bertha “Roberta” Lind—a client from the social security office where Anneli worked prior to Vesterbro

Connected to 2004 Gundersen Case

Stephanie Gundersen—a temporary school teacher at Bolman’s Independent School in Østre Anlæg; her murder is one of HQ’s older cases but still not officially transferred to Department Q

Mogens Iversen—a 42-year-old man who tries to confess to Gundersen’s murder as well as to Rigmor’s murder

Connected to the Habersaat Case

Christian Habersaat—retired police investigator on the Danish island of Bornholm who contacted Carl to take over a case Habersaat had been obsessed with for over 20 years (the death of Alberte Goldschmid); he committed suicide in 2014 after Carl turned him down, which led to Carl’s team taking the case; his resemblance to Arne Knudsen made this a difficult case for Rose

June Habersaat—Christian’s wife, who confessed to Carl’s team on her deathbed that she’d murdered Alberte Goldschmid

Alberte Goldschmid—the 19-year-old victim of a hit-and-run that threw her body into a tree where it hung for days before someone noticed

(This case forms the basis for Department Q #6, The Hanging Girl.)

Rose Knudsen’s Family & Friends

Arne Knudsen—Rose’s abusive father; he was killed in a 1999 steel plant accident in front of her

Vicky Knudsen—Rose’s next oldest sister, one year younger

Yrsa Knudsen—Rose’s next sister, two years younger

Lise-Marie Knudsen—Rose’s youngest sister, four years younger

Benito Dion—Rose’s former therapist, now dead

Karoline Stavensager—aka Kinua von Kunstwerk; Rose’s best friend in middle school; now a painter

Leo M. Andresen—former steel plant employee and a member of a historical society for retired employees

Benny Andersson—a former steel plant employee

Carl Mørck’s Family & Friends

Hardy—Mørck’s former police partner who was severely injured saving Carl’s life and became quadriplegic (2007); Carl has taken him in and supports his care; Hardy had worked with Jacobsen on the Gundersen case

Morten—Hardy’s caregiver; he also cooks for Carl and Hardy

Mika—Hardy’s physical therapist and masseur; also Morten’s (ex?) boyfriend

Vigga—Carl’s ex-wife; she left him in 2005

Jesper—Carl’s 25-year-old stepson; he continued to live with Carl for years after his mother’s divorce from Carl, but has mostly moved out now

Karla Alsing—Vigga’s mother who’s currently in a nursing home; Carl is her favorite