The Absent One (2014)

by Mark Murton

Original Title: Fasandræberne

Also Known As: Department Q: The Absent One

Directed by: Mikkel Nørgaard

Cat Out of the Bag Alert! This review contains some spoilers for this film!

Synopsis: Fractious detective Carl Mørck (Nikolaj Lie Kaas) runs Department Q, the cold-case division of the Copenhagen police with his partner Assad (Fares Fares). An ex-cop makes a desperate appeal to Mørck about the unsolved killing of his teenage twin children. At first Mørck is unwilling to get involved but after the father commits suicide Department Q start an investigation to discover what really happened in the 1990s at one of the country’s poshest boarding schools.

Cat Burglar (Scene Stealer): At the suicide scene Mørck finds a box of materials on the case the ex-cop has been collecting for years. As he starts to examine the contents he is surprised by a brown tabby cat suddenly meowing and appearing beside him.

Department Q The Absent One - brown tabby cat on table

Department Q The Absent One - brown tabby cat on table startling Carl Nikolaj Lie Kaas animated gif

Back at the station, Mørck places the box of documents on his desk then lifts a holdall from the top of the file and unzips it to reveal the cat inside. He places the tabby on the desk beside him as his colleagues look on.

Department Q The Absent One - brown tabby cat standing on desk

He informs them that the cat “belonged to a retired police officer who died last night,” and Rose (Johanne Louise Schmidt), their newly acquired secretary, picks up the feline for a cuddle before asking Mørck what the cat’s name is. “Kat,” is his dispassionate reply.

Department Q The Absent One - Rose Johanne Louise Schmidt holding brown tabby cat with Carl Nikolaj Lie Kaas and Assad Fares Fares

Department Q The Absent One - Rose Johanne Louise Schmidt holding brown tabby cat

Department Q The Absent One - Rose Johanne Louise Schmidt holding brown tabby cat with Carl Nikolaj Lie Kaas and Assad Fares Fares animated gif

Later, as the team are back in the office piecing together the evidence, the cat is lounging on a box nearby.

Department Q The Absent One - brown tabby cat lying on table

The cat is seen just once more when, with the case seemingly solved, the team are packing away the evidence as the cat jumps (or rather is catapulted by someone offscreen) onto Mørck’s desk, but he doesn’t even seem to notice as he is deep in thought with something clearly still troubling him.