‘I heard this one already.’

‘What?’

‘Back at Easter time, I think it was. Saw him fixing his car seat and buying chocolate eggs in Konsum. I’d just started here, so I was asking Thord about all the local characters, anyone with previous, anyone who stands out. All part of the job. He tells me the clockmaker has no children. He just has toys lying around in case a family comes into his shop or to his house.’

I wrinkle up my face.

‘Maybe it’s good business, letting the parents browse watches longer, keeping the rugrats happy,’ she says. ‘Or maybe it’s creepy. I don’t know. People gotta do what they gotta do to get through from one year to the next. Everyone’s dealing with something.’

‘I’ll send you over some information Sebastian dredged up about a missing Dutch blogger. Let you see what you think.’

She nods her head.

‘And we need to talk,’ I say. ‘About the flat and––’

‘We will,’ she says, and she places her hand on the edge of my chair so our little fingers touch. There’s a jolt. A transfer of heat and electricity. I don’t want our hands to move. Ever. In this strange little hilltop town I feel good right now, our hands fused, hers and mine. I just need a little time to figure things out. I know I love her but what I can’t work out is how to proceed. How not to screw things up.

‘Interpol officer visiting Gavrik today,’ she says. ‘Investigator.’

‘About Emil?’

She shakes her head.

‘Officially here for the grave disturbance.’ She checks her phone. ‘There’s a web connecting Visberg to older crimes across half of Europe. Chief knows more about it than I do. Sorry, Tuva, I have to go.’

I move my hand a little so that two of my fingers rest on hers.

‘Not here,’ she says, her face softening, her lips curling into a shallow smile. ‘We’ll talk soon. Don’t worry.’ She winks at me. ‘We’re good.’

She walks away.

We’re good. Thank God for that. Maybe in a year I’ll be ready to live under the same roof with her. Maybe only nine months. After I get my habits in order and my life set straight.

I climb into my truck and turn on the heated seats and call Sebastian.

‘Interpol officer in town. The grave robberies,’ I say.

‘Okay.’

‘Find out exactly who it is and what cases they’ve worked on in the past. Cross-reference with potential suspects of the Arne Persson murder and the Emil abduction. Let me know if you pull up anything connecting back to Wimmer, the Edlunds or watchmaking. Get back to me with details as quick as you can.’

I go to ring off, but he says, ‘Tuva. Margareta Eriksson’s been here in the office this past hour.’