He’s even drawn a sandwich on the note although it looks more like a sponge cake. Decent kid. Shows promise.

Next morning my pillow alarm shakes me awake at seven. I pranked a boyfriend with this in London back in my student days. He was a good person, maybe I shouldn’t have done it to him, but I did. He was asleep on my pillow and I changed the setting on my alarm in the early hours of the morning without waking him. The way he jumped out of bed and rolled underneath it when the shaking started almost made me die from laughter. He thought it was an actual earthquake. I mean, he was from Tokyo so maybe I should have been a little more sensitive, but he saw the funny side after a day. Alright, a couple of days. Shake, rattle and roll, baby.

I dress in black skinnyish jeans that are getting bobbly between the thighs and a black roll-neck. I look like an apprentice burglar.

In the Posten I write up the story of Arne. His life. It’s one of those moments where I don’t feel qualified for my job. Because I never knew Arne Persson and because I only have a vague impression of the man from the interviews I’ve conducted. His hobbies, his school history, his ex-wife. I try to do him justice but it’s not easy. And then I realise the killer hasn’t been given a nickname and I’m happy about that. Means there’s less focus on the perpetrator and more on the victim, and those he left behind.

Seven calls to various prosecutors, lawyers, the coroner’s office, and then Karlstad Homicide. Diddly squat. Nada. Zip. This is the way it is sometimes. I find I can get more insights from a gossiping shopkeeper or kindergarten teacher or neighbour than I can from officials with knowledge. I help Sebastian rewrite a story on tick-borne diseases. Encephalitis and Lyme disease. Animals the size of a grain of rice that have the power to kill a full-grown human. He interviewed Doc Stina for the piece, and some professor from Lund university. It’s a good meat-and-potatoes Gavrik Posten piece, but he wants help so I oblige. I suggest he also interviews someone who’s recovered from Lyme disease. Get the human angle, the pain, the suffering, the recovery, the lessons learned. Less academic, more relatable. He nods and gets to work. Smart kid asking for help. Lots of guys his age, with his looks, act like they know it all pretty much from birth. Props to cheekbones.

Lena steps out and asks me what I’m doing tonight, if I fancy coming over to her place, nothing fancy, taco night and a movie?

‘Thanks, wish I could, but I’m heading uphill again.’

‘Tonight?’

‘Oh, yeah.’

Sebastian looks over. ‘Mind if I tag along? I need to get to know Visberg too.’