Her father had been out searching all weekend together with the police, dogs, helicopters, and hundreds of volunteers. Despite heavy rain and thunder, more people than expected had participated in the search—or perhaps that was why. But there was no trace to be found of Erik, no clue as to where he might have gone.

Sandra had reluctantly realised there was nothing she could do to streamline or speed up the search; there were already plenty of people out there and her presence would not add anything to that. Everyone was working their hardest at their assigned task. The best thing she could do was to assiduously continue her work on the thing that would hopefully make at least some small difference to a few of them. The thing that she had spent almost all her free time on since Erik’s name day when the first threat had materialised.

Even if her parents didn’t waste words expressing their anxiety about what had happened to Erik, they spoke quite plainly when it came to Sandra’s sleep habits and the frenetic way in which she continued to work on whatever it was she was doing. Sandra was secretive and didn’t initiate them into the project she was carrying out behind a door that was both closed and locked. On the other hand, she fully agreed with what they had to say about her all-too-brief nighttime slumbers, though she didn’t do anything about it. She worked until she fell into bed at night, and got up a few hours later to do it all over again.

There was the occasional break when she stopped by work for a while, mostly to check that everything was proceeding as it was supposed to, despite her absence. It seemed to be, and she delegated the responsibilities she would normally have covered to a couple of her closest colleagues. Everyone was sorry about what had happened and expressed their conviction that it would all turn out for the best. This was something Sandra doubted more and more, but she refused to give up hope.

In her thoughts, she was with Erik, talking with him, calming and comforting him. The fact that she couldn’t physically share whatever he was experiencing with him made her feel like an inadequate parent. But the fictitious conversations brought him to life and that was what she needed to keep her spirits up. She felt his presence throughout her entire being, and while she was aware deep down that the feeling wasn’t anchored in reality, she continued to tell herself that it was.

On Sunday evening, they received visitors in the form of the policeman Sandra had spoken to at Gråbo, just after Erik’s disappearance. Sandra caught sight of him through the window and met him out in the street.

“My parents need to be kept out of this,” she said in a low voice. “They’re not aware of Jan Hallin.”