Anna doesn’t say anything for a few seconds; she is trying to work out what’s going on. Is this just a bad joke on a new colleague, the kind of thing that used to happen in Stockholm? She can’t see any indication of that in Friberg’s rigid expression. However, Frida is smiling in a way that is anything but pleasant. There are several empty spaces both behind and in front of Anna’s car; she considers pointing this out, but refrains. This discussion is not about traffic regulations at all. Out of the corner of her eye she sees Agnes, chatting to a group of people her own age. Anna feels curiously vulnerable. She takes a deep breath. ‘My d . . . daughter is here now,’ she says, unable to stop herself from tripping over the second word.

Friberg stares at her, his eyes grey and cold, his face still expressionless.

‘Good,’ he says, and closes the window.

*

Agnes isn’t particularly talkative in the car. The open, friendly girl Anna glimpsed over the weekend has disappeared; all her attention is on her phone. This would normally irritate Anna, but today it suits her very well. It gives her the chance to calm down and analyse what just happened. The more she thinks about it, the more convinced she is that Friberg followed her from the police station, looking for an opportunity like this. A chance to catch her in the gap between her professional role and her private life, and to challenge her authority. And his annoying female sidekick would definitely make sure that everyone heard about how Friberg had put the new boss in her place. As they begin to climb the ridge, she realises that she herself will have no opportunity to respond.

One: she shouldn’t have parked in the drop-off/pick-up zone, and Friberg was only doing his job by pointing this out. In fact, he was demonstrating his professional integrity by not differentiating between a police officer and a member of the public.

Two: she hasn’t yet taken over officially. She and Morell are working in parallel for the rest of the week, so if she wants to hit back, send Friberg down to the archive or get him cleaning patrol cars for a few days, she will have to involve Morell, which of course is out of the question.

Three: after Morell’s little speech in the car the other day, it is clear that the sympathies of the station are already with Friberg. If she attempts to squash him as soon as she takes command, it might look as if she’s punishing him for being her rival for the post.