‘There you are!’ Bruno shouted. ‘What are you doing? We said we were going swimming – we’ve set up lamps and stuff. Come on!’

‘We’re coming.’ Simon shaded his eyes against the light and glanced at Carina.

The expression on his face shocked her. It wasn’t excitement, or fear that Bruno had caught them. It was something else, something that stabbed her in the belly like a rusty knife. Pity.

Simon fucking Vidje, the stupid little music nerd who’d been panting over her for years, who’d definitely fantasised about her while he was wanking several times a week, felt sorry for her.

How dare he!

Chapter 13

13

Autumn 2017

When Anna attended a leadership course at the beginning of the 2000s, her tutor had been a very experienced murder investigator. He often said that the most dangerous thing you could do when conducting an investigation was to make up your mind too early. The second you did that, your brain immediately began to interpret every piece of information from that point of view, to the extent that it would sometimes actually ignore anything that hinted at a different conclusion.

‘Hang on to your doubts,’ he would say. ‘Keep an open mind. That’s what differentiates a good investigator from a bad one.’

The mural fits in well with that mantra. If you think it depicts a small dark pool surrounded by trees and steep cliffs, then it does. You can look at it a hundred times and see nothing but reflections in the water. But as soon as you realise there is something else, an outline just beneath the dark surface, it is impossible to look at the picture without seeing the figure.

Anna and Agnes have been talking about the painting, Karl-Jo and Simon Vidje all morning. Agnes has been so captivated that she hasn’t even asked about the possibly imaginary intruder, which suits Anna perfectly. She certainly doesn’t want Agnes to feel unsafe in her own home, especially not now, when they’ve finally found a way to get closer. A common interest. They’ve already decided to make a fresh attempt to find the location of the quarry so that Agnes can take some photographs. The mere thought of the expedition puts Anna in a good mood, in spite of the tragic undertone.

She should start the morning by preparing for her conference call with the commissioner, but instead she fills her coffee mug, closes her office door and clicks on the Wikipedia link Agnes has just sent her from the train.