“You probably shouldn’t faint,” she said. “If you faint, your whole hand will be sliced by that knife and for the rest of your life, you’ll have a scar that’s much worse than the one on your face. But if you stay standing, it won’t require more than a couple of stitches.”

Then she turned and continued running up the steps, toward the storage area in the attic.

* * *

The large building at Garvaregatan 6 appeared empty and deserted from street level. The windows were just as black as the sky above. Henrik Levin and Mia Bolander stood next to each other outside the door.

“Are we really going to go in?” Mia asked, shivering.

“Yes, we are,” Henrik said, pulling the door handle. It was locked.

“Why would anyone store their stuff here? There doesn’t seem to be a soul around. We have other things to do, Henrik. Come on.”

“I saw Axel Lundin go in here...”

He stopped short when he heard a howl. They looked at each other. “Let’s take a look around. I’ll go right, you go left.”

He heard her footsteps disappear behind him. The gravel crunched under his feet, until he turned the corner and the soft snow muffled the sound of his movement.

He continued past a doorway that was spray-painted with some illegible message. He noticed a weak light in one of the basement windows, then a shadow moved.

He moved more quickly, searching for a way in. He turned and went back toward the doorway. There was a window with its pane broken out. It was narrow, but it was a way in. He wormed his way inside, cursing as the sharp glass jutted out like knives around the window’s edges, ripping his jacket to shreds.

Thirty seconds later, he found himself on the basement floor. It was pitch-black until his eyes adjusted and he could finally make out the contours in the room.

It smelled musty from old piss. A damp T-shirt lay on the floor, along with toilet paper rolls that had flattened from the dampness, empty beer cans, cigarette butts, empty cigarette packs and a used condom. It looked like a homeless encampment, a place to use drugs and sleep before moving on to a park or maybe even a hospital bed.

Henrik listened quietly.

A sound...like knocking.

He continued in its direction, but regretted having split up with Mia. He took out his phone and whispered his position, asking her to come. Just as he put his cell into his pocket, he heard the sound of breaking glass.

Then through a door he could see the rest of the basement, a long hallway with doors on both sides. Everything was bathed in a dim light.