She swept her gaze around the table and realized that Jana Berzelius wasn’t there, either. It was her case, for Christ’s sake.

Jana had been gone for a few days now, Mia thought. And she had harped on Mia about being devoted to her work.

The head of a preliminary investigation who wasn’t actively participating should be taken off the case. Maybe even get an official warning.

That’d be unfortunate. Really unfortunate if that happened, she thought just as Anders started blabbing again.

“I won’t keep you any longer,” he said, “but we have one important point left. Ola has, so to speak, done some reconnaissance.”

“Yes,” Ola said. “I’ve compiled a list of all the properties along the coast near Kälebo. It will likely take all evening and night to go through all of the addresses.”

“That long?” Henrik said.

“There are twelve pages of addresses to go through,” Ola said.

“So it’s best that we get started,” Anders said.

“Yes. I’ll see to it that...” Ola said.

“No,” Anders interrupted. “I don’t know where your boss is, but I’ll take over responsibility here and see that the patrols get their instructions. Give me the list.”

Ola fell silent.

“But I can do it. It’s no problem for me...”

“Thank you for your concern,” Anders said. “But I think we’ll be more effective if everyone does what they’re best at. You surely have more important things to do, Ola. Or is this going to be a problem?”

“No,” Ola said, handing over the stack of papers.

Chapter Thirty-One

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

LARGE, HEAVY SNOWFLAKES fell from the sky as Henrik Levin drove through downtown. He was on his way home, smiling at the thought that he would now be spending the second evening in a row with his family. He rested one hand on the two pizza boxes stacked on the passenger seat so he wouldn’t risk them sliding off when he swung around the roundabout.

The traffic had calmed down. The school buildings were dark. The daycare playgrounds were empty. A couple sat in a bus shelter, arms around each other, both with their eyes toward the sky, watching the snowflakes.

Before he left the office, he had called restaurant Ardor and confirmed that Per Åström had been there with a woman at 8:30 p.m. on Friday. It had certainly put his mind at ease, but his thoughts still revolved around where Jana Berzelius could be now. He was going to ask someone on the force to show Ida Eklund a picture of Jana so they would know for certain whether it was Jana she had seen.

Henrik turned into the driveway, carried the pizza boxes into the kitchen and ripped off the lid.

“I’m home!” he called.

“But we’ve already eaten.”

Emma stood in the doorway, hands buried in the large knitted cardigan she had wrapped around her body.