She stared at him.

“I’ve been here at the office. Gunnar...”

“I don’t want to hear any more...”

“No, I understand that, but what I have to say is about the investigation.”

She inhaled again and exhaled slowly. But still no follow-up question from Gunnar.

“Now you’re being really stupid,” she said. “I...”

“Am I the one who’s stupid?”

“Now, listen to me! There’s something I have to tell you.”

“Say it, then,” he said, meeting her gaze.

“You remember the sample I took of what Axel Lundin had under his fingernails?”

“That is incomplete? Yes, both Henrik and Mia are on me about it because you won’t tell them anything.”

“It was incomplete,” she clarified.

For three long seconds, the ventilation system was the only sound in the room.

“What are you trying to say?” he said.

“That I have a match.”

Chapter Thirty-Four

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

SHE CROUCHED DOWN and watched the boathouse that lay scarcely fifty yards beyond her. From here, you couldn’t see her boat. She had laid anchor in a nearby bay, had hidden it as well as she could and had come the last bit on foot.

Jana Berzelius had been sitting in the same place, hidden behind a snow-covered bush. With sweeping, watchful eyes, she looked out over everything around her.

But she didn’t see Danilo.

He wasn’t there, not yet.

She couldn’t let Isra go yet. Isra was her trump card. As long as she was still there, Danilo couldn’t disappear.

She had to move to stay warm. She climbed along the cliffs and tried to find a spot closer to the boathouse to watch from. Just twenty yards from it, she stopped behind a pine tree, turned toward the boathouse and waited.

Suddenly, the door opened.

Someone was coming out.

She saw a figure standing in the doorway and ducked quickly. She slowly looked again, but the figure had disappeared.

Had Danilo shown up? And where was he now? Had he gone into or out of the boathouse?

She couldn’t wait any longer. She had to act quickly now that she knew someone was there. But it bothered her that the sky had begun to grow lighter. The gray light made it harder for her to approach the house unnoticed.

She lay down on the ground and began to crawl along, in the cover of branches from shrubs. She moved slowly so she wouldn’t be seen, knowing that the brain registered movements and sudden interruptions in stillness. No one reacted to an approaching turtle, but everyone reacted to a leopard at top speed. She worked her way forward calmly and methodically, moving her body forward using her lower arms and legs, with her head down the entire time. She regulated her speed and didn’t pause, slowly progressing the whole time until she reached the house.

Then she stood and listened for sounds.

She heard nothing.