Carin stood up, adjusting her jacket, and said, “We have a tight timeline and it will be quite a challenge. Replacing the twenty-one police districts with a single authority can’t be done overnight. As I’m sure you know, we initiated the change in 2010, and now we’re down to the final steps. I understand that you have questions, and I will try to answer them as best I can. Your participation in this process is important to me.”

Carin nodded at the team sitting around the table. Henrik and Anneli smiled, Ola gave her a thumbs-up and Gunnar clapped cautiously.

“Well, congratulations,” Mia said, her arms crossed.

Carin nodded in reply and sat down.

“Carin is right. Your participation and your opinions are important.”

Gunnar sighed loudly. Too loudly.

Anders rubbed his hand across his balding head.

“You know what, Gunnar? I truly believe there are many advantages with the new Swedish Police Authority. But the greatest advantage is probably that the boundaries will be erased, that it will become easier to work together. Don’t you think so?”

* * *

The farm fields were covered in snow, the white blanket taking on a blue cast in the growing darkness. Narrow paths led into the dense forest. Lights from houses and farms glimmered through the trees.

Pim sat with her head resting against the vibrating window on the X2000 express train between Copenhagen and Stockholm. The train had left Copenhagen at exactly 6:36 p.m. and would reach Norrköping in less than four hours.

She touched the passport stuffed into her waistband and felt a gnawing anxiety in her belly. She turned around toward Noi, who sat in the row behind her, arms hanging limp, mouth open. Her gaze was locked on a point far beyond the window.

“Are you sleeping?” Pim asked.

“No,” Noi said, slowly.

“Are you sure someone is going to meet us?”

Noi didn’t answer. She closed her eyes.

“Noi? Noi!”

Noi slowly opened her eyes again and continued to stare out of the window. “I’m freezing,” she said, closing her eyes again. Her head fell gradually forward until her chin met her chest.

“Who’s coming to meet us? Noi? Noi!”

Noi slowly lifted her head back up to meet Pim’s eyes.

Her pupils were awfully small, Pim noticed.

“What’s going on? Are you feeling okay?” Pim asked.

“Nothing...sleep...” Noi slurred.

“Who’s going to meet us? Can’t you answer me?”

But Noi didn’t answer.

Pim pulled her knees up to her chest and sat huddled on the seat, watching the landscape rush past outside. Apart from her anxiety over the drugs still inside her, she felt a different kind of uneasiness now. She remembered clearly the last time she had felt this way.