Gunnar rubbed his hands over his face several times.

“Sit down,” he said, pointing at the chair in front of him.

“What is it?” she said, sitting down.

“I just want you to interview a witness who was in the parking lot yesterday when the train with the dead woman rolled into the station. He says he saw a man. Find out what he saw. His name is Stefan Ohlin.”

“Sure, sure, sure.”

Gunnar took a deep breath.

“And one more thing.”

“What is it?”

“Your attitude is a little, well, how should I say this. It’s too much.”

“Are you going to fire me or what?” Mia crossed her arms over her chest.

“No, I’m not going to fire you. But...you’re sucking energy out of the group with your attitude, and I want you to get it together.”

“Okay. I should shut up, you mean?”

“That’s exactly the attitude I’m talking about.”

“What do you mean? I’m just saying what I think.”

“Well, stop doing that, then. Keep your opinions to yourself and focus on doing a good job instead!”

Mia didn’t answer, just pursed her lips.

“This is how it’s going to be,” Gunnar said. “We have the National Crime Squad looking over our shoulders, and I want you to help me live up to their expectations. We can’t give them any reason to question our work.”

“Sure,” Mia said, nodding slowly.

“Good. So then, I want you to start by interviewing this Stefan guy. Here’s his number. He’s a teacher at Vittra School in Röda Stan, the neighborhood with all the red houses, and wants us to meet him there.”

“Henrik and I will go...”

“You go by yourself.”

“Okay. I’ll leave right away.”

Mia got up and walked toward the door.

“And, Mia...”

Gunnar looked at her with a frown.

“Yes?”

“Show me what you’ve got. Please?”

“I will,” Mia said with a wide, bright smile.

She looked happy, Gunnar thought. Way too happy.

Then he understood.

She had been telling him to go to hell.

With her smile.

* * *

Jana Berzelius did not seem to be in any hurry when she entered the Public Prosecution Office on Olai Kyrkogata 50, in the middle of downtown Norrköping. But in reality she was in a terrible state. She didn’t know how to handle the fact that she had seen the skinny kid Robin Stenberg at the police station. Hadn’t he understood that she was serious? The last thing she wanted was for the police to get involved.

She put her briefcase on the floor and stood behind the desk in her office without sitting down. She didn’t want to sit; she just wanted to stand, wanted to escape the unpleasant feeling that Robin Stenberg was about to do something at the police station that wouldn’t turn out well for her.