“Great! Should we go to The Colander? The usual?”

“No.”

“Eight o’clock?”

“No.”

“Perfect! Should I pick you up?”

“No. I want someplace new.”

Per looked confused, pulled at his blond hair.

“Are you sick?” he said.

“Just need a change. Let’s go to Ardor, eight thirty. I’ll meet you there.”

Then she shut the door.

* * *

“I didn’t find any car with license plate GUV 174,” Ola said upon meeting Henrik Levin in the hallway. His arms were filled with file folders.

“As I suspected,” Henrik said with a worried look. “Mia said that the guy seemed a little unsure. Or the plate could have been fake.”

“Possible,” Ola said, thinking for a moment. “It’s too bad, though. This was the best tip we had to go on, right?”

“Yes, and we haven’t gotten any more info from the street,” Henrik said. “Our usual sources have been silent. Either they don’t know anything or they don’t dare say.”

“Typical,” Ola said.

“Yeah, but I still think something about it is strange. A young girl dies with her body packed full of narcotics—someone should have seen or heard something. It’s not usually the case that someone hides their tracks so well. This is no amateur we’re dealing with. They clearly have their eye on importing and distributing. Someone has to be willing to talk.”

“Had an eye, you mean. Obviously something went wrong with the girl on the train.”

“Absolutely, but as I said, they’re calculating for some waste, as in all import/export businesses.”

Ola held out the files.

“I did a little searching of my own and printed out all of the files on men with connections to drug trafficking. I thought someone must know something. Two of the files are thick as Bibles.”

“Great,” Henrik said, taking the files. “If we aren’t going to get anything from the streets, we’ll have to do our own digging.”

* * *

In spite of the growing blister on her skin, Pim continued fighting to get the ropes around her wrists to snap. Even with the chill in the room, sweat was running down her back.

Suddenly she heard footsteps outside the door.

She hurried to the corner of the room, overturning the bucket in the process. She picked it up and huddled with her knees to her chest, taking short, silent breaths, sitting completely still, listening.

The door slid open and a man stepped into the room. He was wearing dark clothes, and his eyes were as dark as night. He put a plate of food on the floor.

Pim looked at the food, then pushed it away.