“I have to hang up now.”

“Okay. We’ll see you soon, then,” she said.

“Yes,” he said, adding: “I love you,” but she had already hung up.

He put his phone back in his pocket and continued searching. Turning on the desk lamp, he tried to point it in the right direction with one hand while searching with the other. He finally found Anneli’s inventory among all of the papers, skimmed through it all again and finally found what he was looking for: the contents of Robin Stenberg’s refrigerator.

Just as I remembered, he thought.

Sussie had said that her son was a vegetarian. Then why had he had a package of ham in his fridge?

* * *

He heard the bathroom door close and lock.

Karl Berzelius went through the corridor and listened to his own footsteps on the floor. He wasn’t exactly preoccupied, but he did not feel completely focused, either, when he stepped into his office to prepare for the secret meeting that was about to take place—a conversation with a good friend, just the two of them, and everything that was said would remain in that room. Just like it always had.

The vein pulsed in his right temple when he saw the little red box on the desk. He walked toward it, trying to keep calm, to breathe. He knew that his daughter had just visited. No, not his daughter, Jana had visited.

And she had clearly been in here.

The thought irritated him.

What had she done? What had she seen? Why had she been in here?

He glanced in confusion at the bookshelves, papers, binders and files, feeling the anxiety and angst now like a weight on his chest.

He blinked a number of times, trying to keep calm, but he couldn’t erase the worried crease on his forehead.

What had she been doing in here?

He looked at the red box again. The lid was open, and it was empty.

When the bathroom door opened and he heard footsteps in the corridor, he took three long strides forward, took the box and threw it in the wastebasket next to the desk. Then he sat down and prepared for the conversation that could now begin.

Chapter Sixteen

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

THE RIVER WAS several yards wide. The sound of its rushing water drowned out all other sounds. She couldn’t hear branches snapping anymore. Pim turned around several times, well aware that he could catch up with her at any time.

She looked down at the dark, swirling water, hesitating.

Then she stepped into the water.

It was the only way for her to conceal her movements.