The mule had run straight out into the forest, away from the building, and had gotten away. He was furious and whipped the ropes against the wall.

No one could get away. Ever.

That was rule number one.

He thought feverishly, taking out his cell phone but halting at the last second.

It wasn’t time to call yet. There was nothing to report. He had already lost a whole delivery this week and had too much against him.

Now the other mule had run away, too, and still with two capsules in her. The delivery wasn’t assured. So what would he say at this point? That things hadn’t worked out—again?

He didn’t make the call.

It was that simple.

He was responsible for the numbers. No one other than he knew exactly how many capsules she had swallowed. He could lie and say that she had only swallowed 48. He could also lie a little more and say that she was already taken care of—snuffed out, dead.

It was a dense forest, after all.

And really fucking cold.

* * *

The kitchen was new, with oak countertops and white cabinets, a stainless steel refrigerator and two ovens. The chandelier hanging from the ceiling was adorned with ten half-burned candles.

“Ida isn’t answering now, either,” Magnus said, setting his cell down on the table. “Just voice mail.”

He met Henrik’s gaze, swallowing.

“Does she usually screen her calls?” Henrik asked.

“Sometimes. When we’ve had an argument, she doesn’t usually want to answer.”

“Do you argue often?”

“Not any more than usual with a teenager...”

“But why do you want to talk to her?” Petra asked. “What did she do?”

“She hasn’t done anything,” Henrik said calmly.

“Is it this boy then? Did he do something?”

“The young man who calls himself Eternal_sunshine is actually named Robin Stenberg,” Henrik said, taking a deep breath. “This morning he was found dead in his apartment.”

“Dead?”

Petra covered her mouth with her hands.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t say any more than that,” Henrik said.

“And Ida?” Petra asked anxiously. “Did something happen to Ida?”

“We...” Mia began.

“Is she okay?” Petra interrupted. “She’s okay, right?”

Henrik lifted his gaze.

“We have no reason to think otherwise. But we need to get ahold of her, of course.”

“How is it that you didn’t know what her friend’s real name was?” Mia asked.

“As I said, it’s a completely new thing,” Magnus said, sighing. “Ida met this guy in a chat room recently, and we talked about it just yesterday. We didn’t think it was a good idea for her to stay overnight with someone we’ve never met. I mean, she’s only sixteen years old. We think it’s appropriate to at least meet him.”

“So you had an argument about it?” Mia asked.