Then Klippan had recounted the conversations he’d had with some of Molly Wessman’s co-workers, who had all spoken of her competence and ability to execute both cutbacks and restructures. Some had, however, mentioned that she had not seemed like herself in the days before the murder. She had allegedly acted nervously and after calling off her presentation to the board halfway through had left the office in a hurry.

He had told the others about his meeting with Flätan, who had concluded that Wessman had been poisoned with ricin, probably at some point on Friday afternoon. He had shown pictures of her concealed tattoo and informed them that it suggested she had been in sexual contact with a certain Columbus, who, as rumour had it, could make anybody push beyond their own sexual limits.

It was undoubtedly their most promising lead, though Tuvesson had remained sceptical and asked him to keep looking into how much truth there really was to the rumours and whether this Columbus was even real.

‘All right. Great, then we know. Thank you.’ Tuvesson put her phone down and turned back to the others. ‘I’m sad to say, people, Assar Skanås is not hiding at Björn Richter’s house, playing with dolls.’

‘Did they check his basement storage area?’ Lilja said.

Tuvesson nodded and glanced at her watch. ‘Klippan, how are you getting on with that?’

‘I think I’ve got it working now.’ Klippan picked up the remote and started the overhead projector, which made his desktop picture – his dog, Einstein, chasing a tennis ball – appear on the wall.

‘Is this going to take long?’ Molander downed the rest of his coffee and looked at his watch. ‘Because my guys are actually sitting around right now, waiting to get started on Molly Wessman’s flat.’

‘It will take as long as it takes. So I would suggest not wasting any additional time.’ Klippan started the 14.32 seconds long video, which had no sound, low resolution and a colour resolution that left a lot to be desired.

Even so, Fabian couldn’t deny there was something fascinating about the images from the ICA Maxi CCTV cameras. There was something almost feng shui about the man’s movements as, completely without warning, he pushed his way through the queueing crowd, placed one hand on the glass counter, swung himself over it as though it were the easiest thing in the world, snatched up the long, thin blade from the cutting board and stabbed the victim in the throat. All in one fluid motion that must have taken hours of practice to perfect.

The most remarkable aspect was the total lack of hesitation during the actual execution, even though there were at least ten witnesses within close range. That took not only nerves of steel but above all careful planning. At the same time, there was something spontaneous about the whole act. As though it were just a spur of the moment thing.