But under no circumstances was she going to give in to the fear and let it win. If she told Tuvesson, she would be forced to implement countermeasures, which in turn would lead to more headlines. Exactly what they wanted. They fed off the attention. Putting up a fight and having uniformed officers guard her door was tantamount to baring her throat, which would only make them stronger.

What was the point of scaring people if no one was scared? What was the point of a demonstration with your right arms in the air if no one was watching? No journalists, no flashing cameras and no raucous counter-protests.

She pulled off her helmet, locked her bike and continued into the garden, where Hampus was working to restore the lawns. Flies were buzzing around him, drawn by the sweat steaming from his vest top. He must have been at it for hours. The garden no longer looked like a construction site and the lawn was back in place.

But the swastika was still visible, from some angles even more clearly than before. Whether because of the grooves in the ground or just because it was more trampled and muddied where Hampus had put in the most effort was impossible to say.

It was as though the whole lawn had been branded forever. As though it didn’t matter how much they dug, raked and tried to level the ground. The swastika was there to stay, and the grass would always be slightly shorter or greener or have fewer dandelions there.

‘Oh, great, now you show up.’ Hampus stuck the shovel in the ground, turned to her and pushed his hair out of his face. ‘Where the fuck have you been?’

‘I’ve been at work,’ she said and spread her feet slightly wider to signal that she wasn’t in the mood for his bullshit. ‘We have a few things to get on with, in case you haven’t noticed.’

‘How busy can you be if you felt free to leave more than two hours ago.’ He gave her a smile and pushed some snus up under his lip. ‘That’s right. You see, I took the liberty of calling up and asking that little synth dweeb you have in reception. According to him, you left a long time ago.’

‘Fine, I took a little detour up past Kullen. I needed some alone time.’

‘You did, did you? Interesting. And it never occurred to you that maybe you should come home and help with this instead?’ Hampus gestured towards the lawn.

‘No, actually.’ She shook her head. ‘And why should it have? You’re the one who absolutely needed a house and garden, not me. Have you forgotten that this is your little project?’