Lilja had no problem understanding if he was cross with her. She would likely have been, too, had the situation been reversed. But the truth was that she had no faith in him as a boss. As an officer of the law and a detective, yes. She knew no one more meticulous and determined than Klippan. But he wasn’t a leader, and everyone, with the possible exception of Klippan himself, knew as much. In an attempt to break the sullen silence, she turned on the radio.

‘Three dead and around twenty injured, of which several are women and children, makes the fire at a refugee reception facility outside Kvidinge one of the deadliest in Skåne in recent years,’ the news anchor was saying. ‘According to the Bjuv Police, there are several leads but at present no suspects. One of the theories is that this may be retaliation for the firebombing of the local Sweden Democrats’ offices. What follows is an excerpt from this afternoon’s interview with local party chairman Sievert Landertz.’

‘You have published the addresses of several refugee reception facilities on your Facebook page. Isn’t that aiding and abetting Nazis and xenophobic organizations, particularly in the light of the most recent fire?’

‘Absolutely not,’ Landertz replied. ‘That’s just typical headline-grabbing, left-wing nonsense.’

‘But the Kvidinge reception facility is one of the facilities whose addresses you published.’

‘All we’ve done is to inform citizens of what is going on. That’s what you’re supposed to do in a democracy. The municipalities, on the other hand, constantly circumvent their duty of providing information to local residents. And do you know why? So the local residents won’t have time to protest.’

‘But aren’t you even slightly worried about possible consequences?’

‘We condemn all forms of violence. And I can promise you that if someone has their mind set on committing violence against people or property, they would have no trouble finding the addresses for themselves. It’s not rocket science.’

‘No, this isn’t working any more,’ Klippan exclaimed, breaking his record-long silence and turning off the radio. ‘It’s getting dark. I have to move closer if we want to have a chance of seeing whether they turn west or east on road 21.’

‘Sure. You’re in charge.’

‘I know.’ Klippan sped up. ‘I just wanted to inform you and head off any unnecessary bickering at the pass.’

Lilja was about to ask who was bickering, but instead managed to squeeze out a smile and a nod just as Klippan came to a stop behind Landertz’s car, which was idling at the junction with road 21, waiting for a gap and indicating to turn left.

‘By the way, have you heard anything from Fabian?’ Klippan said after a while.

‘No. Have you?’

‘No.’