He pulled out the top desk drawers and realized he’d found what he was looking for.

24

Irene Lilja’s hands shook so badly she had to hold her coffee cup in both to keep from spilling. Granted, she was tired and exhausted after last night’s events. But that wasn’t why her hands were trembling.

It was pure, unadulterated fury.

The thought of Hampus secretly joining the Sweden Democrats had made her so upset that for the first time in several years, she’d broken out in hives; her arms were itching so badly she wanted to scratch herself bloody. She hadn’t even been able to absorb the fact that Klippan had actually managed to identify the man in the police sketch; she’d had to take a two-hour timeout just to calm down.

She had been moderately successful on that score. Once or twice, she’d come close to driving out to confront Hampus at the roadworks on road 111 outside Laröd where she knew he was working, but in the end she’d managed to restrain herself and had instead written a long email in which she explained why she was leaving him. In a postscript, she’d also advised him – for his own safety – to stay as far away from their home as he could for the coming days, so she could pack up her things.

But she hadn’t sent the email. Just as she was about to press send, she’d realized the best punishment would be to leave him without a word of explanation. To secretly sort out somewhere to live and a new phone number and then suddenly just be gone one day, for good. Since he’d gone behind her back, she could go behind his.

Three rapid knocks on her door interrupted her thoughts. Klippan popped his head in. ‘How about it? Ready to get back to it?’

‘Absolutely.’ She put her cup down. ‘Why don’t you start by telling me how you went about identifying him.’ She held up the picture of the smiling Assar Skanås.

‘Not much to tell. Routine investigative work seasoned with a pinch of luck.’ Klippan closed the door behind him. ‘After a while last night, I realized you must have managed to sneak into that event. So instead of twiddling my thumbs, I used the time to note down the numbers of all the cars and motorbikes outside.’

‘So that’s why you didn’t pick up when I called?’