Both Berlin and Alex stared at her, taken aback by her reaction.

‘He’s dead. He was murdered less than an hour ago,’ Berlin informed them.

Chapter 14

The apartment stank of excrement and the early stages of decomposition. When the initial shock had passed, all Vendela could think about was that she never wanted to be found in the same humiliating way.

‘Oh, Henry,’ his ex-wife whispered, dropping to her knees beside his body.

Vera had unlocked the door and let out a stench so powerful that it made them retch. Henry was less than a metre inside; they couldn’t miss him. They both covered their mouths and noses with their hands as they entered the apartment. In fact they ran in, because hope springs eternal, and even though it was obvious that Henry was no longer alive, neither of them was prepared to accept that. Not until they were close enough to see the empty eyes, the grey pallor.

Vendela backed away; death had made Henry unrecognisable.

‘I’ll call the police,’ she whispered. As if something might break if she spoke in her normal voice.

She went out onto the landing. She could hear Vera sobbing and talking to Henry behind her. ‘I told you to look after your heart, Henry. I told you.’

Vendela also started crying. The operator who took her call listened patiently and promised to send a patrol car and an ambulance, just to be on the safe side.

‘Try to make sure that no one else enters the apartment,’ she said. ‘The police will need to preserve the scene of the crime.’

‘The scene of the crime?’

Vendela hadn’t considered the idea that Henry might have been the victim of a crime. He was in his own apartment, behind a locked door.

‘When someone dies at home, the police always have to exclude the possibility of a crime,’ the operator reassured her. Of course. It was standard practice. Vendela sat down on the stairs to wait.

No one attempted to go into the apartment, no one came to find out why the stench had suddenly exploded. Vendela was ashamed to admit that she just wanted someone to come and take Henry away, get rid of the smell so that everything could get back to normal.

Slowly she turned her head and looked at Henry, lying on his back with his feet towards the door. His shoes had thick soles, and a dried leaf was stuck to one of them.

Death had taken him when he’d just arrived home. Or maybe he was on his way out.

He must have been so surprised, Vendela thought.

Chapter 15