He hadn’t said a word since he got out of bed two hours after the rest of the family. Malin made no attempt to persuade him to talk. She didn’t want to ask him about the knives again, partly because there was no point, but also because she didn’t dare.

Because I don’t want to hear the dark thoughts inside his head.

She popped her head around the living-room door.

‘I’m going for a shower.’

No response.

‘Give me a shout if you need anything.’

‘Yeah, yeah,’ Hedvig said.

Dan was upstairs. That was good; if she left the bathroom door open, she’d be able to hear what he was doing.

Five minutes. She could easily shower in five minutes.

Or maybe she should just have a stand-up wash at the basin?

She hesitated in the doorway. She could see Dan, sitting in an armchair in the bedroom and staring out of the window. He looked contented, almost as if a smile was playing around the corners of his mouth.

Terrifying.

And that was what finally made her reach a decision. She couldn’t carry on like this, unable to gather her thoughts. She couldn’t stay awake 24/7, day after day. She had already noticed how her heightened state of anxiety had taken its toll. Her hair was greasy and she didn’t smell good. She wasn’t eating properly either; she hadn’t bothered with breakfast.

This can’t go on.

She tore off her clothes, dropped them on the bathroom floor. If Dan saw her, he didn’t react. The needle-sharp streams of water hit her face, brought her back to life.

Three minutes.

She didn’t need ten, she didn’t even need five.

After only one minute she turned off the shower and quickly stepped out, desperate to reassure herself that Dan was still sitting in the window. He was.

Back into the shower. She soaped her body with gel, rubbed a blob of shampoo through her short hair, rinsed away the suds. Not exactly a luxurious experience. Without even picking up a towel she checked on Dan again. He hadn’t moved.

Her heart was pounding.

This can’t go on.

There was water all over the floor, and Malin shivered as she dried herself. A swipe of deodorant under each arm. She pulled on her knickers, trousers, vest top. Hung up the towel, left the bathroom.

And discovered that Dan was no longer sitting in the armchair.

Chapter 11

‘Another death,’ Alex said when he managed to get hold of Renata Rashid, the medical examiner.

‘I’m afraid so.’

‘Are we sure this has something to do with me? Because if not, I . . .’

‘The deceased is a man aged about seventy. I’m not at all sure his death has anything to do with you, but I mentioned something I found during the post-mortem to a colleague, and he said I should call you.’