‘It certainly is. They’d be dead by now if they hadn’t found refuge in The Sanctuary, poor souls. It’s wonderful that there are people around like our leaseholder, people who really want to help others.’

Peder noticed that Ed hadn’t mentioned the leaseholder’s name. Always the same caution, the same paranoia. It suited Peder very well. He didn’t want to think about the man who’d rented the house, or why he’d given notice from the middle of September.

‘If there’s nothing else, I need to get back to my son.’

‘I’ll be in touch,’ Ed said.

As soon as the call ended, Peder’s mobile rang again. Alex, for the third time today. Peder didn’t answer.

I already know what you want.

He wasn’t happy. He opened up his laptop, skimmed the headlines. The front pages were packed with articles about the murders that had shaken Stockholm, but he couldn’t find any indication that a suspect had been arrested.

He wondered how long that would remain the case.

Chapter 18

‘It’s okay if you want to go home,’ Alex said.

It was just after seven. Berlin looked tired, but clearly had no plans to leave. A point in her favour – a good captain is always the last to leave a sinking ship.

Alex was frustrated and exhausted.

‘I don’t understand why we can’t find him.’

‘Because he’s a police officer,’ Berlin commented dryly. ‘He knows how to stay under the radar.’

‘But is he even aware that we’re following him?’

‘I think that’s irrelevant. He knows how easy it is to get caught; he’s been so careful right from the start.’

She’d stopped adding the obligatory ‘if he’s actually the person we’re looking for’ and ‘we mustn’t forget that he’s only a suspect at this stage’. She was no longer in any doubt.

Ivan appeared. Even he was running out of energy; the fact that things weren’t progressing as quickly as he’d hoped was taking its toll.

‘Not a single print,’ he said. ‘Not one strand of hair, not the tiniest trace of saliva. Absolutely nothing in Henry Lindgren’s apartment.’

Alex couldn’t keep still, couldn’t stop pacing.

‘It’s unbelievable,’ he said. ‘Completely, totally unbelievable.’

Berlin sat down.

‘Not if Torbjörn is our perpetrator,’ she said. ‘He knows exactly what to do, if you see what I mean.’

Alex nodded.

‘We need to speak to the prosecutor,’ Berlin went on. ‘What – exactly – do we have on Torbjörn Ross right now?’

Alex felt like punching the wall.

‘Nothing,’ he said. ‘Not one fucking thing.’

‘He knew all the victims,’ Ivan offered.

‘Not enough,’ Berlin said. She touched her glasses as if she was about to push them up on top of her head, but changed her mind.

‘What about the daughter?’

‘She doesn’t exist,’ Ivan informed her.