Alex stood there as if he’d been struck by lightning.

‘Another death.’

‘Another death,’ Berlin confirmed.

‘Does Ross know that the Solomon Community has contacted us?’

‘No, and I made it very clear that that can’t happen. Not until we’ve taken a look at the house.’

‘Do we know who the victim is?’

Berlin nodded and placed a print-out of a photograph in front of Alex. He didn’t recognise the man at first; he’d been in the water for almost twenty-four hours, and the face was bloated.

‘I don’t . . .’

‘Dan Johansson.’

Alex blinked.

‘Shit,’ he whispered.

Berlin picked up the photograph.

‘What about the rest of the family?’ Alex asked.

Berlin looked shaken.

‘Still alive. The head of security called the emergency services and reported what had happened. The first patrol car got out there pretty quickly, but . . . apparently it’s impossible to gain access to the house.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Exactly what I say. The place has top-level protection against any form of intrusion. It’s impossible to force the doors or windows without resorting to a degree of violence that would risk injuring those inside. The officers on site have seen a woman and two children through the windows. They described the woman as hysterical, not surprisingly. We have two cars with members of our team on the way – we’ll see what they find.’

Alex felt drained of energy by what he’d just heard.

‘I don’t understand what kind of house Ross has rented.’

‘It’s the Solomon Community’s safe house. Ross told them he wanted it for his daughter and her family.’

Alex had no idea what to say, what to think.

‘But Ross told you his daughter was dead. And Fredrika hasn’t been able to find any trace of a daughter, dead or alive.’

‘Absolutely, but this is the second time he’s brought up this alleged daughter.’

‘So why is he pretending that Dan Johansson’s wife is . . .’

‘I don’t know,’ Berlin interrupted him.

‘Sorry, I’m just thinking out loud. What do we do now?’

‘Wait to hear from our colleagues when they arrive at the house.’

‘And Ross?’

‘He’s in his office. If he tries to leave the building, the surveillance team will arrest him.’

There was a knock on the door and one of the admin assistants came in.

‘Excuse me, but we’ve just received a large box of envelopes from Noah Johansson’s funeral business.’

‘The wills. Send it down to forensics,’ Berlin said.

Alex wasn’t happy. ‘I don’t like this. Not one little bit. How the hell did the Solomon Community get tangled up in this mess?’

‘It’s extremely unfortunate. Could Ross have worked for them at some point?’

‘Why would he have done that?’

‘He must know people there – otherwise how would he have been allowed to rent their safe house?’