Fredrika noticed the drinks trolley over by the wall, close to Benke’s armchair. She frowned. There was a Polaroid snap next to the fruit bowl. She studied it for a long time, wondering why it was there and who the subjects were. Three men were gazing into the camera, their expressions serious. One was Benke; she didn’t recognise the other two. It was impossible to establish any kind of context; none of them were dressed up. Benke was wearing a pair of chinos and a blue shirt with the sleeves rolled up. Fredrika’s heart skipped a beat. There was a fourth man who looked as if he would rather be anywhere else. He was partly turned away, half his face in shadow. And yet she was sure.

She recognised him.

She showed Alex the photo.

‘Do you know who that is?’ she said, pointing.

‘No. I’m guessing it was taken quite a while ago – Benke’s much younger.’

Fredrika turned the picture over and was disappointed to see no names, no date on the back. She replaced it on the trolley. The CSIs would take it back to HQ, make a copy.

‘The brutality,’ Alex said, interrupting her train of thought.

‘Sorry?’

‘There’s something about this murder that feels brutal. I mean more brutal than usual.’ He sounded almost embarrassed.

‘Depends what you’re comparing it with,’ Fredrika said dryly.

‘Of course. Obviously we’ve seen much worse, but this is . . . unusual. Check the entry wound. The killer didn’t want to risk failure.’

Memories of investigations that had driven her to the brink of insanity floated to the surface.

Brutal, Alex had said. And he was right.

Maybe I’ve become inured to it all. I don’t react the way he does.

She took another look at the Polaroid. It must mean something to Benke. Or to his murderer.

Fredrika wanted to know what that was, but most of all she wanted to know who the fourth man was, the one refusing to look into the camera.

Chapter 4

Could he really be the only one who suspected that something was wrong? Noah Johansson found it difficult to believe that was the case. He didn’t even need to check his diary; if someone asked he could immediately tell them how many weeks and days Dan had been gone. And Noah hadn’t a clue how he was going to get him to come back.