Things were happening fast – so fast that lunchtime simply disappeared, so fast that none of them had time to think. Alex continued his conversation with Fredrika on the phone as he sped towards the Solomon Community, and she told him what she’d learned from Mimmi. As he pulled up he received another call, informing him that the police had finally gained access to The Sanctuary. The woman had given her name as Malin Johansson; she had a number of fractures to both hands, but otherwise she and her two children were unharmed. Physically, at least. Their mental health was another matter. Their stay in the house hadn’t been voluntary; none of them had set foot outside for almost two months.

Unbelievable. Sick, Alex thought.

He didn’t like having to come back here. The Solomon Community had mourned two dead children and a preschool teacher; was more grief about to come their way?

Fredrika met him at the main door, and listened in horror to the latest news.

‘I don’t understand how Ross chooses his victims,’ she said. ‘I mean seriously, it doesn’t make sense. It would have been understandable if he’d gone for those he held responsible for his daughter’s death – at least as far as the selection process goes. But Malcolm Benke, Lovisa Wahlberg, Henry Lindgren?’

‘I guess the job is the common factor. Ross has worked on various cases where he’s felt that certain people have got away scot-free, and now he’s putting everything right. To use a rather overworked phrase.’

‘Very overworked. Which leads us to Morgan Sander and his book – what’s he got to do with all this? Why that particular book?’

‘Torbjörn Ross doesn’t strike me as someone who has a particularly strong interest in literature,’ Alex said. ‘Could it be his wife who provided him with the inspiration, purely by chance?’

‘Maybe. I expect we’ll find out sooner or later.’

They’d asked Ivan to check out the information provided by Mimmi Ross. It didn’t take him many minutes to confirm the basics. The woman who’d been murdered by her husband, Dan Johansson’s former client, had indeed been called Maria. Her parents lived out in Danderyd, and Ivan was on his way over there with a colleague to interview them.

‘What if the mother insists that Ross wasn’t Maria’s birth father?’ Fredrika said. ‘She might even claim that she doesn’t know anyone by the name of Torbjörn Ross.’

‘Then we carry out a DNA test if necessary.’

A security guard emerged and checked their ID carefully before letting them in. It was just like before: the security system was testimony to the fact that the Community was part of a persecuted people.

They were shown into the head of security’s office, and Ed asked them to sit down.

‘Tell us about the house.’ Alex got straight to the point.