Ed moved the desk mat in front of him a fraction.

‘Can I rely on your discretion? The Sanctuary is important to us. It would be unfortunate if its existence and location became widely known.’

Alex couldn’t have cared less.

‘Build a new house. Preferably one that actually has an address and appears on a map.’

Ed folded his arms.

‘Start talking,’ Alex snapped. ‘Torbjörn Ross – how did you come into contact with him?’

‘He got in touch with us, asked about the house, wondered if it would be possible to rent it.’

‘How did he know about the house in the first place?’ Fredrika said. ‘You can’t exactly see it from the street.’

‘He was fishing on the lake; I think he came ashore for a pee, then decided to go for a walk.’

‘And stumbled across The Sanctuary.’

‘Yes, and not only that – our former head of security happened to be there, and they knew each other. Apparently they used to work together.’

Alex’s eyebrows shot up. ‘When was this?’

‘Last summer.’

‘And what was the name of your head of security?’

Ed’s eyes narrowed. ‘You already know that.’

‘Peder Rydh,’ Fredrika said.

‘Exactly.’

‘As I understand it, The Sanctuary has always been a well-kept secret. What did Peder tell Torbjörn Ross?’

‘Not much, but Ross worked it out for himself.’

‘Then what?’

Ed sighed impatiently.

‘Ross contacted Peder again. Six months had passed since they’d bumped into each other at the house, and Peder was no longer working for us. However, he and I had kept in touch, and he knew The Sanctuary was empty. Ross was wondering if he could rent it; he had a daughter who was abroad at the time, but when she came back to Sweden she would need protection, a place to hide. Peder passed his request on to the Community, and we decided to say yes.’

Alex and Fredrika exchanged glances as they tried to sort out the timeline without saying too much. Fredrika took the lead.

‘When exactly did Ross ask to rent the house?’

‘In February. He came to see it in April, but didn’t move his daughter in until the end of May.’

‘Did he pass on his daughter’s personal documentation?’

Ed was clearly irritated.

‘Yes, but it was of no interest to me. Ross told me a very personal and tragic tale, which Peder confirmed. The girl’s mother hadn’t allowed Ross to be registered as her father, so someone else’s name was on the birth certificate. She was living under threat, so her details were protected anyway. The name didn’t get us very far; I mean, Malin Johansson is pretty common in Sweden.’

‘Isn’t it just,’ Alex said.

He could have added that Ross’s daughter wasn’t called Malin Johansson, that his daughter was dead, and that Malin had completely different parents.

This doesn’t make sense.