Berlin was clearly shaken. Fredrika’s head was spinning, and the solid ground was shifting slightly. Aftershocks, nothing to worry about.

‘Where was the gun found?’

‘In the garage.’

‘Where in the garage?’

‘Behind a pile of winter tyres.’

‘And did they find Ross’s prints on it?’ Berlin asked.

‘They only found it fifteen minutes ago, so no, not yet.’

‘I don’t think we should expect too much in terms of prints,’ Fredrika cautioned. ‘We’ve found no trace of Ross at any of the crime scenes. He’s been very careful.’

‘Maybe.’ Their colleague nodded and walked away.

‘So that’s that,’ Berlin said.

‘Looks like it.’

But Fredrika was picturing Torbjörn Ross in her mind’s eye, an ageing man with heavy Wellington boots and the lack of sharpness in his eyes that came with the passing years. He would never have managed to build the kind of house he’d been lucky enough to rent from the Solomon Community. Never.

‘What are you thinking?’ Berlin wanted to know.

That this is more than Ross is capable of.

‘That I’m not convinced.’

Was that really her own voice she was hearing? Ross was the perpetrator. It had to be Ross.

‘Why not?’

‘I don’t think Ross is the kind of person who can flit about between various crime scenes like a ghost. I’m sorry, but the fact that he’s left no traces anywhere . . . it just doesn’t fit.’

Berlin shook her head.

‘It’s always the same with you. Always the same lack of respect.’

Fredrika glanced up in surprise. ‘I’m sorry?’

‘You don’t understand police officers, especially not the older ones like Torbjörn and Alex.’

‘Hang on a minute, I—’

‘Torbjörn is one of the most competent colleagues I’ve ever worked with. If there’s anyone who could commit a series of murders like this without being found out, it’s him.’

Fredrika was lost for words. Of all the things Berlin could have chosen to say, this was the most astonishing, the most ridiculous and the most childish. In the end she had to point out the obvious.

‘If he could do all that without being found out, how come he’s sitting in an interview room right now? And how come he’s owned up to one crime without offering any resistance, but not the rest – even though he knows the game is up and he’s not going to be able to get away with it?’

‘He knows we don’t have any evidence of his involvement in the other cases. But of course he’s unaware of what’s been found at his house today.’