Bronzelius shrugs. ‘It’s the only thing that makes any sense if you consider what happened to the rest of you. It explains why the Russians were after you, right? They got Gabriella arrested so that she wouldn’t get hold of the information Jacob had. But they hadn’t reckoned on you and George. And Myriam’s wild bunch.’

‘But why didn’t they work with you?’ Klara says. ‘Why did they go their own way?’

‘You have to remember they thought Yassim was a terrorist,’ he says. ‘And best case, Jacob was naive; at worst, an accomplice. And it got out of hand. They lost control and direction. Apparently they intended to send at least Yassim to Egypt.’

He shakes his head.

‘Their spycraft looks a little different than my mediocre cop work, or whatever it is she called it. But there are still rules that even they are supposed to follow. At the same time, it’s not entirely unproblematic to storm in like we did. There will be quite a bit to untangle. But the terror attacks have been averted. People have been arrested throughout Europe. This ended up being quite a success, even if the road here was messy. Especially for you and your friends.’

‘Sorry I was so angry with you before,’ Klara says. ‘I was still furious from this summer.’

Bronzelius smiles at her. ‘No problem. I’ve been through considerably worse. And no matter how it ends up, it was good we got hold of that little cell of Myriam’s. Who knows how many people they’ve sent to be interrogated in Egypt or Yemen or God knows where? But it’s over now, I can promise you that.’

‘The rule of law has been restored,’ Klara says. ‘Who would have thought we’d do it together a couple of months ago?’

He smiles again. ‘It was goddamn good luck that you showed up,’ he says. ‘Otherwise, the Russians would have taken Jacob in Brussels and we’d be a few hours away from one of the worst terrorist attacks in European history.’

Klara turns to the bed again and sees George starting to move his head. She stands up. Bronzelius does as well.

‘You’re no longer suspects,’ he says. ‘Just so you know. The police are just here for some added security. I’ll have to interview you, so don’t leave Stockholm before I have the chance to do that, okay. But otherwise I can only say: thank you.’

‘And Yassim?’ she says.

‘Who knows?’ he says. ‘We’ll interview him too and try to figure out his story. It’s not likely that the Russians will want him back after this.’ He falls silent and looks out through the window.

‘So what will happen to him?’ Klara asks quietly.

Bronzelius shrugs and turns to her again. ‘If we can’t prove he’s committed any crime then he’ll be deported,’ he says.