He pushed his chair back and left the room. Curses came bubbling out of his mouth, but he had no one to heap them on. At the other end of the hallway, he spotted a figure. A PhD student whose name he didn’t know. She quickly retreated; when he passed her room, the door was closed.

He went outside and got in his car. He sat there for a long time.

The rage wouldn’t subside. He was so upset the key shook when he inserted it into the ignition. He shifted into reverse and pulled out. When he spotted Micke’s Peugeot, he had a sudden urge to ram it, and in the next moment, he had. He heard the crunch. It just happened; these things can be honest mistakes. He had a hard time imagining that Micke had been the one to break into his office. But it made no difference. He thought about the way he had stood in front of the pigeonholes. Micke, who he had thought of as a friend. Or something along those lines anyway. A pleasant colleague. Who had now become an unpleasant colleague. Joining the rest of them.

*

He went home. William was sitting in his blacked-out bedroom with his earphones on, staring at his computer screen, where a little man was running down a corridor with a rifle in his hands. He was completely focused. Next to the mouse mat was a plate and tall glass. The dark-brown ring at the bottom indicated that he had been drinking chocolate milk. Like a little kid. Anders stared at his scrawny neck and wondered what it would feel like to snap it.

The kitchen looked much as he had expected. The milk and butter were sitting out, the bread was on the cutting board, halfway out of its plastic bag. Every single cupboard was open and several drawers were pulled out. Like a fucking poltergeist had torn through the room. Even the microwave was open. When he picked up the butter knife, yellow globs dripped from it.

He threw the door open and turned the overhead light on. William whipped around and stared at him, eyes wide. Then he took his earphones off and put them on the keyboard.

‘You’re going to clean up the mess in the kitchen.’