‘It’s something Sami. A troll or something.’

‘Maybe Diana told you about the photograph my dad took in Sarek? It’s a picture of a troll. An aerial shot.’

He nodded.

‘They’re real, Håkan. Listen to me. Trolls are real. That mouse is a troll. A small one, but still a troll. And it’s absolutely deadly. We have to beware of it. Because it can do things to us and they won’t be good things.’

‘We have to call the police.’

‘If you want to call the police, you can always do that later. You’ll always have that option. But the option to get Diana back, that is about to expire. So you need to listen to me. I don’t want to hear any more talk about the police for a bit. Are you listening?’

‘I’m listening.’

‘Trolls are real.’

He nodded.

‘Say it, I want you to say it.’

‘Trolls are real.’

‘The reason you can’t find them is that they hide in animal form. They can shapeshift, as it’s called. It happens like this.’

I snapped my fingers and then pointed to the house.

‘That mouse is no mouse, and you can actually tell, because it seems to have only partly transformed. They come in all sizes. Some are mice, others are bears. But inside, they’re something else.’

He swallowed hard.

‘I didn’t see a mouse.’

‘But you felt it. It made you do something you would never have done otherwise. Didn’t it? And that’s proof it was there. You’re not a murderer, are you?’

‘I am now.’

‘No, you’re not. You’re innocent. It’s like that powerful drug, what’s it called, angel dust? You don’t know what you’re doing. You’re innocent.’

He covered his face with his hand.

‘Who was that up there?’

‘No idea.’

‘He might have killed them, they might be around here somewhere.’

‘I doubt it. I’m pretty sure Lennart Brösth has been here and taken the girls. You know who he is, the cult leader.’

He nodded.

‘The thing is that trolls like children. Just like in the stories; in that respect, it’s just like the stories. That was what the Jillesnåle Cult were doing. They protected the trolls and kidnapped children for them. And Susso was onto them. Through sheer happenstance, actually. And when they tried to kill her, she ended up killing a troll. I saw it with my own eyes. It turned into a bear the moment it died. That’s why they’re after her.’

‘But Diana hasn’t done anything,’ he blurted out. ‘She has nothing to do with this.’