Then the wall comes to an abrupt end and she fumbles around blindly.

She holds up the candle and realises she has come to a fork in the road. She carefully reaches around the corner, hesitates. The tunnel she’s in looks as if it continues straight ahead, but further down there’s another passage branching off to the left. With mounting panic she tries to figure out in which direction she has been walking. The entrance to The Complex is east-facing and she saw the stairs down to the wine cellar on her first visit – they must have faced north. But they might not be straight. They probably aren’t. Or . . . ?

I have no idea, she admits to herself and feels her throat burn with held-back tears. And what fucking difference does it make anyway?

With her hand on the wall, she rounds the corner and sets off down the perpendicular passage. It seems wider than the first one and for a while her claustrophobia subsides slightly. Moments later, she pulls up short. Even with the candle, she almost walked straight into a wall in front of her. It’s a dead end.

Then the candle goes out.

Chapter 78

78

Karl Björken peers into the front seat of the abandoned car and whatever hope he’d had of being mistaken is instantly dashed. It’s definitely Karen’s car – her handbag is on the seat.

But there’s no sign of Karen herself. He straightens up and looks around.

Without taking off his gloves, he opens the handbag and digs around, without finding what he’s looking for. He pulls out his phone and dials Karen’s number. Two seconds later, he hears the familiar ringtone from somewhere inside the car. As he fishes Karen’s phone out from the space between the seats, he hears an annoyed voice behind him.

‘Fucking bitch just opened the door and left. She didn’t seem right in the head.’

Karl turns around.

‘What did she look like?’ he asks the man who is standing behind him, craning his neck to see inside the car.

He’s dressed in a dark blue down jacket that looks like it’s puffed itself up in the strong wind. His eyes express a mix of anger and curiosity.

‘I don’t know,’ he says slowly. ‘Dark, I think. Long hair, yeah, she had long hair. I remember it whipping in the wind.’

‘Did you see which direction she went in?’

‘Are you simple or something? Isn’t there just one possible direction unless you’re planning to go for a swim?’

The man nods toward the terminal building.

‘I meant after that,’ Karl says, gritting his teeth. ‘Did you see which way she went after that?’

The man shakes his head and Karl turns away. He slams the door shut and turns to the young man in the yellow vest who has now joined them.