Mother devoted all her free time to Alice. So why couldn’t Alice look at her instead of him with those adoring eyes of hers? And why did she take for granted what he would have given anything to have?

He must have dozed off, because he was awakened by a light tap on the door. His book had fallen over his face, and he had been drooling in his sleep, because the pillow was wet with saliva. He wiped his cheek with his hand and groggily got up to open the door. Alice was standing there. In one hand she had a bun, which she held out to him. His mouth watered, but he hesitated. Mother would be angry if she found out that Alice had slipped upstairs to bring him something to eat.

Alice stared at him with her eyes wide. She wanted him to see her, to love her. An image appeared in his mind. An image and the feeling of a baby’s slippery, wet body. Alice staring up at him from the water. The way she flailed about and then lay still.

He grabbed the bun and closed the door in her face. But it didn’t help. The images were still there.

Patrik had sent Gösta and Martin to Uddevalla to see if Kenneth was feeling well enough to talk to them. Torbjörn Ruud’s team of crime techs was on the way. The team would have to split up in order to deal with both the place where Kenneth had fallen and the house belonging to Christian and Sanna. Gösta hadn’t wanted to leave; he would have preferred to stay and have a talk with Christian. But Patrik wanted Paula to stay instead. He thought it would be good to have a woman speak with Sanna and the children. Nevertheless he had been impressed with Gösta’s handling of the situation, and especially his finding the rag and bottle in the basement. With luck, these items would give them the perpetrator’s fingerprints and DNA. Up until now he or she had been too careful to leave a trace.

He stared at the man sitting at the kitchen table facing him. Christian looked worn-out and old. He seemed to have aged ten years since Patrik last saw him. He hadn’t bothered to tie the belt of his bathrobe properly, and his bare chest made him look even more vulnerable. Patrik wondered if he ought to tell Christian, for his own sake, to close up his bathrobe, but he decided not to say anything. His clothing was undoubtedly the last thing on Christian’s mind at the moment.

‘The boys have calmed down. My colleague Paula is going to talk to them and your wife. She’ll be careful what she says and do her best to make sure they won’t be further frightened or upset. Okay?’ Patrik tried to catch Christian’s eye to see if he was listening. At first there was no response, and he considered repeating what he’d just said. But finally Christian nodded.

‘In the meantime, I thought you and I should have a little chat,’ Patrik went on. ‘I know that you haven’t been keen to talk to us before, but this time you really have no choice. Someone came into your house and went into the room where your sons were sleeping. The boys weren’t harmed physically, but it must have been a terribly scary experience for them. If you have any idea about who might be behind this, you need to tell me. Don’t you understand that?’

Again a long pause before Christian finally nodded. He cleared his throat as if to speak, but no words came.

Patrik continued: ‘It was only yesterday that we found out that Kenneth and Erik had also received threatening letters from the same person who sent letters to you. And this morning Kenneth was seriously injured while he was out taking a run. Someone set a trap for him.’

Christian glanced up, looking startled, but then lowered his eyes again.

‘We have no information that Magnus received similar threats, but we’re working from the assumption that the same person was involved with his death. And I have a feeling that you know more than you’re telling us. Maybe because it’s something you don’t want to drag out into the light, or it’s something you think is trivial, but you need to let us decide what’s important. Even the slightest lead could be significant.’

Christian was tracing circles on the table with his finger. Then he raised his head and met Patrik’s glance. For a moment it looked as though there was something Christian wanted to say. Then he shut down again.

‘I have no idea,’ he said. ‘I don’t know any more than you do who could be doing this.’

‘Are you aware that both you and your family are in grave danger as long as this person is at large?’

An uncanny calm had settled over Christian’s face. All trace of worry or concern had vanished. Instead, his expression was what Patrik could only describe as determined.

‘I understand. And I’m sure that you’ll do your best to find out who the guilty party is. But I’m afraid that I can’t help you. I just don’t know anything.’

‘I don’t believe you,’ said Patrik bluntly.

Christian shrugged. ‘Well, there’s nothing I can do about that. I’m just telling you how it is. I don’t know anything.’ As if suddenly aware that he was practically naked, he closed up his bathrobe and pulled the belt tight.

Patrik felt like shaking the man, out of sheer frustration. He was convinced that Christian was holding something back. He didn’t know what it was, or even if it was relevant to the case. But there was definitely something he didn’t want to discuss.

‘What time did all of you go to bed last night?’ asked Patrik, deciding to move on to another topic, but only for the moment. He wasn’t going to let Christian off the hook so easily. He’d seen how terrified the children were as they sat in the bathtub. Next time it might not be a question of red paint. He had to make Christian understand how serious the situation was.

‘I went to bed late, just after one o’clock. I have no idea when Sanna went to bed.’

‘Were you home all evening?’

‘No, I went out for a walk. Sanna and I are having a few… problems. I needed to get some air.’

‘Where did you go?’

‘I’m not really sure. No place in particular. I just wandered around a bit, and then I walked through town.’

‘Alone? In the middle of the night?’

‘I didn’t want to be in the house. Where was I supposed to go?’

‘So you came back home around one? And you’re sure about the time?’

‘I’m positive. I looked at the clock over on Ingrid Bergman Square, and it said quarter to one. It takes about ten or fifteen minutes to walk home from there. So it should have been just about one o’clock when I got back.’

‘Was Sanna asleep?’

Christian nodded. ‘Yes, she was asleep. And the boys were too. The house was quiet.’

‘Did you look in on the kids when you came home?’

‘I always do that. Nils had kicked off the covers, as usual, so I tucked him in.’

‘And you didn’t notice anything odd or out of the ordinary?’

‘You mean like big red letters on the wall?’ he said sarcastically.

Patrik could feel himself getting annoyed.

‘I’ll repeat my question: You didn’t see anything unusual, anything you reacted to, when you came home?’

‘No,’ said Christian. ‘I didn’t see anything that I reacted to. If I had, do you think I would have just gone to bed?’

‘No, probably not.’ Patrik was sweating again. Why did everyone have to keep their homes so hot? He tugged at his shirt collar. It felt like he wasn’t getting enough air.

‘Did you lock the door after you got home?’

Christian paused to think. ‘I don’t know,’ he said. ‘I think so. I usually lock the door. But… but I don’t really recall doing it.’ Now all sarcasm was gone from his voice. He was almost whispering when he said, ‘I don’t remember locking the door.’

‘And you didn’t hear anything during the night?’

‘No, nothing. At least I didn’t. I don’t think Sanna did either. We’re both very sound sleepers. I didn’t wake up until Sanna started screaming this morning. I didn’t even hear Nils…’