‘So Christian was always overweight when he was growing up?’ asked Patrik. He tried to picture the slim, adult Christian that he knew as a plump little boy, but he couldn’t do it.

‘He wasn’t just chubby, he was fat. Really fat.’

‘How did Alice feel about Christian?’ asked Paula.

Ragnar smiled, and this time the smile was also evident in his eyes. ‘Alice loved Christian. She adored him. She was always following him around like a little puppy dog.’

‘And how did Christian react to that?’ Patrik asked.

Ragnar paused to think. ‘I don’t think he really minded. He mostly left her alone. But occasionally he looked a bit surprised by the love she showered on him. As if he didn’t understand why.’

‘Maybe he didn’t,’ said Paula. ‘Then what happened? How did Alice react when he moved away?’

A curtain seemed to fall over Ragnar’s face. ‘A lot happened all at once. Christian disappeared, and we couldn’t take care of Alice any more – not the way she needed.’

‘Why not? Why couldn’t she live at home any longer?’

‘She was practically grown up, and she needed more support and assistance than we could give her.’

Ragnar Lissander’s mood had suddenly changed, but Patrik didn’t know why.

‘Has she never learned to talk?’ he interjected. Alice hadn’t spoken a word while they were in her room.

‘She can talk, but she doesn’t want to,’ said Ragnar with the same closed expression on his face.

‘Is there any reason why she might hold a grudge against Christian? Would she be capable of harming him? Or anyone else close to him?’ In his mind Patrik again pictured her – the girl with the long dark hair, her hands moving over the white piece of paper, drawing pictures that might have been done by a five-year-old.

‘No, Alice wouldn’t hurt a fly,’ said Ragnar. ‘That’s why I wanted to bring you here, so you could meet her. She could never hurt anybody. And she loves… loved Christian.’

He took out the drawing that she’d given him and placed it on the table in front of them. A big sun at the top, green grass with flowers at the bottom. Two figures: one big and one small, happily holding hands.

‘She loved Christian,’ he repeated.

‘Does she even remember him? It was so many years ago that they last saw each other,’ Paula pointed out.

Ragnar didn’t reply. He just motioned towards the drawing. The two figures. Alice and Christian.

‘Go ahead and ask the staff here if you don’t believe me. But Alice is not the woman you’re looking for. I don’t know who would want to harm Christian. He disappeared out of our lives when he was eighteen. A lot must have happened since then, but Alice was the one who loved him. She still does.’

Patrik looked at the little old man. He knew that he would have to do as Ragnar had suggested. He needed to question the staff here. Yet he was convinced that Alice’s father had spoken the truth. She was not the woman they were looking for. They were back to square one.

‘I have something important to report,’ Mellberg interrupted Patrik just as he was about to present the new information. ‘I’m going to cut back my work hours to part-time for a while. I’ve realized that my leadership has been so successful here at the station that I can now entrust all of you with certain tasks. My knowledge and experience can be put to better use elsewhere.’

Everyone stared at him in surprise.

‘It’s time for me to devote myself to the most important resource in our society: the next generation. The ones who will carry us into the future,’ said Mellberg, hooking his thumbs under his braces.

‘Is he going to be working at the youth centre?’ Martin whispered to Gösta, who merely shrugged in reply.

‘Besides, it’s also important to give the women a chance. As well as the immigrant minorities.’ He glanced at Paula. ‘I know that you and Johanna are having a hard time working out how to juggle the maternity leave you’re both entitled to so you can care for Leo. And the boy needs a strong male role model right from the start. So I’m going to be working here part-time; it’s already been approved by the top brass. The rest of the time I’ll be spending with the boy.’

Mellberg looked around at his colleagues, apparently expecting them to applaud. But an astonished silence had fallen over the room. Most surprised of all was Paula. This was news to her, but the more she thought about the idea, the better she liked it. It meant that Johanna could start working again, while she could combine her work schedule with hours of maternity leave. And she couldn’t deny that Mellberg took good care of Leo. So far he’d proven to be an excellent babysitter, except maybe for the incident with the taped nappy.

After the initial surprise had worn off, Patrik could only agree with the plan. From a practical standpoint, it meant that Mellberg’s hours at the station would be reduced by at least half. And that might not be such a bad thing.

‘I commend your initiative, Mellberg. I wish that more people shared your point of view,’ Patrik said. ‘And now I think we’d better get back to the investigation. A lot has happened today.’

He reported on the second trip to Trollhättan that he and Paula had made, about their conversation with Ragnar Lissander and their visit with Alice.

‘So you have no doubt in your mind that she’s innocent?’ asked Gösta.

‘I’m positive she’s not the one. I talked to the staff, and her mental capabilities are at the level of a child.’

‘I can’t imagine how Christian could live with the knowledge of what he’d done to his sister,’ said Annika.

‘And the fact that she adored him couldn’t have made it any easier,’ added Paula. ‘It must have been a heavy burden for him to bear. Provided that he knew what he’d done.’

‘We also have something to report.’ Gösta cleared his throat and cast a glance at Martin. ‘I thought I recognized the name Lissander, but I couldn’t recall where I’d heard it before. And I wasn’t one hundred per cent positive. The old grey matter isn’t as reliable as it once was,’ he said, pointing at his head.

‘And?’ said Patrik impatiently.

Gösta again glanced at Martin. ‘Well, first we had a talk with Kenneth Bengtsson, but he claims to know nothing. He also says that he never heard of the name Lissander. But I kept wondering why our former colleague Ernst kept popping into my head every time I thought about that name. So we went to see him.’

‘You drove over to Ernst’s house?’ said Patrik. ‘But why?’

‘Just listen to what Gösta has to say,’ Martin said, and Patrik fell silent.

‘Okay, well, I told Ernst about what I’d been thinking. And he worked it out.’

‘What did he work out?’ Patrik leaned forward.

‘He was able to tell me where I’d heard the name Lissander before,’ said Gösta. ‘It was because they lived here in Fjällbacka for a while.’

‘Who?’ Patrik asked in bewilderment.

‘Mr and Mrs Lissander, Iréne and Ragnar. With their children Christian and Alice.’

‘But that’s impossible,’ said Patrik, shaking his head. ‘If that was true, why didn’t anyone ever recognize Christian? Ernst must be mistaken.’

‘No, it’s true,’ said Martin. ‘Evidently Christian took after his biological mother, and he was terribly overweight when he was growing up. Take away one hundred and thirty pounds and add on twenty years and a pair of specs, and it would be hard to believe he was the same person.’

‘How did Ernst happen to know the family? And you too?’ asked Patrik.

‘Ernst was infatuated with Iréne. Apparently they got to know each other at some party, and after that Ernst always wanted to drive past their house as often as we could. So we took a lot of drives past the Lissander home.’

‘Where did they live?’ asked Paula.

‘In one of the houses right near the Coast Guard dock.’

‘You mean near Badholmen?’ asked Patrik.