‘Yes, very close. It was Iréne’s mother who originally owned the house. She was a real bitch, from what I heard. For many years she and her daughter had no contact whatsoever, but when the old lady died, Iréne inherited the place, so the Lissanders moved here from Trollhättan.’

‘Did Ernst know why they moved away from Fjällbacka?’ asked Paula.

‘No, he had no idea. But apparently it was quite sudden.’

‘So it seems that Ragnar didn’t tell us everything,’ said Patrik. He was really getting sick and tired of all the people who apparently had secrets that they refused to divulge. If everyone had been willing to cooperate, they probably would have solved this case long ago.

‘Good work,’ he said, nodding to Gösta and Martin. ‘I’m going to have another talk with Ragnar Lissander. There must be some reason why he never mentioned that they had once lived in Fjällbacka. He ought to have realized that it was just a matter of time before we found out anyway.’

‘But that still doesn’t tell us who the woman is that we’re looking for. It seems she should be someone that Christian knew when he was living in Göteborg. After he moved away from home and before he came back to Fjällbacka with Sanna.’ Martin was thinking out loud.

‘I wonder why he came back here,’ Annika interjected.

‘We need to find out more about the years that Christian spent in Göteborg,’ said Patrik. ‘So far we know of only three women who have figured in Christian’s life: Iréne, Alice, and his biological mother.’

‘Could it be Iréne? She would have a motive for seeking revenge, considering what Christian did to Alice,’ said Martin.

Patrik paused to think for a moment, but then shook his head.

‘I’ve also been thinking about her, and we can’t rule her out. But I don’t think so. According to Ragnar, she never found out what had happened. And even if she did know, why would she also target Magnus and the others?’

In his mind he pictured the disagreeable woman they had encountered at the house in Trollhättan. He heard again her contemptuous remarks about Christian and his mother. And suddenly a thought occurred to him. It was something that had been hovering in the back of his mind ever since they’d met with Ragnar for the second time. It was the one thing that didn’t seem to fit. Patrik picked up his mobile and quickly tapped in a number. Everyone sitting at the table looked at him in surprise, but he held up one finger as a sign that they shouldn’t speak.

‘Hi, this is Patrik Hedström. I actually wanted to talk to Sanna. Okay, I understand. But could you go and ask her a question for me? It’s important. Ask her if the blue dress she found was her size. Yes, I know it’s an odd question. But it would be a big help if you could ask her. Thanks.’

Patrik waited, and after about a minute Sanna’s sister, Agneta, was back on the line.

‘Oh, really? Okay. Good. Thanks a lot. And say hi to Sanna.’ Patrik ended the conversation with a pensive look on his face.

‘The blue dress was Sanna’s size.’

‘And?’ said Martin. He seemed to be speaking for everyone.

‘That’s a little odd, considering that Christian’s mother weighed more than three hundred pounds. So the dress must have belonged to someone else. Christian lied to Sanna when he told her it was his mother’s.’

‘Could it have belonged to Alice?’ said Paula.

‘That’s possible. But I don’t think so. There must have been another woman in Christian’s life.’

Erica glanced at the clock. It was turning out to be a long workday for Patrik. She hadn’t heard from him since he’d left the house that morning, but she hadn’t wanted to bother him by phoning. Christian’s death must have caused utter chaos at the station. Patrik would come home when he could.

She hoped that he wasn’t still mad at her. He’d never been truly angry with her before, and the last thing she wanted was to disappoint or upset him.

Erica ran her hand over her stomach. It seemed to be growing uncontrollably, and sometimes she felt such a dread of what was to come that she could hardly breathe. At the same time she was longing for it. Such ambiguous emotions: joy and concern; panic and anticipation. Everything blissfully mixed up together.

Anna must be feeling the same way. Erica felt guilty that she hadn’t been very receptive to listening to her sister talk about her own pregnancy. She had been so caught up in her personal situation. Yet after everything that had happened with Lucas – Anna’s former husband and the father of her two children – plenty of emotions had probably been stirred up now that she was pregnant. And with a new man in her life. Erica was ashamed by how selfish she’d been, talking only about her own feelings and worries. She would phone Anna tomorrow morning and suggest having coffee together, or maybe taking a walk. Then they’d have time for a proper chat.

Maja came over and crawled on to her lap. She looked tired even though it was only six o’clock, which was two hours before her bedtime.

‘Pappa?’ said Maja, pressing her cheek against Erica’s stomach.

‘Pappa will be home soon,’ said Erica. ‘But you and I are both hungry, so I think we should make ourselves some dinner. What do you say to that, sweetie? Shall we have a girls’ dinner tonight?’

Maja nodded.

‘How about Falu sausage and macaroni? With lots of ketchup.’

Maja nodded again. Her mamma knew just what to serve for a girls’ dinner.

‘So how should we do this?’ said Patrik, pulling up a chair to sit next to Annika.

It was pitch-dark outside, and everybody should have left for home long ago, but no one was even thinking of leaving the station. Except for Mellberg, that is, who had gone out the door about fifteen minutes earlier, whistling to himself.

‘Let’s start with the public records, even though I doubt we’ll find anything. I went through them before, when I was checking on his background, and I really can’t believe that I missed anything.’ Annika sounded apologetic, and Patrik patted her on the shoulder.

‘I know that you’re a perfectionist when it comes to doing research, but oversights can happen to anyone. If we look through the files together, maybe we’ll see something that you missed the first time. I think that Christian must have lived with a woman when he was in Göteborg – or at least had a relationship with someone. Maybe we can find something that will help us find out who that might have been.’

‘Let’s hope so,’ said Annika, turning the computer screen so that Patrik could see it too. ‘But as I said, he had no previous marriages.’

‘What about children?’

Annika typed something on the keyboard and then pointed at the screen.

‘No, he’s not listed as the father of any children other than Melker and Nils.’

‘Shit,’ said Patrik, running his hand through his hair. ‘Maybe it’s a stupid theory. I don’t know why I have such a strong feeling that we’ve missed something. The answer has to be somewhere in these files.’

He got up and went into his own office. He sat there for a long time, staring at the wall. The ringing of his phone abruptly interrupted his brooding.

‘Patrik Hedström.’ He could hear how discouraged his voice sounded. But when the man on the phone introduced himself and then explained why he was calling, Patrik sat up straighter in his chair. Twenty minutes later he rushed into Annika’s office.

‘Maria Sjöström!’

‘Maria Sjöström?’

‘Christian was living with a woman in Göteborg. Her name is Maria Sjöström.’

‘How did you…?’ said Annika, but Patrik went on without answering her question.

‘There’s also a child. Emil Sjöström. Or rather, there was a child.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘They’re dead. Both Maria and Emil are dead. And there’s an unsolved homicide investigation.’

‘What’s going on?’ Martin came rushing in after hearing Patrik shouting in Annika’s office. Even Gösta moved faster than usual to appear in the doorway, crowding inside with the others.