‘Shall we divide them up?’ Paula picked up the papers, giving her colleague an enquiring look. ‘I’ll take half, and you can take half. Okay?’

‘Okay,’ said Gösta, reaching for his share. He set the papers on his lap and began leafing through them as he softly hummed to himself.

‘Could you possibly take them to your office?’

‘Oh, all right. Sure.’ Gösta got up and went to his own office, which was right next door.

As soon as she was alone, Paula started going through the documents lying on the desk in front of her. She frowned more and more for every page she turned. After half an hour of intense reading, she got up and went to Gösta’s office.

‘Do you understand any of this?’

‘No, not a word. It’s just a bunch of numbers and terms that I can’t decipher. We’re going to have to ask somebody for help with this. But who?’

‘I don’t know,’ said Paula. She’d been hoping to present Patrik with her findings by the time he got back from Göteborg. But the financial terms used in the documents meant nothing to her.

‘We can’t ask anyone at the council, since they probably have a vested interest in this. What we need is an outsider who’s willing to take a look and explain what it all means. We could send the documents over to the financial division, of course, but then we’d have to wait for an answer.’

‘I’m afraid I don’t know any economists.’

‘Me neither,’ said Paula, drumming her fingers on the doorframe.

‘What about Lennart?’ said Gösta suddenly, his face lighting up.

‘Lennart who?’

‘Annika’s husband. Isn’t he an economist?’

‘You’re right,’ she said, as she stopped drumming her fingers. ‘Come on. Let’s go and ask her.’ She gathered up the papers and headed for the reception area with Gösta on her heels.

‘Annika?’ She tapped lightly on the open door.

Annika spun her chair around and smiled when she saw Paula.

‘Yes? Can I help you with something?’

‘Your husband’s an economist, isn’t he?’

‘Yes, he is,’ said Annika, bemused. ‘He’s head of finance at Extra-Film.’

‘Do you think he could help us out? These were in Mats Sverin’s briefcase.’ Paula waved the stack of papers. ‘They’re financial documents. Gösta and I are completely clueless and need help to work out what they say and whether they’re of any importance to the investigation. Do you think Lennart would be willing to take a look?’

‘I can ask him. If he says yes, when do you need his help?’

‘Today,’ said Gösta and Paula simultaneously, and Annika laughed.

‘I’ll give him a call. I’m sure there won’t be a problem. You’ll just need to get the documents over to his office.’

‘I can take them over right away,’ said Paula.

They waited while Annika talked to her husband. They’d met Lennart many times when he dropped by the station to see Annika, and it was impossible not to like the man. He was over six feet tall and the nicest person imaginable. After many years of trying unsuccessfully to have a child, he and Annika had found out that they could adopt a baby girl from China, so they both had a new sparkle in their eyes.

‘Okay. He said you can bring the documents over. He’s not too busy at the moment, so he promised to look at them immediately.’

‘Great! Thanks!’ Paula gave her a big smile and even Gösta managed a faint smile, which totally transformed his usually gloomy face.

Paula rushed out and got in the car. It took her only a few minutes to drive over to Lennart’s office and deliver the documents, and she whistled cheerfully all the way back. But she abruptly stopped whistling when she pulled up in front of the station. Gösta was standing outside, waiting for her. And judging by his expression, something had happened.

Leila opened the door wearing the same worn denims as before, with an equally baggy sweater, although this time it was grey instead of white. Around her neck hung a long silver chain with a heart-shaped charm.

‘Come in,’ she said, leading the way to her office. It was as neat as on the previous occasion, and Patrik wondered how people managed to keep everything so tidy. Try as he might to be organized, it was as if gremlins snuck into his office and messed everything up the minute he looked away.

Leila shook hands with Martin and introduced herself before they all sat down. He cast an interested glance at the children’s drawings on the walls.

‘Have you found out who shot Matte?’ asked Leila.

‘We’re pursuing various lines of enquiry, but we have nothing further to report at the moment,’ Patrik said evasively.

‘But I assume that you think it has something to do with us, since you’ve come back here,’ she said. Her fingers toyed with the necklace, betraying her agitation.

‘As I said, we haven’t made a great deal of progress. We’re working several potential leads.’ Patrik spoke calmly. He was accustomed to people acting nervous when he came to see them. It didn’t necessarily mean that they had anything to hide. The mere presence of a police officer was enough to provoke anxiety. ‘We just wanted to ask you a few more questions and take a look at the documentation on the women who were offered shelter while Mats was working here.’

‘I’m not sure I can agree to that. It’s sensitive information. If we release details, it might cause trouble for the women.’

‘I understand, but the information will be safe with us. And this is a homicide investigation. We have the legal right to see the documents.’

Leila paused to consider this.

‘Of course,’ she said at last. ‘But I’d prefer not to allow the documents out of the office. If we can agree that everything stays here, then I’ll let you look through whatever we have.’

‘That’s fine. Thanks very much,’ interjected Martin.

‘We’ve just had a meeting with Sven Barkman,’ said Patrik.

Leila immediately began fiddling with her necklace again. She leaned towards them as she spoke.

‘We’re totally dependent on maintaining a good relationship with social services. I hope you didn’t lead him to believe that there’s anything fishy about our organization. We’re already in a rather difficult position, and some people regard us as somewhat unorthodox.’

‘Don’t worry, we made the purpose of our visit very clear, and we emphasized that there’s nothing at all suspect about the Refuge.’

‘I’m glad to hear that,’ said Leila, but she still looked uneasy.

‘Sven estimated that around thirty cases are referred to you from various social services offices every year. Does that sound right?’

‘Yes, I think that’s the number I gave you the last time you were here.’ Her voice took on a more professional tone, and she clasped her hands on the desk.

‘How many of these cases would you estimate end up causing … how shall I put it? Problems?’

Martin had dived in with his question, and Patrik reminded himself that he needed to let him take the lead more often.

‘I assume you mean men who turn up here?’

‘Yes.’

‘As a matter of fact, none. Most men who beat their wives or children don’t think they’re doing anything wrong. In their eyes, it’s the woman who’s at fault. It’s all a matter of power and control. And if they’re going to threaten anyone, it’s the woman and not the crisis centre.’

‘But there is a type of man who might, isn’t there?’ asked Patrik.

‘Indeed. A few every year. But mostly we hear about them from the social services staff.’

Patrik’s attention was caught by one of the drawings on the wall behind Leila, directly above her head. A gigantic figure next to two smaller ones. The big one had fangs and looked angry. He couldn’t understand how anyone could hit a woman; and as for hitting a child … The very thought that someone would hurt Erica or his children made him grip the arms of his chair.

‘How do you handle your cases? Let’s start with that.’