‘Not really. It only requires a moment of courage. After that, it’s all over, and everybody else has to clean up the mess, if you’ll pardon the expression. In my opinion, that’s not courage. That’s cowardice. Gunnar wasn’t thinking about Signe at that moment. If he had, he wouldn’t have done it. He would have shown more courage by staying with her, so they could help each other. Anything rather than choosing the coward’s way out. And that’s something you have never chosen.’

‘Well, according to that woman there, you can solve all your problems by doing yoga, not eating meat, and taking five deep breaths a day.’ Anna was pointing at the TV where an enthusiastic health guru was expounding on the only way to happiness and good health.

‘How can anyone find happiness without meat?’ asked Erica.

Anna couldn’t help laughing.

‘You’re such an idiot,’ she said, giving Erica a poke with her elbow.

‘You can talk! You’re the one who looks like a patient just released from the loony bin.’

‘That’s so mean.’ Anna threw a pillow at Erica with all her might.

‘Whatever it takes to get you to laugh,’ said Erica quietly.

‘I suppose it was only a matter of time,’ said Petra Janssen. Bile was threatening to rise in her throat, but as the mother of five children, she had developed a greater tolerance for disgusting smells over the years.

‘Yes, it’s no big surprise.’ Konrad Spetz, Petra’s long-term partner, seemed to be having more trouble quelling the nausea he felt.

‘The narcotics guys will probably be here any minute.’

They left the bedroom. The stench followed them, but in the living room on the floor below, it was easier to breathe. A woman in her fifties was sitting on a chair, sobbing as one of their younger colleagues tried to comfort her.

‘Was she the one who found him?’ Petra nodded towards the woman.

‘Yes. She’s the cleaning woman for the Westers. She usually comes in to clean once a week, but since they were away, she only needed to come in every other week. When she arrived today, she found … well …’ Konrad cleared his throat.

‘Have we located the wife and child?’ Petra had been the last one to arrive on the scene. Today should have been her day off, and she and her family had been out at Gröna Lund amusement park when she received the phone call.

‘No. According to the cleaning woman, the family had packed their bags to go to Italy. They were supposed to be gone all summer.’

‘We need to check with the airlines. If we’re lucky, we’ll find them on the beach, soaking up the sun,’ said Petra, but her expression was grim. She was all too aware of who was lying in that bed upstairs, and what sort of people he associated with. It seemed highly improbable that his wife and child were enjoying the sunshine. It was much more likely that they were lying dead in the woods somewhere. Or at the bottom of the bay at Nybroviken.

‘I’ve already got someone looking into it.’

Petra nodded with satisfaction. She and Konrad had worked together for over fifteen years, and their relationship functioned better than many marriages. But in terms of appearance, they were an odd couple, and that was putting it mildly. At five foot ten, and with a solid build that had been shaped by her five pregnancies, Petra towered over Konrad, who was not only short but slight in stature. He had a strangely asexual air about him that made Petra wonder whether he even knew how babies were made. At any rate, in all their years together, she’d never once heard him mention any sort of love life, with either a man or a woman. And she’d never asked. What they had in common was an acute intellect, a dry sense of humour, and a commitment to their job, which they’d managed to retain in spite of all the reorganizations inflicted on them by bosses who were political appointees with no understanding of what constituted good policework.

‘We need to put out an alert for them and talk to the boys in narcotics,’ he added.

‘Boys and girls,’ Petra corrected him.

Konrad sighed. ‘All right, Petra. Boys and girls.’

Petra’s five children were all daughters, so women’s rights were a sensitive subject. He knew that Petra thought women were superior to men, but he’d never been foolish enough to ask her whether that wasn’t reverse discrimination. He was smart enough to keep his thoughts on that subject to himself.

‘What a mess it is up there.’ Petra shook her head.

‘Looks like a number of shots were fired. The bed is full of bullet holes, and Wester is too.’

‘What made them think it would be worth it?’ She let her gaze sweep over the bright living room and then shook her head again. ‘Sure, this is one of the most gorgeous houses I’ve ever seen, and no doubt they were living the good life, but they must have known that sooner or later everything would go to hell. And then he ends up rotting in his own bed, lying on the silk sheets with his body full of bullet holes.’

‘That’s something wage-slaves like you and me will never understand.’ Konrad got up from the deep white cushions of the sofa and headed for the front hall. ‘It sounds like the narcotics team is at the door.’

‘Good,’ said Petra. ‘Now we’ll get to hear what the boys have to say.’

‘And the girls,’ said Konrad, and he couldn’t help smiling.

‘What should we do?’ asked Gösta, sounding resigned. ‘It doesn’t sound as if it’s a good idea, talking to those guys.’

‘No,’ admitted Patrik. ‘We should probably leave that as a last resort.’

‘So what next? We suspect the IE carried out the assault, and possibly the murder, but we don’t dare talk to them. Fine police officers we are.’ Gösta shook his head.

‘Let’s head back to the place where Mats was working when the assault occurred. So far we’ve only talked to Leila, but I think we should find out what the other staff members have to say. As I see it, that’s the only way to move forward at the moment.’ He turned on the ignition and started driving towards Hisingen.

They were ushered inside at once, but Leila was looking a bit exasperated when they were shown to her office.

‘Look, we do want to help, but I don’t know what you’re expecting to gain by coming here again.’ She threw out her hands. ‘We’ve shared the documents that we have, and we’ve answered all your questions. We simply don’t know anything else.’

‘I’d like to talk to your staff. There are two others here in the office, aren’t there?’ Patrik’s voice was friendly but firm. He realized that it was a nuisance, them turning up like this, but at the same time the Refuge was the only place where they might find out more information. Mats had obviously been dedicated to this organization and its mission, so maybe it was here that they’d learn more about him.

‘Okay, you can sit in the break room,’ said Leila with a sigh, motioning to the door to the right of her office. ‘I’ll send in Thomas, and then he can get Marie when you’re done talking to him.’ She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. ‘After that, I’d appreciate it if we could go back to working in peace. We understand that the police need to investigate the murder, and we feel for Matte’s family, but we have important work of our own and there’s nothing else we can tell you. In the four years that Matte worked here, he never said much about his personal life, and no one here has any idea who would want to kill him. Besides, that happened after he moved away.’

Patrik nodded. ‘I understand. Once we’ve talked to the other staff members, we’ll try to leave you alone.’

‘I don’t mean to sound uncooperative, but I’m delighted to hear that.’ She left to speak to her staff while Patrik and Gösta installed themselves in the break room.

A moment later a tall, dark-haired man in his thirties came in. Patrik had seen him hurry past on their previous visits, but they hadn’t exchanged more than a few words.