‘Well, here’s everything.’ Lennart handed them the stack of papers. ‘As I said, I’m sorry that I couldn’t be of more help.’

‘It’s not your fault. We’ll have to keep looking, that’s all,’ said Paula, but she couldn’t hide how discouraged she felt. The discovery of Gunnar’s boat had given them a little boost, but the euphoria hadn’t lasted long. It seemed very unlikely that the boat would provide any new leads in the investigation.

‘I’ll drop you off and then go home to change my clothes,’ she told Martin as they neared the station. Then she gave him a warning look.

He nodded, but she knew that the minute he stepped in the door, he would be gleefully embellishing the story of how she’d taken an involuntary dip in the water.

Paula parked outside her building and dashed upstairs to the flat. She was still feeling chilled, as if the cold water had seeped right into her bones. Her hands shook as she put the key in the lock, but finally she got the door open.

‘Hello?’ she called, expecting to hear her mother’s cheerful voice from the kitchen.

‘Hi,’ she heard. It was Johanna’s voice, coming from the bedroom. She went in, surprised to find her home from work at this time of day.

Something was going on. Something that had kept Paula awake at night, listening to Johanna breathing. Even though Paula could tell that she too was wide awake, she hadn’t dared say anything. She wasn’t sure that she really wanted to know what was troubling her. Now Johanna was sitting on their bed with such a dejected look on her face that Paula wanted to turn around and run away. All sorts of thoughts raced through her mind. All kinds of potential scenarios popped up, and she didn’t want to see how any of them played out. But now they were both here, face to face, in an empty flat without all the usual commotion to hide behind. No dogs running around. No Rita singing loudly in the kitchen and playing with Leo. No Mellberg shouting obscenities at the TV. Nothing but silence. And the two of them.

‘What on earth are you wearing?’ asked Johanna at last, looking Paula up and down.

‘I fell in the water,’ said Paula, glancing down at the ugly fleece shirt which was so big that it reached almost to her knees. ‘I just came home to change.’

‘Why don’t you do that. Then we’ll talk. I can’t have a serious conversation with you dressed like that.’ She smiled wryly, which made Paula’s stomach lurch. She loved Johanna’s smile, but she hadn’t seen it much lately.

‘Could you make some tea while I get changed? Then we can sit in the kitchen.’

Johanna nodded and left the room. Paula’s fingers were stiff with cold and fear as she changed into jeans and a white T-shirt. Then she took a deep breath and went out to the kitchen. This was not a conversation that she wanted to have, but she had no choice. All she could do was close her eyes and dive in.

He hated lying to her. She had been everything to him for so long, and it frightened him that for the first time he was prepared to sacrifice what they had together. Anders was breathing hard as he headed up the steep, narrow slope towards Mörhult. He had to get out in the fresh air for a while, and away from Vivianne. There was no other way to view it.

Sometimes the past seemed so close. Sometimes he was still five years old, lying under the bed next to Vivianne, with his hands over his ears and his sister’s arm wrapped tightly around him. Under that bed they had learned so much about surviving. But he was no longer content simply to survive. He wanted to live, and he didn’t know whether Vivianne was helping or hindering him.

A car came rushing past at high speed, and he had to jump on to the verge. Badis was behind him. Their big project, and their last. Erling was the one who was making it all possible. And now the poor devil had actually proposed to Vivianne.

Erling had phoned to invite Anders to dinner tonight to celebrate the engagement. Somehow Anders doubted that his sister was aware of these plans. Especially since that fat little police chief and his live-in girlfriend had been invited as well. Anders had declined the invitation, offering some feeble excuse. The combination of Erling and Bertil Mellberg didn’t sound like a recipe for a pleasant evening. And under the circumstances, it would feel strange to be celebrating.

The road started to slope downward. He didn’t really know where he was going; it didn’t matter which direction he chose. Anders kicked at a stone that rolled down the hill until it disappeared in a ditch. That was exactly how he was feeling at the moment. As if he was rolling faster and faster down a slope. The only question was, which ditch would he wind up in? It was bound to end badly, because there was no good option. He’d lain awake all night, trying to work out a solution, a compromise. But there was none to be found. Just as there had been no middle road in the days when they lay under the bed with their heads pressed against the wooden slats.

He stood on the dock in front of the little stone bridge. There were no swans in sight. He’d been told that they usually built their nests to the right of the bridge, and every year they had a new flock of babies, who lived precariously close to the road. Apparently swans mated for life. That was what he wanted too. So far the only woman in his life was his sister. Not as a lover, of course, but she had always been his partner, the one he was supposed to spend his life with.

Now everything had changed. He needed to make a decision, but he had no idea how he was going to do that. Not when he could still feel the wooden slats against his head and Vivianne’s protective arm holding him. Not when he knew that she had always been his defender and his best friend.

They had almost lost the battle for survival. The alcohol and the smells had been present even when their mother was still alive. But at the same time there had been small islands of love – moments that they had clung to. When she chose to escape, when Olof found her in the bedroom with an empty pill bottle on the floor, the last remnants of their childhood vanished. He blamed them, and they were severely punished. Every time the ladies from social services dropped by, he would pull himself together and charm them with his blue eyes, showing off his home and Vivianne and Anders, who silently stared at their feet as the ladies fussed over him. Somehow he always found out in advance when they were planning to come over, so the flat would be clean and tidy when they showed up for their supposedly impromptu visits. Why hadn’t he just given them up if he hated them so much? Anders and Vivianne had spent so many hours imagining the new mother and father they could have had if only Olof would let them go.

Presumably he wanted to keep them close so he could watch them suffer. But in the end they were determined to win. Though he’d been dead for years now, he continued to serve as their incentive. They were determined to prove to him that they could be successful. And success was now within their reach. They couldn’t simply give up and admit that Olof had been right when he said that they were worthless and would never amount to anything.

Off in the distance Anders could see the swan family approaching. The baby swans were bobbing along after their stately parents. They looked so sweet, with their downy grey feathers, but they were nothing like the stylish birds they would eventually become. Had he and Vivianne grown up to be big, beautiful birds? Or were they still little grey cygnets, hoping to be something else?

Anders turned around and slowly walked back up the hill. No matter what he decided, he had to do it soon.

‘We know about Madeleine,’ said Patrik as he sat down in front of Leila without waiting for an invitation.

‘I’m sorry?’