‘Me? You know what the situation is here. All the flats in the building are occupied. There’s not so much as a cubbyhole that I could offer you.’

‘But there’s a very nice three-room flat immediately below ours.’

Alvar gave him a surprised look.

‘But the only three-room flat in the building is …’ He fell silent. Then he shook his head. ‘Not on your life. No, that’s impossible. Bente would never agree.’ Alvar craned his neck and glanced nervously in the direction of the next room, where his Norwegian secretary and secret mistress was usually sitting at the desk.

‘That’s not my problem. But it might be yours.’ Mellberg lowered his voice. ‘I don’t think your wife Kerstin would appreciate this little … arrangement of yours.’

Alvar glared at Mellberg, who experienced a momentary discomfort. If he’d made a mistake, Alvar could throw him out of the office head first. He held his breath. Then Alvar started to laugh.

‘My God, Mellberg. You drive a hard bargain. But let’s not allow a woman to get in the way of our friendship. We’ll solve this thing. I have a few contacts, and I’m sure I can fix Bente up somewhere else. Shall we set the move-in date for a month from now? But I don’t intend paying for any sort of painting or repairs. You’ll have to handle that yourselves. Agreed?’ He held out his hand.

Mellberg breathed a sigh of relief and shook hands with Alvar.

‘I knew I could count on you,’ he said. His stomach was bubbling with joy. Leo might be moving out, but only one floor down. He’d be able to run downstairs and see the boy as often as he liked.

‘I think we should celebrate with another drink. What do you say?’

Mellberg held out his glass.

A frenzy of activity was going on at Badis, but Vivianne felt as if she were moving in slow motion. So many things had to be finished, so much had to be decided. But she couldn’t stop thinking about Anders’s evasive answers. He was keeping something from her, and that had opened up an abyss between them, so wide and deep that she could hardly see to the other side.

‘Where should we put the buffet tables?’ A waitress was giving her an enquiring look, and she was forced to pay attention.

‘Over there on the left. In one long row so people can walk on both sides.’

Everything had to be arranged properly. The place servings, the food, the spa rooms, the treatments. All the rooms had to look perfect, with flowers and fruit baskets for the guests of honour. And the stage needed to be set up for the band. Nothing could be left to chance.

Vivianne’s voice was beginning to go as she answered questions coming from all directions. Every once in a while she would notice the sparkling ring on her finger, and she had to fight an urge to tear off that ring and hurl it against the wall. She couldn’t lose control now, not when they were so close to their goal and life was finally about to take a new turn.

‘Hi. What can I do to help?’

Anders looked terrible, as if he hadn’t slept a wink all night. His hair was dishevelled, and he had dark circles under his eyes.

‘I’ve been trying to reach you all morning. Where have you been?’ She was filled with dread. The thought that had crept into her mind refused to leave her alone. She didn’t really believe that Anders was capable of such a thing, but she wasn’t a hundred per cent sure. How could anyone truly know what went on inside someone else’s mind?

‘I turned off my mobile. I needed to sleep,’ he said, keeping his eyes averted.

‘But …’ She stopped herself. It was pointless. After everything they’d shared, Anders had chosen to shut her out. No words could express how hurt she felt.

‘You could make sure that there’s enough to drink,’ she said instead. ‘And enough glasses. I’d be grateful if you’d take care of that.’

‘Sure. I’ll do anything for you. You know that,’ said Anders. For a moment he was his usual self. Then he turned around and headed for the kitchen.

I knew it, Vivianne thought. Tears ran down her cheeks. She wiped them off on her sleeve and started walking towards the spa rooms. She couldn’t fall apart. That would have to wait until later. Right now she had to see to it that they had enough massage oil and oyster scrub.

‘We’ve had a phone call from our colleagues in the violent crimes division in Stockholm. They’re trying to locate Nathalie.’ Patrik saw the astonishment on his colleagues’ faces. He must have had the same expression when he answered his mobile at home less than half an hour ago and Annika told him the very same thing.

‘Why is that?’ asked Gösta.

‘Her husband was found murdered, and they’ve been worried that Nathalie and her son might also be dead. Fredrik Wester was apparently one of the big guns in the Swedish narcotics trade.’

‘You’re kidding,’ said Martin.

‘I had a hard time believing it myself. But apparently the narcotics division has had him under investigation for a long time, and recently he was found dead, shot in his own bed. He seems to have been there for a while, possibly a couple of weeks.’

‘But why didn’t anyone find him sooner?’ asked Paula.

‘Evidently the family had packed their bags and were due to leave for their house in Italy. They were going to be gone all summer. So everyone assumed that they’d left.’

‘What about Nathalie?’ said Gösta.

‘As I said, at first they were afraid that Nathalie and Sam would be found in some wooded area with bullets in their foreheads. When I confirmed that they’re both here, the Stockholm police concluded she must have fled with her son, trying to escape from whoever killed her husband. She might even have witnessed the murder, and in that case, it was smart to run away. But they can’t rule out the possibility that she was the one who pulled the trigger.’

‘What’s going to happen now?’ Annika looked upset.

‘Two of the officers handling the investigation will be arriving here tomorrow. They want to talk to her as soon as possible. We’ll wait until they get here.’

‘What if Nathalie and Sam are in danger?’ said Martin.

‘Nothing has happened so far, and tomorrow we’ll have reinforcements. I’m hoping that our colleagues will know how to handle the situation.’

‘Yes, it’s probably best to allow Stockholm to deal with this,’ Paula agreed. ‘But am I the only one who thinks …’

‘That there’s a connection between the murder of Fredrik Wester and the murder of Mats Sverin? Yes, that thought occurred to me, too,’ said Patrik. He had been almost convinced who the perpetrator was, but this new information changed everything.

‘So how did it go in Göteborg?’ asked Martin, as if he could read Patrik’s mind.

‘Good and bad.’ He told them what had happened during the two days that he and Gösta had been away. When he was done, silence settled over everyone in the kitchen, except for Mellberg, who sniggered at whatever scene was playing out in his mind. He smelled suspiciously of whisky.

‘After having no leads, we now have two plausible leads,’ Paula concluded.

‘Yes, and that’s why it’s extremely important not to get locked into any particular theory. We need to keep working. Tomorrow the officers from Stockholm will be here, and then we can talk to Nathalie. I’m also waiting for Ulf in Göteborg to advise how we can best proceed with IE. And then there’s the technical evidence to consider. Still no match for the bullet?’ asked Patrik.

Paula shook her head.

‘It’ll probably take time. The boat is also being examined, but we haven’t heard back yet.’

‘What about the cocaine bag?’

‘There are still some fingerprints that haven’t been identified.’

‘I was thinking about the boat. We need to consult an expert on the currents out there, someone who can tell us what direction the boat would have drifted, how far, and so on.’ Patrik looked around and finally fixed his gaze on Gösta.