turn red, and she looked away. Then she went back to her packing.
‘How long do you think we need to stay there?’ she asked, stuffing into the suitcase a fistful of knickers and stockings that she’d taken from the top drawer.
‘How should I know?’ Christian had taken off his bathrobe, washed the red paint from his chest, and put on jeans and a T-shirt. She still thought he was the handsomest man she’d ever seen. She loved him so much it hurt.
Sanna closed the drawer and glanced out into the hall where the boys were playing. They were quieter than usual. More serious. Nils was pushing his cars back and forth, while Melker was making his action figures fight with each other. Both were playing without making the normal sound effects, and without quarrelling, which almost never happened.
‘Do you think they…?’ She started to cry again and had to start over. ‘Do you think they were harmed?’
‘They don’t have a scratch on them.’
‘I don’t mean physically.’ Sanna couldn’t understand how Christian could be so cold, so calm. This morning he had seemed just as shocked, confused, and scared as she was. Now he was acting as if nothing had happened, or as if it were a mere trifle.
Someone had come into their home while they were asleep and gone into the boys’ room. And now they might feel scared and unsafe for ever after, no longer secure in the knowledge that nothing could happen to them when they were at home in their own beds. That nothing could happen when their parents were only a few yards away. Their feeling of security might now be gone for good. Yet their father sat there, so calm and distant, as if he didn’t care. And because of that, right now, at this particular moment, she hated him.
‘Children forget so quickly,’ said Christian, looking down at his hands.
She saw that he had deep scratches on the palm of one hand, and she wondered how he’d got them. But she didn’t ask. For once she didn’t ask. Could it be that their marriage was over? If Christian couldn’t let her in and love her even when something evil and horrible was threatening them, maybe it was time for her to give up.
She kept on tossing things into the suitcase, not caring what sort of clothes she was packing. Her tears made everything look blurry, and she simply grabbed whatever she could pull off the hangers. Finally the suitcase was filled to overflowing, and she had to sit on it to close it properly.
‘Wait, let me help you.’ Christian got up and added his weight to the suitcase so that Sanna could close the zipper. ‘I’ll take it downstairs.’ He grabbed the handle and carried it out of the room, past the boys.
‘Why do we have to go to Aunt Agneta’s? Why are we taking so many things with us? Are we going to be gone for a long time?’ Melker sounded so anxious that Christian stopped halfway down the stairs. Then he continued on, without saying a word.
Sanna went over to her sons and squatted down next to them. She tried to sound calm as she said:
‘Let’s pretend that we’re going on holiday. But we’re not going far away, just over to visit your aunt and cousins. You usually think that’s lots of fun. And I’ll make you a special treat for dinner tonight. Since we’re on holiday, you can have some sweets after dinner, even though it’s not Saturday.’
The boys looked at her a bit suspiciously at first, but the promise of sweets seemed to work magic. ‘Are we all going?’ asked Melker, and then his brother repeated, with a slight lisp: ‘Are we all going?’
Sanna took a deep breath. ‘No, just the three of us. Pappa has to stay here.’
‘That’s right. Pappa has to stay here and fight with those stupid people,’ said Melker.
‘What stupid people?’ said Sanna, patting his cheek.
‘The people who messed up our room.’ He crossed his arms and looked angry. ‘If they come back, Pappa can beat them up!’
‘Pappa isn’t going to fight with any stupid people, because they’re not coming back.’ She stroked Melker’s hair, silently cursing Christian. Why wouldn’t he go with them? Why didn’t he say anything? She stood up.
‘This is going to be so much fun. A real adventure. I just need to go and help Pappa load everything in the car, then I’ll come back and get you. Okay?’
‘Okay,’ both boys said, but they didn’t sound very enthusiastic. She could feel them watching her as she went downstairs.
She found Christian at the car, loading the suitcases in the boot. Sanna went over to him and took him by the arm.
‘This is your last chance, Christian. If you know something, if you have the slightest clue about who is doing these things to us, I beg you to tell me now. For our sake. If you don’t tell me, and later I find out that you did know something, then it’s over. Do you understand? It’s over!’
Christian stopped, the suitcase hovering halfway inside the boot. For a moment she thought that he was really going to tell her something. Then he shook off her hand and dropped the suitcase inside.
‘I don’t know anything. Stop nagging me!’
He slammed the boot shut.
When Patrik and Paula arrived back at the station, Annika stopped Patrik before he headed to his office.
‘Mellberg woke up while all of you were gone. He was a bit upset that he hadn’t been informed.’
‘I stood outside his office and pounded on the door, but he never opened it.’
‘That’s what I told him, but he claimed that he must have been so engrossed in his work that he didn’t hear you.’
‘Oh, right,’ said Patrik, noticing once again how sick and tired he was of his incompetent boss. But to be honest, it had been a relief not to have Mellberg in tow. He cast a quick glance at his watch. ‘Okay, I’ll go and inform our honourable leader now. Let’s meet in the kitchen for a quick briefing in fifteen minutes. Please tell Gosta and Martin too. They’re on their way back right now.’
He headed straight for Mellberg’s office and loudly knocked on the door.
‘Come in.’ Mellberg looked as if he were deeply immersed in studying a stack of documents. ‘I heard that things are heating up, and I must say that it doesn’t look good for the police to respond to important emergency calls without the chief in attendance.’
Patrik opened his mouth to reply, but Mellberg held up one hand. Apparently he wasn’t done yet.
‘It sends the wrong signal to the citizens if we don’t take such situations seriously.’
‘But -’
‘No, not another word. I accept your apology. Just don’t do it again.’
Patrik could feel his pulse hammering in his ears. The bastard! He clenched his hands into fists, but then opened them again and took a deep breath. He had to try to ignore Mellberg and focus on what was important: the investigation.
‘Tell me what happened. What have you found out?’ Mellberg leaned forward eagerly.
‘I was thinking we should all get together for a meeting in the kitchen. If that works for you?’ said Patrik, his jaw tight.
Mellberg thought for a moment. ‘That might actually be a good idea. Then we won’t have to go over everything twice. All right, shall we get going, Hedstrom? Time is of the essence, you know, when it comes to this type of investigation.’
Patrik turned his back on his boss and left the room. Mellberg was undeniably right about one thing. Time was of the essence.
17
