‘I don’t think so. I wrote that we wanted to talk to her about Mats.’

‘I hope you’re right,’ said Gösta as they got into the car. ‘Where are we going?’

‘The Delsjön nature reserve,’ said Patrik, and drove off with a lurch.

They left the vehicle in the car park and walked over to a picnic area at the edge of the woods. Then they waited. It felt great to be out in the country for a change, and the early summer day was as beautiful as could be. Pleasantly warm and sunny with not a cloud in the sky. Birds were chirping, and there was a quiet rustling in the trees.

It took about twenty minutes before they saw a slender woman walking towards them. Her shoulders were hunched, and she kept glancing around anxiously.

‘Has something happened to Matte?’ She had a surprisingly girlish-sounding voice.

‘Why don’t we sit down?’ Patrik pointed to the bench they were standing next to.

‘Tell me what’s happened,’ she said, as she sank on to the bench. Patrik sat down next to her. Gösta chose to stand off to the side and let Patrik handle the conversation.

‘We’re from the Tanumshede police,’ Patrik told her. The expression on Madeleine’s face made his stomach start to churn. He felt like an idiot for not having realized that they would have to deliver the news of Mats’s death. He was going to have to tell this woman that someone who had clearly meant a great deal to her was now dead.

‘Tanumshede? But why?’ Her hands, which were lying on her lap, clenched into fists, and she gave him a pleading look. ‘Matte is from that area, but …’

‘Mats moved home to Fjällbacka after you disappeared. He got a job there and sublet his flat here in Göteborg. But he …’ Patrik hesitated, but then went on. ‘He was shot almost two weeks ago. I’m sorry, but Mats is dead.’

Madeleine gasped for breath. Her big blue eyes filled with tears.

‘I thought they would leave him alone.’ She buried her face in her hands and sobbed.

Patrik patted her awkwardly on the back.

‘Did you know that your ex-husband and his friends had assaulted Mats?’

‘Of course I knew. I didn’t believe for a minute that story about a gang of teenagers attacking him.’

‘And that was why you decided to flee?’ said Patrik gently.

‘I thought they would leave Mats in peace once we were gone. Before that happened, I was hoping that things could be worked out. That we could hide somewhere in Sweden. But when I saw Mats in the hospital … I realized that no one connected to us would be safe as long as we stayed here. We had to disappear.’

‘Why did you come back? What happened?’

Madeleine pressed her lips together, and Patrik could tell that she wasn’t going to answer that question.

‘It doesn’t do any good to flee. If Matte is dead … That just proves that I’m right,’ she said, standing up.

‘Is there anything we can do to help you?’ asked Patrik, also getting to his feet.

She turned around. Her eyes were still filled with tears, but her expression was stony.

‘No, there’s nothing you can do. Nothing.’

‘How long were you and Mats together?’

‘That depends on how you look at it,’ she said, her voice quavering. ‘But about a year. It wasn’t allowed, so we kept it secret. We also had to be careful because of …’ She didn’t finish her sentence, but Patrik understood. ‘Matte was so different compared to what I was used to. So gentle and warm. He would never dream of hurting anyone. And that was … new for me.’ She laughed bitterly.

‘There’s something else that I have to ask you,’ said Patrik. He could hardly look at her. ‘Do you know whether Mats was mixed up in anything to do with drugs? Cocaine?’

Madeleine stared at him. ‘Why would you ask that?’

‘A bag of cocaine was found in a litter bin outside the building where Mats lived in Fjällbacka. With his fingerprints on it.’

‘There must be some mistake. Matte would never touch drugs. But you know as well as I do who has access to such things,’ said Madeleine in a low voice. The tears began spilling down her face again. ‘I’m sorry, but I have to go home to my children now.’

‘Keep my card, and call if there’s anything we can do, anything at all.’

‘Okay,’ she said, though they both knew that she would never call. ‘What you can do for me is catch the person who murdered Matte. I should never have …’ She rushed off, sobbing.

Patrik and Gösta stood there, watching her leave.

‘You didn’t ask her very many questions,’ said Gösta.

‘It’s clear who she thinks killed Mats.’

‘Yes. And I’m not looking forward to what we have to do now.’

‘I know,’ said Patrik, taking his mobile out of his pocket. ‘But we’d better phone Ulf. We’re going to need help.’

‘That’s the understatement of the year,’ muttered Gösta.

As the phone rang, Patrik had a nagging sense of uneasiness. For a fraction of a second he saw in his mind a crystal clear image of Erica and his children. Then Ulf came on the line.

‘Did you two have a nice time last night?’ asked Paula. For a change she and Johanna were both home at the same time for lunch. Since Bertil had also arrived for a home-cooked meal, they were all gathered around the kitchen table.

‘Well, that depends on how you look at it,’ said Rita with a smile, which clearly showed the dimples on her round cheeks. In spite of all the dancing she did, her body was still quite curvaceous. In Paula’s eyes, her mother was extremely beautiful, and by all accounts, Bertil felt the same way.

‘That stingy bastard served us cheap whisky,’ muttered Mellberg. Normally he would have enjoyed drinking Johnnie Walker, and he’d never dream of spending his own money on an expensive bottle of whisky. But why would Erling bring out the good stuff if he wasn’t going to offer any to his guests?

‘Yuck,’ said Johanna. ‘Drinking cheap whisky would do anyone in.’

‘Erling poured glasses of expensive whisky for himself and for Vivianne, and then he gave us the cheap kind,’ Rita clarified.

‘How rude,’ said Paula in astonishment. ‘I didn’t think Vivianne was like that.’

‘I don’t think she is. She seemed very nice, and she looked thoroughly embarrassed. But there must be something about Erling that she finds attractive, because they surprised us by announcing their engagement.’

‘Wow.’ Paula tried in vain to imagine Erling and Vivianne together, but she couldn’t. It would be hard to find a more mismatched couple. Well, her mother and Bertil might fit the bill. But oddly enough, she’d started viewing them as a perfect combination. She’d never seen her mother happier, and that was the only thing that mattered. For that reason, it was even more difficult to tell Rita what she and Johanna needed to say.

‘How nice to have you both home,’ said Rita as she served the steaming hot soup from a big pot that she’d set on the table.

‘Yes, especially since it seems like the two of you haven’t been getting along lately.’ Mellberg stuck out his tongue at Leo, making the boy whoop with laughter.

‘Be careful he doesn’t choke on his food,’ said Rita, which made Mellberg immediately stop clowning around. He was deathly afraid of anything happening to Leo, who was the apple of his eye.

‘Chew your food properly for Grandpa Bertil,’ he said.

Paula couldn’t help smiling. Mellberg could be the most annoying man she’d ever met, yet she forgave him everything when she saw the way he looked at her son. Then she cleared her throat, fully aware that what she was about to say would be like a bomb exploding.

‘Well, you’re right that things have been a bit chilly between us lately. But yesterday Johanna and I had a chance to talk things over, and …’

‘You’re not going to split up, are you?’ asked Mellberg. ‘It would be impossible to find somebody new. There aren’t many dykes around here, and you’d probably never meet anyone else.’