Camilla Lackberg - The Lost Boy

The next task on his list was to locate a specific report. He knew it was somewhere in the stack on his desk, so he began leafing through the documents. Finally he found it. Carefully he read the odd, brief report. Then he went into Martin’s office.

‘I need your help.’ He put the report on Martin’s desk. ‘Can you remember any more details about this?’

Martin looked at Patrik in surprise but then shook his head.

‘No, I’m afraid not. Although I’m not going to forget that particular witness for a very long time.’

‘Could you go back there and ask a few more questions?’

‘Sure.’ He looked as if he would burst with curiosity.

‘I mean now,’ said Patrik when Martin made no move to get up.

‘Okay, okay.’ He jumped to his feet. ‘I’ll ring as soon as I find out anything more,’ he said over his shoulder. Then he stopped. ‘But can’t you at least tell me why …’

‘Go now. We’ll talk about it later.’

Two things taken care of. One more to go. Patrik went to the sea chart hanging on the wall in the corridor. After trying to prise off a thumbtack, he finally lost patience and yanked the map off the wall, tearing several corners. Then he took it into Gösta’s office.

‘Have you talked to that guy who knows the archipelago near Fjällbacka?’

Gösta nodded. ‘Yup. I gave him all the information, and he was going to mull it over. It’s not an exact science, but it might give us a lead.’

‘Call him up and give him this information too.’ Patrik set the sea chart on Gösta’s desk and showed him what he was talking about.

Gösta raised an eyebrow.

‘Is this urgent?’

‘Yes. Call him now and ask him for a quick opinion. All he needs to tell us is whether it’s possible. Or reasonable. Then come and let me know what he says.’

‘You got it.’ Gösta reached for the phone.

Patrik returned to his office and sat down at the desk. He was out of breath, as if he’d been running, and his heart was pounding. Thoughts continued to whirl through his mind. More details, more questions, more speculations. At the same time, he felt that he was on the right track. But all he could do at the moment was wait. He stared out of the window and drummed his fingers on the desktop. The shrill ring of his mobile gave him a start.

He answered the phone and then listened intently.

‘Thanks for calling, Ulf. Keep me posted, okay?’ Then he ended the conversation.

His heart was pounding again. This time from anger. That bastard had found Madeleine and her children. Her father had mustered the courage to ring the police and report that his daughter’s ex-husband had forced his way into their flat and left with both Madeleine and the kids. Since then, they hadn’t heard a word from them. Patrik realized that they must have already gone missing when he and Ulf were out at the farm. Were they somewhere on the property, locked up and in need of help? Patrik clenched his fists, feeling helpless. Ulf had assured him that they would do everything they could to find Madeleine, but he didn’t sound hopeful.

An hour later Konrad and Petra appeared in the doorway.

‘Are we ready to go now?’ asked Petra.

‘Not quite yet. There’s one more thing we need to work out.’ Patrik wasn’t sure how to explain. So much was still murky and hazy.

‘And what’s that?’ Petra frowned. She clearly didn’t want to waste any more time.

‘Let’s meet in the kitchen.’ Patrik got up and went to summon the others. After hesitating for a moment, he also knocked on Mellberg’s door.

When everyone had gathered, Patrik introduced Petra and Konrad. Then he cleared his throat and slowly began explaining his theory, careful to include those areas that still had major holes. When he was finished, everyone sat in silence for a moment.

‘What would be the motive?’ asked Konrad. He sounded both hopeful and sceptical.

‘I don’t know. That’s what we still have to work out. But the theory holds up, even though there are some gaps that have to be filled in.’

‘How should we proceed?’ asked Paula.

‘I’ve talked to Torbjörn and told him that we’d be sending over a new fingerprint ASAP, so he can compare it with the prints on the door and the paper bag. If it matches, everything else will be easier. Then we’ll have a link to the murder.’

‘The murders,’ said Petra. She looked dubious but at the same time slightly impressed.

‘Who’s going with us?’ asked Konrad, looking at the others. He was starting to get up, as if to head out the door at once.

‘I’ll go with the two of you. That should be plenty,’ said Patrik. ‘Everyone else will keep working on the new leads.’

The minute they stepped out into the sunshine, Patrik’s mobile rang. When he saw that it was his mother calling him, he didn’t want to answer, but finally he decided to take the call. Impatiently he listened to his mother pouring out her worries. She couldn’t get hold of Erica even though she’d tried ringing her mobile several times. When she told Patrik where Erica had gone, he stopped abruptly. Without saying goodbye, he ended the phone call and turned to Petra and Konrad.

‘We have to go. Now.’

Erica opened the door and nearly toppled over backwards. She almost threw up, and she realized that she was right. It was the smell of a corpse. A suffocating and deeply disturbing stench that was impossible to mistake for anything else once you’d smelled it. She stepped inside, holding her arm over her nose and mouth as she tried to shut out the smell. But it was impossible. It was so penetrating, seeming to seep into every pore, just as it had clung to Nathalie’s clothes.

She looked around, her eyes filling with tears from the stench. Cautiously she took a few more steps inside the small house. Everything was quiet and peaceful. Only the distant sound of the sea could be heard. Nausea threatened to overwhelm her, but she fought off the urge to escape into the fresh air.

From where she stood, she could survey the entire ground floor. There were only ordinary things to see. A sweater hanging over the back of a chair, a coffee cup on the table next to an open book. Nothing that could explain the cloying, disgusting smell that hovered like a blanket over everything.

One door was closed. Erica dreaded opening that door, but now that she’d come this far, she knew that she had to do it. Her hands shook and her legs suddenly felt like jelly. She wanted to turn around and run out the front door to the boat and go home. Home to the fragrant scent of her babies’ hair. But she moved closer. She saw her trembling right hand reach out and take hold of the door handle. Still she hesitated to press it down, didn’t dare see what was inside that room.

A sudden gust of wind on her legs made her turn around. But it was too late. Suddenly everything went black.

The guests of honour who had come from further away were chattering happily as they disembarked from the buses arriving from Göteborg. Sparkling wine had been served during the drive to Fjällbacka, with the result that everyone was now in a glorious mood.

‘It’s going to be great.’ Anders put his arm around his sister’s shoulders as they waited to welcome the guests.

Vivianne smiled joylessly. This was the beginning, but it was also the end. And she was unable to enjoy the present moment when it was only the future that mattered. A future that no longer felt as certain as it once had.

She studied her brother’s profile as he stood in the open doorway of Badis. There was something different about him. She’d always been able to read him like an open book, but now he’d retreated to a place where she was unable to reach him.