ELLEN

12.10 P.M.

It wound up being a tray lunch at the Four restaurant. There were three lunch options on offer, and as usual, each looked more unappetising than the last.

‘I think it looks good,’ said Carola when Ellen complained and couldn’t decide.

That was a standard comment from anyone who was a guest in the dining room. In Ellen’s opinion, it was reminiscent of one of the better school cafeterias, and you quickly got tired of the food. Everything tasted the same.

Both ladled the vegetarian option onto their plates, and then sat down at one of the tables right at the back of the restaurant.

‘Listen, sorry,’ Carola said after a while.

‘Forget it,’ said Ellen. ‘Were you able to check out that thing with the car?’

‘No, I haven’t had time yet, sorry.’

‘Anything new about the sperm — how long had it been in the body?’

‘No, unfortunately. I don’t have access to that information.’

‘But it must be of interest to all of you?’

‘Believe me, we will definitely have checked it, it’s just that I don’t have the level of access.’ She sounded irritated. ‘It’s Börje who decides what I get to communicate, and not even I have access to all their files and documents.’

Suddenly, everything fell into place. Again and again, Ellen had tried to dismiss the thought, but hadn’t been able to. But she needed more pieces of the puzzle.

‘How did you know that Liv was expecting a girl?’

‘I guess it’s in the investigation.’

‘Which you’ve read? It wasn’t because someone told you that?’

‘Well …’

‘Börje?’ Ellen stuffed a piece of bread in her mouth and tried to swallow it with a little water.

Carola nodded. ‘And regarding the ring … Patrik told us about it in an interview. This isn’t something you can release, but just between us. He gave all his women the same kind of ring. It wasn’t a cross, but a plus sign. Plus one.’ She shook her head.

So Hanna had had her own ring. ‘But you don’t know where Liv’s ring is?’

‘No. It’s gone.’ She looked down at the plate and pushed the food around with her fork.

Ellen wondered a few times whether she ought to bring up Bea and the kids, but she didn’t want to get into that discussion again, so she put it off.

‘I talked to Sara earlier,’ said Carola. ‘Apparently, several newspapers have contacted her and asked permission to be present at the funeral, and she didn’t know what she ought to say — isn’t that sick?’

Ellen shrugged. She thought about how scared Sara was that Liv would be forgotten, or that people would get the wrong impression about her sister, and wondered how she must be handling everything that had come out the past few days.

‘I feel like I want to paint a dignified picture of Liv.’ Ellen suddenly felt like she was carrying the whole world on her shoulders. ‘It’s awful how hard the media has gone after this whole relationship thing. Everyone should be able to live as they wish.’

‘How come?’ Carola looked up from the plate. ‘You don’t know what she was like. Maybe she wasn’t a good person at all. Who knows, maybe she was mean, manipulative, and didn’t stand up for herself or those around her? You said yourself that you’ve received tips that Liv was violent.’

Ellen raised her eyebrows. Had she and Carola actually talked about that tip email?

‘You don’t need to look so surprised. Reality is usually shittier than you think.’

‘Who told you that Liv Lind was found with her dress pulled up over her face?’

‘Börje. But I imagine it will be in the preliminary investigation, too.’

‘Did you see a picture of her?’

‘Yes, I’ve seen the pictures from the crime scene.’

‘Who took that picture?’

‘The technicians, I presume. That’s usually how it works.’

Someone is lying, Ellen thought, but she needed the final pieces to put the whole puzzle together. ‘Börje is lying. He was first on the scene, and the police who came after him confirm that Liv Lind was found with her dress pulled down.’

‘Strange,’ she said, taking a gulp of water.

Ellen was thinking out loud and lining one piece up next to another. The Christmas gnome at the petrol station who’d seen a police car that night, and the neighbour who had also seen a police car before Liv was found. And then the girl at McDonald’s who’d seen a police officer being interviewed.

‘Do you know which interview?’

Ellen shook her head; she’d try to reach the girl again after lunch. ‘Was it Börje who checked the McDonald’s, too?’

‘What are you actually trying to insinuate?’

Ellen shrugged. ‘I don’t know, but don’t you think these coincidences are a little strange?’

‘What?’ Carola laughed. ‘You think it was Börje? You journalists are too funny. What are you basing that on, his shoptalk and the police cars? Or have you read a few too many mysteries or seen too many TV series where the policeman turns out to be the bad guy? Really, I thought more of you than that. It’s crazy — why does everyone persist in defaming policemen, when we sacrifice our lives to protect people like you?’

Ellen was embarrassed and suddenly couldn’t think of anything to say in her defence. But there were enough puzzle pieces that she couldn’t let it drop. ‘How do you explain, then, that a lot of the information you’ve received hasn’t been entirely accurate? Don’t you think it’s strange? Do you think it feels like he’s doing his job?’

‘Maybe they’re desperate because they’re stuck. If they don’t find a suspect soon, they’re going to be in trouble.’