ELLEN

8.00 A.M.

Everyone in the editorial office had their eyes on Agatha when she came out of Jimmy’s office and went back to her workstation. The terminations were happening on a conveyor belt, or ‘re-orgs’, as they were also called. Linear TV was losing viewers, and the market was tight. Everyone in the office was probably feeling a sense of relief that it wasn’t them this time, just as most of them were probably afraid they’d be next in line to be called in.

Ellen sneaked a glance at Jimmy in the glass cage. He looked collected and focused, staring at his screen, and seemed untouched by the mood out on the floor.

Agatha was sitting at her workstation, avoiding the eyes of the others. She knew that everyone in the newsroom would gather around her and ask the unavoidable questions if she showed the slightest emotion.

In that second, Ellen’s phone rang. The display said Jimmy. She looked over at his office, where he was still staring at his screen, now with the phone pressed against his ear.

She answered, and hoped that no one could tell that it was him calling. ‘Hi.’

‘Hi. Can you come into my office?’

‘Now?’ Was that a good idea? What did he want? And why did his voice sound so cold? Was it her turn now? It just couldn’t be. Jimmy would have warned her beforehand if that was the case, even if their relationship was complicated.

The path across the floor felt long, and she imagined that the whole office would have now moved their focus from Agatha to her.

She carefully opened the glass door, straightened up, and went in.

Jimmy said hello without raising his eyes from the screen. ‘Can you be on News Morning in fifteen minutes to talk about the Stentuna murder?’

You could at least look at me when you ask, she wanted to say, admittedly relieved that this meant she wasn’t going to lose her job right now. ‘So now you think it’s interesting enough to be on News Morning?’

Jimmy raised his eyes and leant back in his chair. Put his hands behind his neck and stretched. ‘This thing with the child angle is interesting. What do you think? It’s been almost a week since the murder. What are the police saying? Have you found anything else? I saw that you were in here early.’

Ellen had already left Örelo by six o’clock so that she could check out all the loose threads, but unfortunately, she hadn’t cleared up any of them. The tabloids had written about the possible child-suspect angle, but it had been mostly speculation. The police still didn’t want to comment. The only thing she knew was that Patrik Bosängen was fifty-one years old, a plastic surgeon at the City Clinic, had been married to Alexandra for the past twenty years, and lived in Östra Villastaden. He had two children, Beatrice, who was fifteen, and Märtha, who was seven. But Ellen couldn’t drop the thought that it was the same man who had been with Hanna and introduced himself as her partner. And what did Bea have to do with all of it? The complaints against Ellen must have come from Patrik. Were he and Hanna having a relationship behind Alexandra’s back? And how did it fit together with Liv? Ellen didn’t understand any of it, but thought of how easy it had been for Jimmy to deceive both her and his girlfriend, Jeanette.

‘I’m not keeping up.’ She sat down on the chair opposite. ‘The other day in the editing office, and now …’

‘I apologise, I shouldn’t have done that. It wasn’t nice to either of us. I don’t know, I just got so shook up, seeing you again …’ He cast a glance towards Editorial, as if they could hear what was being said there, in the cage. ‘Anything else new about the murder?’

She didn’t have the energy to comment on his change of subject. Ellen shook her head. ‘I got hold of Liv’s sister, Sara. She has agreed to do an interview and release Liv’s name and picture to help move the investigation along. Andreas and I are seeing her this afternoon.’

‘What do the police say about that?’

‘They’re sceptical, but what can they say? They’re fumbling blindly and not getting anywhere.’ Carola didn’t like it, but Ellen had persisted and managed to convince Sara.

‘Good. Isn’t it time we get this on Crime Scene Sweden? It sounds like you need some help. Talk to them.’

It was almost comical how indifferent Jimmy was acting, and Ellen felt an inner strength come out of nowhere and asked, ‘Did you fire Agatha?’

‘No. Why would I have done that?’ He looked out across the room where everyone was sitting and staring into his office. ‘Is that what everyone thinks? Just because she was in here? I asked her to help me with some administrative aspects when there isn’t so much research work.’

‘Right, which is kind of the same thing.’

‘It isn’t at all, and to be frank, I haven’t asked for your opinion — or anyone else’s for that matter. You have no insight into what my job involves. Can you be on News Morning or not?’

She shrugged. ‘Can you come to my place tonight so we can talk about everything?’

‘Ellen. That’s not a good idea, I don’t think …’

‘Forget it,’ said Ellen, regretting that she’d been so forward. What was she thinking? She stood there a few more seconds just to humiliate herself a little more before she left the glass cage.

‘Ellen!’ he called after her.

She turned around reluctantly.

‘Are you limping?’

She shook her head and closed the door.

Everyone waited with tense expectation for Ellen to tell them what Jimmy had said, but she ignored her colleagues and vanished down to Make-up.