Hidden in Snow (The ?re Murders, #1)(107)

Plenty of snow has fallen since the night Amanda disappeared, but it is still possible to tell that someone has been here in the last week or so.

Just to be sure, Daniel has stopped at the other cabins along the way; they were all snowed in.

He takes his time, examines his surroundings. There is no doubt in his mind. The track leading to the door has recently been cleared; the difference in the snow levels is unmistakable. He photographs everything on his phone.

He returns to the window, peers at the stove. A small pile of ash in front of the opening suggests that it has recently been used. All the wood is gone.

No experienced cabin owner would leave the place like this.

Something is written on the windowsill, right next to the glass. He presses his nose to the pane, screws up his eyes.

Eventually sees that someone has managed to scratch a single word:

Amanda

That is all Daniel needs. This must be where Amanda met her death.

The realization is both tragic and liberating.

He gets back on the snowmobile, ready to head across the shimmering white expanse of the mountain once more.

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121

Anton is waiting in the conference room and raises his eyebrows when Daniel appears in his snowmobile suit with his helmet under his arm.

“How did it go?” Daniel asks, starting to remove the suit.

“I got the printouts you asked for.” Anton lays out three documents on the table. “This is from the tax registry,” he says, pointing to the first sheet of paper.

At the top is Annika Risberg’s name, personal details, and address, followed by the name of the person who is her live-in partner: Bosse Lundh.

Anton moves on. “This is from the register of snowmobile owners. Bosse Lundh has a black Yamaha snowmobile.”

The last document is from the vehicle licensing authority and shows that Bosse Lundh also owns a black Volkswagen SUV.

“I think we’ve got him,” Daniel says slowly. He tells Anton about the cabin in Ull?dalen. “If Lundh’s DNA matches the particles of skin found under Amanda’s fingernails, he’s done for. Amanda’s DNA will be in his car and in the cabin, and presumably also on the snowmobile sled he used to transport her body to the chairlift.”

“Jesus,” Anton says, scratching the back of his neck.

“Who would have thought it? He was out there searching for her! What a bastard.”

Daniel pulls out a chair and sits down. There is still a lot of work to do before they can prove beyond all reasonable doubt that Bosse Lundh murdered Hanna. They can’t formally rule out the other suspects—Lasse Sandahl, Fredrik Bergfors, and Viktor Landahl—until the forensic investigation has been completed.

However, Daniel is convinced that Lundh is the perpetrator.

Presumably he was also responsible for Hanna’s crash; she thought the car that drove her off the road was dark colored.

Too many people have fallen victim to Bosse Lundh.

Daniel begins to list the steps they need to take over the next twenty-four hours. Bosse Lundh and Annika Risberg will be arrested, along with Kristina Risberg and the as-yet-unidentified Linda. Lundh’s car and snowmobile will be impounded, and a team of CSIs will be sent to the cabin in Ull?dalen.

Hopefully there will be traces of paint from Hanna’s car on the front fender of Lundh’s SUV.

He works methodically, point by point.

They need to search Fj?ll-st?d’s office, plus the apartment on Hjortronstigen, where presumably two more Uzbek women are housed. Social services must be brought in to take care of them, and the migration agency will have to be informed. Further down the line, an expert in tax fraud will look into the cleaning company’s suspect bookkeeping methods.

This time Daniel has no doubt that the prosecutor will be ready to approve all the necessary measures.

“By the way, did you hear about the fire?” Anton says.

“Sorry?”

“There was a fire at Fredrik Bergfors’s place last night.”

Daniel stares at him. “What happened?”

“It started around midnight. Apparently it spread incredibly fast, according to the firefighters’ report this morning. The whole house was destroyed. They think it was deliberate.”

“Arson,” Daniel says. He immediately thinks back to his conversation with Harald Halvorssen. Has he taken matters into his own hands? Daniel immediately feels guilty—he should have seen this coming. He was the one who told Harald that Bergfors was a suspect because of Harald’s affair with Mira. “What about the family?”

“No one was hurt, but that was pure luck. Apparently the couple had had a massive argument earlier in the evening. Mira took their daughter and went to stay with her parents, while Fredrik slept over at his office. Otherwise they would probably all have died.”

Daniel lets out a long breath.

If Harald was responsible for the fire, it’s another tragedy—but at least there were no more deaths.

“Someone ought to go and see Harald Halvorssen.”

Anton looks at him inquiringly.

“I went to see him yesterday. He was drunk and volatile and had some pretty nasty things to say about Fredrik Bergfors. No one has a stronger motive than Harald.”

Anton nods thoughtfully. “I’m on it,” he says, picking up his phone. He makes a brief call asking for Halvorssen to be brought in.