Hidden in Snow (The ?re Murders, #1)(24)
It is immediately obvious that Lundh is used to organizing things. Quickly and efficiently, he divides the volunteers into teams. He gives them different tasks and phone numbers to call if they find anything interesting.
Other helpers from Missing People distribute maps and Amanda’s picture before sending the searchers on their way.
After a final reminder that everyone should return to the square to report back between eleven and twelve, Lundh walks down the steps and joins Daniel and Anton. Annika is right behind him.
“This is a sad story,” he says. The pom-pom on his hat bounces up and down as he shakes his head. “I really hope we find her soon.”
His partner nods in agreement. “It’s difficult to imagine a worse situation than a child going missing,” she says.
“Even though ours are grown up now.”
Lundh puts his arm around her shoulders. “How are the parents taking it?” he asks.
Daniel has specifically asked the Halvorssens not to participate in the search. It’s better for them to stay at home in case Amanda gets in touch. Just then he sees Harald Halvorssen drive into the square. He parks carelessly, clambers out of the car, and looks around wildly.
Daniel can hardly blame him for showing up. He himself hasn’t been a father for very long, but he knows that nothing would induce him to sit at home if anything happened to Alice.
Halvorssen breaks into a run to catch up with the last search team. His jacket is unfastened and his head is bare.
The family’s black Labrador retriever trots along behind.
“Poor bastard,” Lundh says sympathetically. “It must be terrible for him.”
Anton crumples up his empty coffee cup. “I didn’t know you were involved in Missing People,” he says.
Lundh shrugs, as if he doesn’t want any recognition for his efforts. “You do what you can. One of the advantages of living in a small place is that you try to be there for one another. When Missing People asked for local volunteers, it was impossible to say no.” He looks Anton in the eye.
“When you grow up here, you know what it means to look out for your neighbors. You would have done the same thing if you weren’t already a cop, wouldn’t you?”
Anton nods without hesitation. He has a lot of family in the area, and is well rooted in the fells and mountains of J?mtland.
Lundh raises a hand in farewell. “Time to get searching,” he says, heading off in the direction of the ?reg?rden Hotel parking lot.
Daniel remains where he is, mentally reviewing the situation even though nothing new has come up since last night. Amanda’s phone still hasn’t been used, and there have been no interesting leads reported on the hotline ?stersund has set up.
The most likely explanation is that the girl was picked up in a car near to where she dropped her scarf. The fact that the scarf was found at a rest stop supports that theory.
Kids hitching a ride late at night isn’t exactly unusual around here.
The problem is the implications of such a scenario. If Amanda had gotten a ride with someone, then she should have made it home safely. It is now thirty hours since she was last seen.
It is becoming increasingly difficult to rule out the suspicion of a crime, but the question is what crime? It could be a coverup after a car accident. If Amanda had been fatally struck by a vehicle, then the driver might have taken the body and dumped it in a spot where it wouldn’t be found.
Another equally dreadful possibility is that she has been abducted by a person who wants to exploit her or do her harm.
Daniel has experience of women being kidnapped with a sexual motive, but up here it seems less likely. He would prefer to think that evil of that kind belongs in the big city, not an idyllic mountain environment—although of course that’s a naive assumption. Serious crime exists everywhere.
Right now he is still hoping that his colleagues or Missing People will manage to track down Amanda.
Time is running out, but it’s not too late to find her alive.
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26
The pole that Hanna cautiously pushes down into the thick snow goes deep, without meeting any resistance. She pulls it out, takes a few steps, and repeats the maneuver. She knows that a lifeless body can be covered quickly during heavy snowfall, becoming invisible in a very short time.
The weather during the past few days isn’t making the search any easier. It is difficult to make progress, as she repeatedly takes missteps and gets snow in her boots.
She has joined a group searching to the south of the E14, directly below the spot where Amanda’s scarf was found. The area lies between the main road and the lake.
?re isn’t very big, but in a situation like this, where every square inch must be examined, it’s bigger than you think.
There are also surprisingly few buildings; the terrain is mostly public or undeveloped land. Hanna has spent many winter breaks in ?re over the years, but has never realized how quickly the wilderness takes over outside the town center.
It is a laborious process. There are seven in the team, all different ages, slowly moving forward in a broad line.
The sun has risen, but the sky is bleak and gray. The light scarcely penetrates the thick cloud cover. Here and there the bare branches of slender mountain birch poke up through the snow, like spidery ink drawings in the ice-cold landscape. Fir trees keep them company, their lower branches brushing the ground as the snow weighs them down.