Hidden in Snow (The ?re Murders, #1)(39)

“Do you know if she was afraid of anyone?” Anton wonders.

“I don’t think so.”

“Has she received any unpleasant messages, for example, on Instagram or other social media?”

Harald looks completely bewildered. “I don’t understand why someone would do this to her.” His voice breaks. “To us.”

He looks at Lena, who has covered her face with her hands once more. She is totally wrapped up in grief.

“Do you have any enemies?” Daniel persists. “Maybe an old conflict that has flared up again? Sometimes we have to dig into the past, even if it seems unlikely.”

Harald simply shakes his head.

“It’s essential that we find out if there are people around Amanda who could be responsible for her abduction,” Daniel goes on.

“She’s only eighteen!” Harald exclaims. “Who would want to harm her?”

It is painful to hear Harald referring to his daughter in the present tense. Daniel can’t imagine the agony of losing a child. He sees Alice in his mind’s eye. If anything happened to her, he doesn’t know how he would go on living. “I realize this is difficult. We won’t keep you for long.”

He is going to have to ask about Harald’s political involvement. Threats against local politicians are a growing problem.

“This might be hard to answer right now, but I’m wondering if there are those who might want to get at you through your daughter?”

Harald is already pale, but any remaining color drains from his face. “You think Amanda was killed because someone wants revenge on me?”

“You’re a politician,” Daniel says gently. “There can be . . . disputes within the political arena. Do you have any enemies?”

Harald slumps on his chair. “Not that I know of.”

“Have you received any threatening letters or messages in the course of your work? Any calls from an unknown number in the middle of the night?”

“No.”

“What about after the world championship earlier this year?” Anton asks. “No strong reactions at the time? Things got pretty heated, as I recall.”

Another shake of the head. “As a politician you get used to the fact that not everyone likes the measures that have to be taken,” Harald says with tension in his voice.

“Sometimes tricky choices have to be made.” He falls silent for a few seconds, then continues: “The world championship was a disappointment to many, but I can’t imagine that my political opponents would go after my daughter . . .”

His voice dies away as the sound of lively chatter is heard on the stairs. The twins, Mimi and Kalle, burst into the kitchen in their striped pajamas. They are astonishingly alike, with the same straight noses and slender build. They don’t really look like their older sister; Amanda had inherited Lena’s appearance.

The chatter stops as soon as they see their mother.

They stand motionless, as if someone has cast a spell over them, and a wary expression comes into their eyes.

The fear shines through.

They look from Lena to Harald, then to the two strangers. Kalle takes a step closer to his sister, who puts her arm around him in a protective gesture.

Daniel knows from experience that their lives will never be the same again. As a police officer he has witnessed many family tragedies; there will be a before and after Amanda’s death.

Lena opens her arms, and they both rush toward her.

“Amanda is dead,” she forces herself to say. “Your big sister is gone.”

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39

There is no new information about Amanda on Missing People’s Facebook page when Hanna sits down at the kitchen table and opens her laptop. There are, however, many sympathetic comments from the residents of ?re and other locals.

Karro, whom she met during the search and swapped phone numbers with, has written a few lines of support to Amanda’s parents, accompanied by lots of red hearts.

Zuhra has just left, with one final anxious glance at the patch on the floor where she spilled the detergent. Hanna had assured her several times that it was fine, and she didn’t need to pay any money or report it to her boss. She had whirled around the house like a tornado for five hours, and now the whole place is sparkling and smells of lemon.

It is disappointing to find that no further searches are planned. Even though yesterday’s efforts were in vain, Hanna wouldn’t mind taking part in a new initiative to distract her from the torment of her personal life back in Stockholm.

She would have liked to get involved in the investigation as a serving police officer. Anything would be better than sitting here with nothing to do, brooding over what has happened.

Or is it ?re that is making her feel so low?

She gets up and goes over to the patio doors. It is snowing, as it has been on and off since she got here. She ought to clear away the worst from the patio.

Through the swirling flakes she can see the neighboring houses decorated with Christmas lights, twinkling in the darkness. It is the third Sunday in Advent, but she hasn’t bothered lighting any of the candles in the Advent wreath.

Deep down she knows that ?re itself was never the problem.

Just like Lydia she loved coming here, seeing the open sky and the snow-covered mountaintops. She knows her way around and has skied every ravine and slope.