Hidden in Snow (The ?re Murders, #1)(58)
A few days ago she was convinced she was worthless, certain that her career was over. No one would ever want to employ her again, not when Manfred Lidwall so clearly wanted her out of the City Police. The unplanned meeting with Daniel and Anton could mean a new future, one she hadn’t dared to dream of.
She would give her soul for a second chance.
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59
Ludde is lying in a black plastic sack in the garage. Lydia has been sitting at the kitchen table for a long time, simply staring at a point on the wall. The last few hours are like a fog. The house is empty. Harald has taken Mimi and Kalle to the supermarket to buy food.
The grief and pain are so intense that she feels like a stranger in her own body, as if it belongs to someone else.
Darling Ludde, with his big brown eyes. He has been with them since he was nine weeks old, the sweetest puppy you could imagine. A tiny, furry bundle of pure love that the whole family adored.
Amanda worshipped Ludde.
Now they are both gone, within just a few days.
Lena doesn’t understand what happened; Ludde was only four years old. How can a healthy, lively dog die in a couple of hours?
He was here, warm and alive, sitting close by her side, seeming to offer comfort as she fell apart inside. Last night she wept into his silky fur and warmed her ice-cold hands on his soft paws.
Now he is lying in the garage, as stiff as Amanda when she was found on the chairlift.
The thought is so painful that Lena is incapable of holding herself upright. She slides down onto the kitchen floor and curls up in the fetal position, groaning and rocking back and forth. With her cheek resting on the cold wooden boards, her breathing becomes rapid and shallow, she pants with her mouth open just like Ludde sometimes used to do.
Harald didn’t even make it home in time.
When he walked in through the door, it was already too late. She was sitting on the floor with Ludde’s head resting on her knee, begging him not to give up even though he was already dead.
She could have sat there for hours if Harald hadn’t persuaded her to get up and go into the kitchen. He was the one who fetched the plastic sack and carried Ludde into the garage so that the twins wouldn’t see him when they woke up.
They don’t know he’s dead yet. Harald told them that Ludde is in the animal hospital.
It is impossible to tell them the truth; Mimi and Kalle can’t suffer another loss so close to Amanda’s death.
Amanda.
Lena moans. Her daughter is still in the hospital morgue in Ume?, where the forensic pathologist is slicing open her dead body.
They haven’t been allowed to see her yet.
She would do anything to turn back the clock, speak to Amanda one last time. Tell her how much she loves her, explain that all the recent bickering meant nothing at all.
She regrets it so much—all the unnecessary irritation she vented without thinking.
If only she’d realized that time was running out. There are so many things she would have done differently.
Lena sobs. The wooden floor beneath her cheek is wet, but she can’t stop.
“Amanda,” she whispers to herself. “Darling Amanda.
Come back to us.”
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60
The table in the conference room is covered in documents.
Daniel is standing with a cup of coffee in his hand, trying to get a mental overview. He is tired and dispirited.
They haven’t found anything noteworthy in the family’s finances, and the bank has informed them that Amanda’s debit card hasn’t been used since Thursday. Her phone is still missing, even after an additional search along the E14.
They are still waiting for the phone company to get back to them and for the results of forensic IT specialists’ efforts to get into Amanda’s computer. Some members of staff in that department are at home, looking after sick children, so it could take a few more days.
Daniel sighs and sips his cold coffee.
They haven’t managed to get a hold of Viktor Landahl either. They had intended to speak to him after the conversation with Amanda’s adviser, but Viktor wasn’t in school, and no one in the family was home when they went over to his house. They will try again tomorrow. Meanwhile they have contacted colleagues in Ume? for more details on the events that led to Viktor receiving a caution, which was struck from the records only a few months ago. He was indeed guilty of assault.
In Daniel’s opinion, it was only luck that allowed Viktor to avoid consequences he probably deserved. If he’d been just a few years older, he would have been given a much harsher punishment.
They have also double-checked his alibi and concluded that none of his friends can swear that Viktor was still at Ebba’s after Amanda left the party.
Wille, the friend Viktor specifically mentioned, was so drunk that he can’t confirm anything at all. Ebba says the same thing—she can’t remember. They have interviewed everyone who was at the party, and nobody is one hundred percent certain where Viktor was between midnight and three o’clock on Friday morning. Maybe Amanda wasn’t persuaded to get in someone’s car after all. Maybe Viktor caught up with her on the E14 and things got out of hand.
Daniel scratches the back of his neck.
He is waiting for Anton. They are going to spend the next hour trying to identify the cabin owners in Ull?dalen who also own a snowmobile. The plan is to pin down individuals who would have been able to transport Amanda’s body to VM6. The theory that she was held captive in a mountain cabin is still their strongest card. He also wants to check if Viktor has any links to Ull?dalen.