Chapter 80
As Anton parks his Toyota on Nedre Svedjev?gen, he sees Hanna plodding around the corner through the deep snow. Most of the firefighters seem to be at the front of the property.
He had had only a few hours’ sleep; he is still full of adrenaline following the catastrophic conversation with his parents, and he feels kind of shaky.
Sorrow and disappointment are pounding at his body, making his breathing shallow, but there is no space for that right now.
His personal problems will have to wait, be tucked away until he gets home.
Instead he needs to prove that he deserves his new role, that he is an asset to the unit who can replace Daniel when he is not available.
He joins Hanna at the front door, beneath the yellow glow of the porch light.
“Thanks for coming so quickly,” she says.
“I’ve just been talking to the officer in charge.
” She gives him a brief summary of the situation—who was in the cabin when the fire started, and how and where it began.
She also mentions the fact that Staffan Berg came by and asked about the fire, but has now left.
“Should we take a closer look at him?” Anton asks. He is also a little concerned about Staffan.
Hanna pulls her woolen hat farther down over her ears. Her breath emerges like puffs of white smoke as she considers the suggestion.
“Sounds like a good idea. I find it kind of odd that he keeps coming and going.”
One of the firefighters hurries by, dragging a hose behind him.
“So they think the fire could have been started deliberately,” Anton says. “In which case we’re looking at arson.”
First the young woman found dead in the snow on Sunday, and now this. Barely forty-eight hours have passed—they haven’t even got the final results of the autopsy from Ume? yet.
A warning bell is ringing loudly in Anton’s head.
“I don’t like it,” Hanna agrees. “Especially bearing in mind everything else that’s happened over the past few days.”
She drags her foot along the ground, leaving a trail in the snow.
“I just wish I could work out what’s going on. See the bigger picture—is there a pattern?”
“We could hardly have foreseen the fire,” Anton points out. “Neither of us has a crystal ball.”
Hanna gives herself a shake. “I know, but I hate the feeling of not being in control. What if someone had burned to death because we didn’t do our job properly?” She reaches for the door handle. “Okay, shall we go in and talk to everyone? See what they have to tell us?”
“Do we think one of them could be behind the fire?” Anton wonders.
Hanna’s mouth turns down at the corners. “Who else could it be?”
Staffan Berg, for example, Anton thinks.