Chapter 117
The ?re valley is shining.
However, today Hanna doesn’t have the energy to care about the beauty of nature.
She is still filled with disappointment over the footage from the security company.
Maybe it was naive of her to believe that the case would be solved just like that, but she had really thought there would be a breakthrough.
The footage has been sent over to the IT department in ?stersund, and all they can do is wait. With a bit of luck the team might be able to work their magic; otherwise she will have to accept that it’s a dead end.
Daniel is sitting beside her, absorbed in reading a message on his phone. Probably just as well, given his attitude earlier. It’s been a long time since he was in such a bad mood.
Although Hanna has to admit that she’s glad she isn’t the reason.
The road winds its way up the steep slope; she has to engage a lower gear for the last section as her mind continues to work overtime.
There is something about the Carlsson family that bothers her. Karin’s statement doesn’t hold up, and her son was reported to the police for sexual harassment. Hanna has read the original documentation, and the event played out exactly as Raffe had said.
Could this mean that Peter Carlsson was involved in Filippa’s death? And if so, is his mother trying to protect him?
At the same time, it is a big step from sexual harassment to murder. Presumably Peter Carlsson is just a pathetic, grubby little man who can’t keep his hands to himself when he’s had too much to drink.
Hanna can’t see how the pieces fit together, and her impatience makes her put her foot down a little too hard. She accelerates and takes the next bend so sharply that Daniel drops his phone. It lands by his feet with a clunk.
“What the hell are you doing?” he says, fumbling under the seat.
“Sorry, I was thinking about something else.”
Hanna slows down and gives him an apologetic smile. She crawls through the center of Bjornen and past the long-distance-skiing arena on the right. The parking lot is full—the fine weather has inspired lots of people to go skiing today.
“Where shall we start?” she says. “With the Carlssons to ask Karin about her witness statement, or at the Lowengren house to check the color of William’s and Pontus’s jackets?”
“If the Carlssons are home, let’s go there first.”
They have reached the turning for Sadeln, where two huge wall-like signs covered in slate rise up on either side of the road. Sadeln is printed in tall copper lettering with a welcoming gleam, but it doesn’t make Hanna feel any better.
She drives into the area with a heavy heart and a thousand questions in her head.
How are they ever going to solve this case when they’re getting nowhere?