Chapter 100
Hanna can’t explain why, but her whole body is telling her that she is onto something. The spooky, abandoned mountain hotel could be the answer to the riddle.
She can’t believe she stood face-to-face with the perpetrator and didn’t realize who he was.
Instead of seeing Erik Mogren as a cold-blooded killer, she accepted him as a conscientious and dutiful individual, an employee who was trying to do his job, but was uncomfortable at having to pass on his concerns about a colleague.
Mogren had deliberately led them in the wrong direction, and she had willingly followed.
How could she have been so gullible?
The pressure and the irritation with herself make her feel shaky when she calls Leffe again. She has gone into the hallway so that Tiina won’t hear. Mogren’s wife is still sitting at the table, clearly in shock. Her daughter is on the way from ?stersund to be with her.
“Have you seen a man aged about fifty moving around the hotel area, either last night or this morning?” Hanna asks as soon as Leffe answers. “Possibly with a younger man in his twenties?”
She gives him the names and descriptions of both Mogren and Filip.
“Mogren drives a 2022 silver-gray Volvo V70, registration XZK 937,” she adds.
“Do you want me to drive over and take a look?” Leffe offers. “It’s only five minutes from my house.”
“Please. As quickly as you can.”
Does Leffe understand the gravity of the situation? Hanna doesn’t want to scare him, but at the same time, it’s important that he doesn’t put himself in danger.
“If you do see him, you absolutely must not approach him or show yourself,” she adds. “Keep out of the way and call me immediately.”
“Okay. Will do.”
Leffe sounds shaken as he ends the call. Through the window Hanna sees a patrol car pull onto the drive. Carina and her team will also be here before long; the whole place will be crawling with police officers.
Her phone buzzes—a text from Henry.
Have you found Filip?
When she left the Villa at dawn, Henry’s face was gray. He made her promise to contact him as soon as there was fresh information.
Take care of Emily, Hanna had said before she got in the car. Drive over there or bring her here. Neither of you should be alone under these circumstances.
There was no other advice she could give.
Not yet, she messages quickly.
Daniel has joined her in the hallway. “Who are you texting?” he wonders, adjusting his gun belt.
“Lydia—I told her I can’t talk.”
Hanna doesn’t want to lie, nor is she prepared to explain what happened with Henry overnight. It’s too complicated, and they have other priorities.
In the cold light of day, she can’t believe she was attracted to him.
Or can she?
Daniel is standing so close that she could stroke his cheek. Her longing to do just that is no less powerful than yesterday. She is so tired of holding everything in all the time. Apart from Daniel, Henry is the first person who has aroused her interest in years, making her body tingle.
Her phone rings—Leffe.
“I’m standing outside at the back of the hotel. It looks as if there’s been a break-in.”
“Go on.”
Hanna presses the phone to her ear.
“There’s a smashed pane of glass in one of the doors. It has a cylinder lock, so all you have to do is reach in and turn the catch.”
Hanna’s head is spinning. The idea that Mogren might have gone to Storlien came out of nowhere—she can’t really explain it.
Have they been lucky enough to find him?
“And the car? Have you seen Mogren’s car?”
“It’s here. There’s a silver-gray Volvo parked at the side, with the number you gave me. No one inside.”
Hanna closes her eyes, overcome with relief. They have located the murderer. The fact that the car is empty suggests that he is somewhere inside the former hotel building.
Which means Filip might be there too.
If he’s still alive.
The brutality of the two previous murders doesn’t fill her with confidence.
“Do not go inside the hotel,” she says firmly. “You have to keep away. The person in there is very dangerous.”
Daniel has opened the door to the other officers. He signals to her that it’s time to go, but Hanna holds up her hand so that she can finish the call.
“We’ve got him!” she exclaims as soon as she has hung up. “Mogren is at the mountain hotel in Storlien.”