Page 143 of The Living and the Dead

The name that appeared in the visitor log over and over. The person who’d visited Siri the day after Filip was murdered.

“Could it have been a letterIrather than a number one?”

Adrian looked at the page.Ias in Isidor.

I didn’t know who I could talkto.

That’s what Siri had said.

Suddenly it all clicked in Vidar’s mind.

“That must be how he knew,” Vidar said slowly as the pieces fell into place.

“What?”

“Siri talked to Isidor Enoksson, who told Filip. That Killian Persson was alive.”

“He’s over there in my car right now,” Adrian said.

Vidar turned to look at Adrian.

“What?”

“He was wandering around on the road, in the rain, drunk as hell, so I stuck him in my car.” He looked uncertain. “Was that a bad idea?”

For the first time in what felt like ages, Vidar smiled.

110

It was Advent, after a church service. Siri had been waiting for Isidor by the entrance. She was there about a disappearance, she said. A teenager. His name was Hampus Olsson.

Isidor had heard the name; everyone had. The newspapers had run his picture on the front page for quite some time. But that was several years ago now.

Siri showed him pictures and asked questions. Had Isidor seen him? Heard anything about someone who looked like him? Would he be willing to keep these pictures and show them to colleagues and people who were active in the church’s outreach programs? Maybe someone knew something, had seen or heard of a drifter like him.

The acoustics in the church brought a new ring to her voice.

A day or two later, she called the church office and said she wanted to visit again. Once she was facing Isidor in the room the congregation used for absolution and pastoral counseling, she didn’t know what to do. She said she needed someone to confide in, but she wasn’t sure who it should be. And then the words simply poured out of her, first the name, and then the astonishing notion.

I think Killian Persson is alive.

The words washed through Isidor like a chilly wave.

As if he had just helped her complete an arduous task, she sighed in relief.

An amazingly loud laugh burst out of her. In that bright, quiet room, it echoed off the walls. She apologized immediately, said that she was just scared. Or confused.

Isidor remained very calm. At last he tentatively leaned toward her.

“How could anyone carry this all alone, for as long as you have, without breaking?” he said.

That was in fact exactly what someone couldn’tdo.

—

Together, Vidar and Adrian led Isidor into a corner of Felicia’s house. Two forensic technicians had arrived and were moving meticulously from room to room. The house was very quiet now.

The rain was still falling in sheets outside, pattering loudly against the window.