Page 140 of The Sleepwalker

‘Is he taking a piss?’ Bernard asks, enlarging the image.

The camera is mounted almost four metres above the ground, and the wide-angle lens makes the facade of the building bend like a bow.

‘What’s he doing?’ Hugo whispers.

The man is standing with his back to the camera, holding something in his right hand. It almost looks like a short magic wand, shiny and black at one end. He raises his arm and makes a few exaggerated movements towards the wall before setting off again.

Agneta switches to the next camera, covering the other side of the sunroom.

‘Where the hell did he go?’ asks Bernard.

They switch back to the overview feed, but the figure in black has vanished.

The lamps lining the footpath resemble small balls of light. The wooden bench by the lilacs is just about visible, but other than that the screen is dark.

The intruder is still nowhere to be seen.

‘The door’s locked, isn’t it?’ Agneta asks. ‘You locked it earlier?’

‘I don’t know,’ Bernard replies. ‘I think so.’

‘After taking the rubbish out?’

‘I think I locked it,’ he says, gritting his teeth.

Hugo thinks he spots movement on the fourth camera, and he enlarges the feed covering the west wing of the house. The intruder is now visible from above and to one side as he moves forward, takes off his rucksack and stops outside Hugo’s bedroom window.

‘Call the police,’ says Agneta.

‘Hugo, call them now,’ Bernard blurts out.

‘What should I say?’ Hugo asks, unlocking his phone just as the alarm starts blaring.

A loud, pulsing siren fills the house, and the lights in the garden come on.

Bernard’s phone starts ringing, and he fishes it out of the pocket in his robe.

‘It’s the alarm compa—’

‘Answer it!’ Agneta tells him.

Hugo looks down at the tablet again, but the intruder is gone. He switches to the six-camera view and hears his father giving the operator the security code and quickly explaining what is happening before ending the call.

‘What did they say?’ asks Agneta.

‘They’re on their way,’ Bernard replies. ‘Said they’ll be here in fifteen minutes and that—’

He stops talking at the sound of a loud thud on the floor below.

‘They said we should lock ourselves in the bathroom and get in the tub.’

In the hallway downstairs, the crystals on the wall sconce jingle softly. Agneta hurries over to the door and turns the lock.Bernard’s hand is shaking as he dials 112, and Hugo reaches for the cast-iron poker from the stand beside the stove.

49

Shortly after the sun dips below the horizon, the blue glow of the atmosphere begins to emerge. The ultramarine light is reflected in the thin layer of snow among the houses, almost as though the ground itself were illuminated.

Joona pulls up to the police cordon and is quickly waved through. He drives along the row of stationary patrol cars and parks behind the command unit. After getting out, he makes his way over to the inner cordon, holds up his ID and, once he is allowed to pass, continues down the drive.