Page 228 of The Sleepwalker

Just like that, it all seemed so clear.

Heart racing with adrenaline, the thought that he deserved one of his chocolate coins flashed through his head.

At first, Hugo was looking in through a window with multiple panes of glass, then a window with rounded corners and a piece of trim hanging loose at the bottom edge.

But it wasn’t a case of nightmare versus reality. In actual fact, Hugo has witnessed two separate murders.

The first took place in his own home, upstairs in the big house, in the main bedroom with its parquet floor, brass transition strip and a lamp with a shade made from faux snakeskin.

Hugo saw his father murder a man through the door in the hallway.

Just to be on the safe side, Joona called Hall Prison and asked to speak to Gerald Pedersen. The inmate was happy to hear from him, telling Joona that he had been contacted by a lawyer who explained that while the process of being released may take time, it is essentially nothing but a formality.

‘When we met, you told me that your wife had been in touch with a psychologist,’ Joona said.

‘Yes .?.?.’

‘Did you mean the relationship column inExpressen?’

‘That’s the one.’

‘Bernard Sand?’

‘Yes.’

Bernard has used his wildly popular advice column to find his victims. He receives hundreds of letters from people – letters that are revealing, honest and conceited. His readers tell him all about their crises, their problems, their fears and anxieties, not realising that in doing so, they are making themselves and their families targets.

His rage seems to have been triggered by what he sees as betrayal where children are concerned – particularly when they are more vulnerable as a result of illness or other circumstances.

A branch on the road clatters against the underside of Joona’s car.

Despite the weak GPS signal on the satnav, the darkness and the snow-covered road signs, he realises he is approaching thebridge to Stäket, high above a narrow inlet of Lake Mälaren.

Visibility is close to zero, but in the brief moments when the storm seems to pause for breath, he catches glimpses of the landscape around him.

The blanket of snow on the road is getting deeper and deeper, covering the tyre tracks from the cars up ahead. Time and time again, he tries to parry the powerful gusts of wind and the slight skids to the side as the snow gives way beneath his car.

Joona needs to get to Bernard Sand’s house.

As he drives out onto the bridge, he thinks that it won’t be long until Agneta works it out. She is extremely smart and has all of the pieces of the puzzle on the table in front of her.

The moment she puts two and two together, she will be in great danger. In addition to his carefully chosen victims, Bernard has already killed four people who got in his way.

The snow is barrelling down the inlet like a raging river, the wind so powerful that the entire bridge is shaking.

Up ahead, Joona can see five red lights, blinking like lanterns in the storm.

There has been an accident.

Slowing down, he gets his first glimpse of the crash on the bridge. A lorry is on its side, its windscreen cracked and the cab wedged up against the barrier on the wrong side of the road.

Joona drives towards it at a crawl.

The huge trailer is already half-buried beneath the snow.

The dolly is still the right way up, its axel warped.

A lamppost has fallen to the ground, and several cars have collided on both sides of the lorry.