Page 69 of The Sleepwalker

‘At least in retrospect .?.?. But Agneta told me that Hugo often remembers things if he’s woken suddenly while sleepwalking.’

‘Interesting.’

‘He had an episode at his girlfriend’s flat and was about to climb over the balcony railing when she woke him. Apparently he started talking about things he’d seen at the campsite, but by the next morning it was all gone.’

‘What does the girlfriend have to say?’ asks Erik, looking down at his phone.

‘We can’t get hold of her.’

A pebble hits the windscreen, leaving a small glittering star on the glass.

Erik sends a red heart emoji to someone.

‘The whole team is getting frustrated,’ Joona says as they pass a long line of taxis queuing for the turn-off to the airport. ‘I need a breakthrough .?.?. We’re stuck.’

‘But I just heard that the powers-that-be have brought in an internal ban on you lot having wooden soles on your shoes, because—’

‘Stop,’ Joona says with a smile.

‘Because they always have time to put down roots otherwise.’

‘Please. That joke is so old, it’s not OK.’

Erik laughs and tips his head back against the rest with a satisfied smile as Joona admits that it really does feel as though they are rooted to the spot. They have opened the box andstarted turning over the jigsaw pieces, but have yet to find two that fit together.

‘There don’t seem to be any old cases involving axe murders that fit the pattern,’ he continues. ‘We’ve reached out via Europol and Interpol, but who knows .?.?. Maybe it’s just these murders. Maybe there won’t be any more. They might not even be connected.’

‘But you think they are.’

‘We’re keeping an open mind, looking into the victims, comparing shoeprints, tyre treads and that sort of thing .?.?. We’ve been trying to establish whether the same car turns up in the vicinity of both murders, but we’re talking about large areas with multiple CCTV cameras.’

‘So what happens next?’

Joona sighs. ‘Our profilers think we’re probably looking for a loner, likely someone with antisocial traits, possible addiction issues .?.?. Someone who lives alone, given how bloody they must have been – especially after the first murder.’

‘Mmm.’

‘We’re checking everyone who was released from prison or psychiatric care recently, scouring our databases, looking into forensic records, you know .?.?. the usual. It just feels so frustrating.’

‘Because you’re working against the clock,’ Erik suggests.

‘No,’ Joona replies, his voice barely audible.

‘No?’

‘No.’

‘And here I was thinking that you were starting to suspect a serial killer.’

‘It’s unlikely,’ says Joona, turning down the heater.

‘But you’ve got a gut feeling?’

‘Maybe.’

They pull up by the fence outside the Sleep Science Lab, andJoona gets out of the car, buzzes the intercom and then gets back behind the wheel to wait as the gate slowly swings open.

Erik has been engaged by the Swedish Police Authority on a handful of occasions over the years. Around the world, law enforcement agencies turn to hypnotists to support witnesses who, for one reason or another, have trouble with their memory.