The Circle (Hammer) - By Elfgren, Sara B.,Strandberg, Mats Page 0,156

Mall. A lone alocholic is sitting on a bench, kicking at a pigeon that’s ventured too close. At first she thinks it’s Linnéa’s father, but when she looks again, she sees it isn’t. ‘I’ll go over to her place and have a look,’ she says. ‘Call me if she turns up.’

The evening sky is reflected in the windows of the dirty-grey concrete high-rises, transforming them into squares of red and gold.

Vanessa walks briskly towards the entrance. She senses that something is wrong. Terribly wrong. She tries to think of possible explanations for what might have happened. Linnéa must have dropped her mobile. Or left it at home. She’s probably on her way to Nicolaus’s place – at any moment Minoo will call to say she’s arrived. Because Linnéa wouldn’t let them down. She wouldn’t, would she, now that they’re about to take on Elias’s killer?

As the lift lumbers upwards, Vanessa tries to keep at bay any thoughts that something may have happened to Linnéa. That Max may have exposed her. It would be easy to persuade everyone that Linnéa had killed herself. A dead mother, a dead best friend, an alcoholic father … Just the fact that she wears strange clothes makes her an obvious suicide candidate in the eyes of Engelsfors.

The lift stops and Vanessa steps out. She stands there silently, listening. It’s so quiet. She wonders if anyone lives on this floor other than Linnéa. The two nearest doors have no names on them.

She tries to repeat what they did when they were practising at Nicolaus’s house and sense whether Linnéa is in her apartment, but it’s impossible to tell. There are so many traces of Linnéa – the air is thick with her energy.

Vanessa’s gaze drops to the floor. The green concrete floor with spattered droplets of black and white paint.

Wet footprints lead to Linnéa’s door.

The tracks are large. Clearly those of a man.

Vanessa hates the stupid girls in movies who always do exactly what she’s about to do. The ones who don’t call their friends or wait for back-up, but go straight into the unknown house where the serial killer is probably lying in wait for his next victim.

But this is about Linnéa. There’s no time to lose. Vanessa concentrates and becomes invisible.

Slowly she presses down the door handle.

It’s unlocked. Vanessa enters Linnéa’s hall and shuts the door behind her.

Someone is standing in the living room. The figure is outlined against the light from the windows and it takes her a while to see who it is.

Jonte.

He’s wearing the dark blue down jacket that Linnéa sometimes wore. He’s staring out into the hall, straight at Vanessa.

Vanessa freezes. Can he see her?

He furrows his brow and disappears into Linnéa’s bedroom. Vanessa hears him open the wardrobe, rummage among her clothes, then go through her drawers. It’s obvious he’s looking for something, and that he’s in a hurry.

Vanessa hesitates. Jonte shouldn’t be here. Or was Linnéa lying when she said she wasn’t seeing him any more? Does he know where she is?

Minoo still hasn’t called. So Linnéa still hasn’t arrived at Nicolaus’s place.

Vanessa drops her invisibility and walks into the living room. Jonte hears her footsteps and comes out of the bedroom. ‘What the fuck are you doing here?’ he asks. His gaze is unusually alert.

‘What the fuck are you doing here?’ she responds. ‘And where’s Linnéa?’

‘I don’t know. The door was open when I got here.’

Vanessa is scared now. It isn’t like Linnéa to leave the door unlocked. ‘I thought you’d stopped seeing each other,’ she says.

‘So did I. But she turned up at my place today—’ He stops himself. Looks at Vanessa cagily. ‘Are you two friends all of a sudden or what?’

‘Sort of,’ Vanessa answers curtly.

Jonte looks at her seriously. ‘She’s done something really fucking stupid. I have to get hold of her. If you know where she is—’

‘What’s she done?’ Vanessa cuts in.

Jonte ignores the question. ‘If you see her, call me,’ he says. ‘I’m going into town to look for her.’

He makes for the door but Vanessa pushes past him and stands in his way. Jonte looks at her threateningly but he can’t scare Vanessa. She’s far too scared already.

‘Get out of my way,’ he says.

‘Tell me what she’s done!’

She sees that he’s hesitating and makes another attempt. ‘If you don’t tell me I can’t help her.’

Jonte sighs. ‘You have to promise not to say anything about this to Wille.’

‘I promise.’

Jonte nods. ‘She was fucking on edge when she came to my place.