Page 202 of The Sleepwalker
‘How are you feeling?’
‘I’m OK now.’
‘That was pretty intense.’
‘Could make a good chapter in your book, though.’
‘Remember, it’s up to you what we include.’
‘Can we scratch the part about me puking on your shoes?’ Hugo asks with a grin.
‘It’ll be tricky .?.?.’
‘OK.’
He smiles and closes his eyes for a moment. Agneta strokes his cheek.
‘I’d feel much better if you came home with me,’ she says.
‘I will, later. But I’ve got a few things to do first.’
‘Things?’
‘Someone here, who I .?.?.’
He trails off.
‘What’s her name?’ Agneta asks.
Hugo blushes, and she laughs fondly and gets up. Before sheleaves, she reminds him about the snowstorm approaching from the Baltic Sea.
69
Joona is driving back towards Stockholm along the E4, which runs parallel to the train line. The wind has picked up, coming in waves over the fields and pastures. Powerful gusts from the east rock his car, causing the trees to shake and sending rubbish and debris flying over the road and the tracks.
The fierce snowstorm from Russia is currently surging across the Baltic, and is expected to hit Sweden’s east coast later that afternoon. The public has been urged to secure any loose objects, fill jerry cans with water, prepare for long power cuts and barricade themselves in their homes.
As he drives, Joona thinks about the case.
Veronica Nagler’s files were all marked private and confidential, but the team has already submitted a request for her medical records from her former doctor at Sankt Göran’s Hospital.
After going through the footage from Nina Silverstedt’s camera, they discovered that she had inadvertently captured the Widow outside the house, but unfortunately she is too far away and the resolution too poor for it to be of any use.
His thoughts turn to the latest hypnosis session and the fact that it was the closest they have ever come to the killer, that Hugo was just seconds away from seeing her face when Dr Grind intervened.
He understands the doctor’s concern and takes full responsibility for Erik having pressed Hugo so hard, to the brink of almost unbearable anguish.
The helicopter search for the Opel in Uppland and Västmanland has been called off due to the worsening weather.
The fact that they have only one sighting of the car suggests careful planning.
The killer likely missed their exit as a result of unforeseen circumstances – a minor accident or temporary road closure – meaning she had no choice but to pass the camera.
Joona hasn’t yet had time to listen to his recording from the hypnosis session, and can’t shake the niggling sense that he is missing something important.
He feels as though he was just about to touch upon a key piece of the puzzle when his train of thought was interrupted and redirected – just like when the session itself was stopped at the most decisive moment.
The traffic up ahead begins to slow as he approaches Rosersberg Palace, as though hindered by some invisible force. A string of red brake lights twinkle in front of him. On the train tracks to the side of the road, the Arlanda Express is approaching at high speed, and the turbulence makes his car shake.
