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The problem with that theory was that Eden Lundell didn’t believe in chance. Could this be an exception? She realised she had to call Alex, check how the investigation was going. Find out whether he was anywhere near the truth and a solution. It would be an indescribable relief if Alex had discovered a completely different reason behind the murders.

I won’t be that lucky.

Eden was standing outside Buster Hansson’s office when it struck her.

She was paralysed with shock at the realisation that she had missed the obvious.

The person who had killed Simon and Abraham had also known about the Paper Boy, and left a reference to the source on the West Bank. Which significantly reduced the number of suspects, because source names were classified.

In certain cases not even the source knew what his or her name was within the organisations he or she worked for.

Suddenly she couldn’t breathe.

If the killer was someone who knew who the Paper Boy was, then he must be part of Mossad. Therefore, it could be Efraim.

Or the father of one of the boys.

Modern man seemed incapable of grasping or accepting that he always left a trail – electronic if not physical. It was difficult to avoid making mistakes, which was some small consolation for the police; without all those mistakes, many crimes would never be cleared up. Alex Recht knew that only too well.

He heard from Lasse in the tech department less than two hours after they had last spoken.

‘You asked about Saul Goldmann’s mobile.’

‘Yes?’ The tension was unbearable.

‘You wanted to know where he was when he called Mona Samson’s mobile at three o’clock: Karlaplan.’

Alex’s chest felt tight. He rubbed his forehead.

‘They live near there,’ he said. ‘Although that doesn’t change anything. If he wasn’t the one who killed Josephine and picked up the boys, I hope he has a good explanation for why he lied in a police interview.’

‘What about his alibi for the morning when the boys were shot?’

Alex thought for a moment. Had they even checked? All the parents had an alibi for the time when the boys went missing, so it hadn’t occurred to them to look into what they were doing on the morning of the murders.

Then he remembered.

‘We didn’t ask for alibis because the fathers were involved in the search, and the mothers were in the community centre, ringing around the boys’ friends and classmates.’

‘Okay… Had the parents organised themselves into groups, or were they searching individually?’ Lasse wondered.

‘Individually.’

‘So Saul Goldmann was alone all night and all morning?’

Unfortunately, he was right. Saul could have been doing anything during those hours. Alone in his car. Free to go wherever he wanted. Out to Lovön, perhaps, to set up the murders of his son and his son’s friend.

‘To be fair, Gideon Eisenberg was alone too,’ Alex said. ‘But we’ve got nothing on him. What about Goldmann’s phone traffic for the rest of the night?’

‘There were lots of calls, of course. He spoke to his wife a couple of dozen times, and to Gideon, and several other people.’

‘Did he also speak to Mona Samson?’

Lasse laughed dryly.

‘He did. No fewer than five times.’

‘And where was she when she took those calls?’

‘Kungsholmen.’

They took the boys in the afternoon, Alex thought. Took them somewhere and kept them there overnight. Drove them out to Lovön in the morning. Let them go, one at a time, then hunted them down and shot them.

‘I think I know how you believe all this fits together,’ Lasse said. ‘And I tend to agree with you. I also think Goldmann and Eisenberg have a lot more going on together than they’ve told us so far. The only problem is that we can’t link either of them to Lovön, nor have we found the vehicle that must have been used to transport the boys to the place where they died.’

‘And we don’t have a murder weapon,’ Alex said.

He felt a sense of mounting frustration. The resolution was so close, and yet so far away. What worried him most was the fact that Polly Eisenberg was still missing. His opinion on her chances of survival had shifted slightly; if she had been dead, they would have found her. The ritual of the paper bags was too important to the murderer for him – or her – to miss the chance of displaying the latest victim. If Mona Samson was involved, that could explain her absence.

‘What’s going on with Samson’s phone traffic at the moment?’ he asked.

‘Her mobile is switched off. Calls aren’t being put through, so there’s no link to the mast when we try the number.’

There could be a thousand reasons why Mona Samson was unavailable. She could be away. She could be ill. But Alex didn’t think that was the case. He was convinced that her radio silence was connected to the murders.

They’re up to their ears in crap, and we still can’t get to them.

‘I’ll speak to the prosecutor,’ he said. ‘I want to bring Saul Goldmann in again.’

He was largely talking to himself; that wasn’t something Lasse could help him with.

‘Good luck,’ his colleague said. ‘I’ll let you know if Mona Samson switches on her phone.’

‘Thanks.’

Alex thought grimly that he could do with all the good luck wishes in the world, because if he summarised the investigation so far, it wasn’t just full of holes; it was a huge castle in the air.

They couldn’t link any of the suspects to the final crime scene on Lovön.

They had no leads on the vehicles that had been used to pick up Simon and Abraham, and to transport them to the island.

They hadn’t found the murder weapon.

All he had was a father who had lied about an alibi, and didn’t have one for the time of the murders. Saul Goldmann, who might be having an affair with Mona Samson. Which was the possible motive he had come up with, but it was pretty pathetic for such a speculative crime.

Saul had murdered his own son so that he would be able to spend the rest of his life with Mona Samson. Alex didn’t know whether it had been his own idea or Mona’s, but that was less important at this stage.

But why kill Simon Eisenberg too? And why take Polly?

To hide the real motive. That kind of thing happened sometimes; a murderer camouflaged one crime by committing several more.

It’s too weak, he thought. It won’t stand up.

Shit.

At that moment Fredrika called from Israel.

‘I’m catching an earlier flight,’ she said. ‘I’m in a cab on the way to the airport.’

‘What time do you land?’

‘Eight o’clock this evening. There’s a stopover in Zurich. But there are things I need to tell you right away. Saul Goldmann’s father was the Paper Boy. He murdered two children and abducted another before he was caught. Gideon Eisenberg was his last victim, and as a result Saul’s father was given a life sentence. And another thing: Saul Goldmann is probably sterile. He wasn’t Abraham’s biological father.’

If Alex hadn’t been holding onto the phone so tightly, he would have dropped it.

‘I’ve just left Tel Aviv,’ Fredrika went on. ‘There’s no company there or anywhere else in the country called Samson SecInt.’

The story that had led to the shooting of the two boys on Lovön came over to Alex as clearly as the colours of a rainbow. Fredrika’s account was long and detailed. She wept as she described the meeting with Gideon’s parents.

The Paper Boy was not just a myth.

He had existed.

Saul Goldmann was his son.

And Gideon Eisenberg had been his last victim.

‘How come they remained friends?’ Alex asked.

‘I mentioned that to the parents, and they said they weren’t sure they would describe their relationship as friendly. According to Gideon’s mother, it was as if the events of their childhood created a bond between them that neither was able to break, possibly because of politeness, or sorrow over the past. As far as the move to Sweden is concerned, I got the feeling that something happened when they were in the army, something they can’t or won’t talk about, and that’s why they decided to leave the country. I’ve no idea why they chose Sweden in particular.’