The Snowman ( PDFDrive )

hands like a conjuror after pulling off a trick. ‘After this coffee I’m going to contact the Incident
Room and send out a search party.’
‘Good luck,’ Katrine said, passing him the mobile phone and turning the page.
‘That’s one of Hole’s old cases, isn’t it?’ Skarre said.
‘Yes, that’s right.’
‘He thought a serial killer was on the rampage.’
‘I know.’
‘Do you? So perhaps you know that he was wrong as well? And it wasn’t the first time. He’s
morbidly obsessed with serial killers, Hole is. He thinks this is the USA. But he still hasn’t found
his serial killer in this country.’
‘There are several serial killers in Sweden. Thomas Quick. John Asonius. Tore Hedin ’
Magnus Skarre laughed. ‘You’ve done your homework. But if you’d like to learn a couple of things
about proper crime detection, I suggest you and I go for a beer.’
‘Thank you, I’m not –’
‘And maybe a bite to eat. It wasn’t a big lunch box.’ Skarre finally caught her eye and kept it. Her
gaze had a strange gleam, as if deep inside there was a fire smouldering. He had never seen a gleam
like that before. And he thought he was responsible for it; he had lit the fire and through the
conversation he had moved up into her league.
‘You could view it as ’ he began and pretended to be searching for the right word, ‘training.’
She smiled. A broad smile.
Skarre felt his pulse racing; he was hot, thinking he could already feel her body against his, a
stockinged knee against his fingertips, the crackle as his hand slid upwards.
‘What do you want, Skarre? To check out the new skirt in the unit?’ Her smile became even broader
and the gleam even fiercer. ‘To shag her as soon as you can, the way boys spit on the biggest slices
of birthday cake so they can enjoy them in peace before the others?’
Magnus Skarre had a feeling his jaw had dropped.
‘Let me give you a few well-intentioned tips, Skarre. Keep away from women at work. Don’t waste
your time drinking coffee in the canteen if you think you’ve got a hot lead. And don’t try to tell me
you can call the Incident Room. You ring Inspector Hole, and he’s the one who decides whether a
search party will be set up. And then he’ll ring the Emergency Operations Centre where there are
people ready, not just a team from here.’
Katrine scrunched up the greaseproof paper and lobbed it towards the rubbish bin behind Skarre. He
didn’t even need to turn to know that she hadn’t missed. She packed her file and stood up, but by
then Skarre had managed to collect himself to some degree.