The Snowman ( PDFDrive )

‘A special place where she likes to go if she wants to be on her own?’
‘She doesn’t want to be on her own,’ Jonas said. ‘She wants to be with me.’
‘Just with you?’
The boy turned and looked at Harry. Jonas had brown eyes, like Oleg. And in the brown Harry saw
the horror he had been expecting and the anger he had not.
‘Why did they go?’ the boy asked. ‘The ones who come back?’
Same eyes, Harry thought. Same questions. The important ones.
‘For all sorts of reasons,’ Harry said. ‘Some got lost. There are various ways of getting lost. And
some only needed a break and went off to get some peace.’
The front door slammed and Harry saw the boy start.
At that moment the dynamite exploded in the wolf’s hand, and behind them the living-room door
opened.
‘Hello,’ a voice said. Sharp and controlled at the same time. ‘What’s the latest?’
Harry turned in time to see a man of around fifty wearing a suit stride towards the coffee table and
pick up the remote control. The next moment the TV picture imploded to a white dot as the set
hissed in protest.
‘You know what I’ve said about watching TV during the day, Jonas,’ he said with a resigned tone,
as if to tell the others in the room what a hopeless job raising children was nowadays.
Harry stood up and introduced himself, Magnus Skarre and Katrine Bratt, who until now had
merely stood by the door observing.
‘Filip Becker,’ the man said, pushing his glasses although they were already high up his nose. Harry
tried to catch his eye, to form the crucial first impression of a potential suspect, should it ever come
to that. But his eyes were hidden behind the reflection from his glasses.
‘I’ve spent my time ringing everyone who might conceivably have been in contact, but no one
knows anything,’ Filip Becker said. ‘What do you know?’
‘Nothing,’ said Harry. ‘But the first thing you can do to help us is to find out if any suitcases,
rucksacks or clothes are missing, so that we can formulate a theory.’ Harry studied Becker before
continuing. ‘As to whether this disappearance is spontaneous or planned.’
Becker returned Harry’s searching gaze before nodding and going upstairs to the first floor.
Harry crouched down beside Jonas who was still staring at the black TV screen.
‘So you like roadrunners, do you?’ Harry asked.
The boy shook his head mutely.