The Snowman ( PDFDrive )

or mittens, if he wore them. But we didn’t find either.’
‘Rubber gloves,’ Katrine said.
‘Otherwise not a sniff,’ Holm said.
‘OK. At least we have a head. Have you checked the teeth—?’
Harry was interrupted by Holm, who had straightened up with an offended expression on his face.
‘For traces left on her teeth? Her hair? Fingerprints on her neck? Other things forensic officers don’t
think about?’
Harry nodded a ‘Sorry’ and checked his watch. ‘Skarre, even if you don’t think Rolf Ottersen is the
type, find out where he was and what he was doing at the time Birte Becker disappeared. I’ll have a
chat with Filip Becker. Katrine, you hunker down with all the missing persons cases, including
these two, and look for matches.’
‘OK,’ she said.
‘Compare everything,’ Harry said. ‘Time of death, phase of moon, what was on TV, hair colour of
victims, whether any of them borrowed the same book from the library, attended the same seminar,
the sum of their telephone numbers. We have to know how he selects them.’
‘Hang on a moment,’ Skarre said. ‘Have we already decided that there is a connection? Shouldn’t
we be open to all possibilities?’
‘You can be as open as you fucking like,’ Harry said, getting up and making sure his car keys were
in his pocket. ‘As long as you do what your boss says. Last person turns off the light.’
Harry was waiting for the lift when he heard someone coming. The footsteps stopped right behind
him.
‘I spoke to one of the twins in the school break this morning.’
‘Oh yes?’ Harry turned to Katrine Bratt.
‘I asked what they’d been doing on Tuesday.’
‘Tuesday?’
‘The day Birte Becker disappeared.’
‘Exactly.’
‘She, her sister and her mother were in town. She remembered that because they were at the Kon-
Tiki Museum looking for a toy after a visit to the doctor. And they spent the night at an aunt’s while
their mother was visiting a girlfriend. The father was at home keeping an eye on the house. Alone.’
She was standing so close that Harry could smell her perfume. It wasn’t like anything he had ever
known a woman to wear. Very spicy, nothing sweet about it.
‘Mm. Which twin did you speak to?’