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had to pass through a metal detector before entering the building. He could see a police
cordon on the opposite side of the street, and officers trudging around. The body had been removed, but he could still see blood on the snow.
    Red snow.
    Unusual in Stockholm. Unusual anywhere, perhaps.
    Peder was shown into a small office where two men were waiting for him. One of them was the man who had called him.
    ‘Efraim Kiel – thank you for coming at such short notice.’
    ‘No problem. I realise it’s urgent.’
    The other man was the community’s general secretary. Peder was surprised at the title; he had thought it was only major organisations like the United Nations that had a general
secretary.
    ‘You’ve heard what happened?’ Efraim said.
    Peder nodded.
    ‘How far have the police got?’ he asked.
    A flash of approval in Efraim’s eyes.
    ‘That’s exactly what we’re wondering. Perhaps that’s not entirely fair; we think we’ve established a good relationship with the police, and it seems as if they already have an idea of the direction in which they’re going to start looking
for the perpetrator. So far, we’re satisfied.’
    ‘Who’s leading the investigation?’
    ‘DCI Alex Recht,’ Efraim said. ‘The officer you gave as a referee in your application.’
    Peder swallowed hard. This was something new. A few years ago he wouldn’t have been sitting here asking questions about an investigation that was being led by Alex. He would have been
a part of the team.
    He had lost so much.
    ‘He’s good,’ he managed to say.
    ‘That was our impression too.’
    Silence followed, and Efraim gazed at Peder for a long time.
    ‘I’ll be completely honest with you,’ he said eventually. ‘We have another candidate who is perfect for the post of head of security, but he’s not available until
the summer, and the community can’t leave the post vacant for that length of time, particularly in view of what has just happened.’
    Peder waited for him to continue.
    ‘If you would consider accepting the post on a temporary basis until July 15, it’s yours. On two conditions.’
    Efraim Kiel held up two fingers.
    ‘Which are?’
    ‘First of all, we would want you to start immediately, preferably tomorrow. And secondly, that you are able to maintain a good relationship with the police, regardless of your
background.’
    ‘No problem,’ Peder stated firmly. ‘I’m just finishing an assignment with a large company, but I only need a few hours to clear that up. And as for the police . . . I don’t foresee any difficulties there either.’
    He had been surprised at Efraim’s words: ‘regardless of your background’. What did he know about that? Quite a lot, apparently. And yet they still wanted him in such a
sensitive position.
    As if he could read Peder’s mind, Efraim said:
    ‘We know you lost your job with the police, and we know why. Given the circumstances, we have no problem with that. Okay?’
    Without realising how tense he had become, Peder suddenly relaxed.
    ‘Okay.’
    ‘We’ll take up your references this evening, and if you don’t hear anything to the contrary, I’ll expect to see you here at eight o’clock tomorrow morning.
There’s a great deal to do, and you’ll have a lot of new routines to get used to.’
    An old feeling gradually came to life inside Peder. This was the closest he had been to police work for several years. The adrenalin started pumping, and his heart rate increased.
    A murder had been committed at his new place of work, and his employers had no problem with the fact that he had shot dead his brother’s killer.
    That told him something about their expectations of him.
    It told him a great deal, in fact.
    Peder had found a place where he thought he could be happy.

I f it hadn’t been so icy, the cold and the snow would have made her start running. Home to Spencer, home to the children, with her violin case in her hand. But her brain knew better than
her