Mns, the bartender, looked in.

"There's a phone call for you, Eva. You can take it in here," he said rapidly, and left again.

Eva looked around, bewildered. Feo pointed to the wall where the telephone was mounted. The kids, she thought, and an image of Patrik's bleeding face appeared in her mind.

She listened without saying more than "yes," "no," and "of course," then she replaced the receiver.

"I have to go home," she said. "I have to stop now."

"Has something happened?"

She shook her head, but changed her tack as quickly.

"It was the police," she said.

"The police?" Feo asked.

"And to think I'm on a bike," she sobbed. "Can someone call me a cab?"

"I can take you," Johnny said, immediately untying his ap.r.o.n. "I took the car today. The rest of you can manage, can't you?"

Donald nodded.

A patrol car was parked outside the front of the building, and a group of teenagers had a.s.sembled in the yard. Eva recognized many of them. A few were cla.s.smates of either Hugo or Patrik. outside the front of the building, and a group of teenagers had a.s.sembled in the yard. Eva recognized many of them. A few were cla.s.smates of either Hugo or Patrik.

Johnny accompanied Eva into the apartment. She had not said a single word during the drive to explain what had happened. Johnny suffered with her and the silent anxiety that drove her to lean forward in her seat with one hand on the dashboard.

There were two police officers in the kitchen, one female and one male. Two unfamiliar and frightening people in her kitchen, two gigantic figures who took up the entire room, that was how Eva perceived them and they gave her a feeling of terror.

There is no security, she thought. Everything breaks down, the joy of the past week with a new job, a new hairstyle, and a new life. All of that had been brushed aside.

"What has happened? Where is Patrik?"

She stared at Hugo who was sitting wedged in between the wall and one of the officers.

"Come here!"

Hugo got up and stood behind her.

"We're looking for Patrik. We have received a report of an a.s.sault and we have reason to believe he was involved."

It was the female officer who was speaking.

"a.s.sault? You think Patrik a.s.saulted someone?"

"Wouldn't you like to sit down?"

Eva shook her head, suddenly infuriated by the fact that these two were occupying her home, her kitchen. This was a place for Eva, Patrik, and Hugo and no one else!

"Was it necessary to drive a police car up to the front of the building?" Johnny asked.

"Who are you? Are you Patrik's father?"

"I'm a colleague of Eva's," Johnny said. "I gave her a ride here."

"Perhaps you could leave us now."

"He stays," Eva said.

"Okay," the male officer said. "We know that a man was a.s.saulted in this area last night. This evening someone was stabbed. We have reason to believe it is the same man. He is being treated at a hospital for his injuries. He is in fairly bad shape."

He looked fixedly at Eva while he spoke.

"We believe that Patrik had a part in this. There are a couple of witnesses who say he was there, at least last night. Do you know where your son is?"

"No, I've just come from work."

"So you have no idea of where your son may have been last night or where he is right now?"

"What is your name?"

"I introduced myself before but I can do so again. I am Harry Andersson, and my colleague is Barbro Liljendahl."

"Do you have any children?"

He nodded.

"How old are they?"

"That's not relevant to the matter at hand."

"Do you know exactly what they are doing right now?"

"That isn't relevant in this context."

"Don't come here, you little s.h.i.t, and tell me how I should raise my children."

"I understand that you are upset, and naturally we are not here to criticize you, but you have to understand that it is our duty to follow up on anything that can have a bearing on an a.s.sault case. Especially when there is a knife involved."

"Patrik doesn't own a knife."

"Tell us about last night," Barbro Liljendahl urged.

Eva felt Hugo's arms around her middle.

"Hugo came home and went to bed around ten o'clock. I sat up and waited for Patrik who was supposed to be home by ten-thirty at the latest, but I fell asleep on the couch. I was really tired. When I woke up in the middle of the night, Patrik was home. He was sleeping in his room. Then I went to bed too."

"So you don't know when Patrik came home?"

"I was completely exhausted. I've just started a new job."

"When did you fall asleep?"

Eva shrugged.

Barbro Liljendahl jotted something down in her notebook.

"We have tried to call Patrik on his cell phone-we got the number from his brother-but he doesn't answer. Don't you have any idea where he might be?"

"No, but isn't it better if you go out and look for him rather than sitting here?" Eva asked.

"It's helpful for us to know where to look," Harry Andersson said.

"Hugo," Eva turned around and pushed the boy into the hallway, "I think it's best you went to bed."

He dutifully followed her into the bedroom. Eva closed the door behind her.

"What have you said?"

"That I was sleeping."

He was close to tears.

"Good, stay here, you can play a video game or something. We'll talk more after the cops leave. Do you have any idea where Patrik is?"

Hugo shook his head.

"Is he with Zero?"

"I don't think so."

She hugged Hugo, returned to the kitchen, took out a gla.s.s and let the water run until it became cold. Then she took four long sips and racked her brains for where Patrik could be.

The two police officers were sitting behind her back. Johnny was standing in the doorway to the hall.

"I don't know where he is," she said finally, putting the gla.s.s down so loudly that Harry Andersson jumped.

"As soon as he gets home, we would like you to call this number," Barbro Liljendahl said and handed her a card.

Eva laid the card on the kitchen counter without looking at it.

"Of course," she said.

When the police had left, Eva turned to Johnny.

"Thanks for your help," she said and sank down onto a chair in the hall.

"It was nothing. What are you going to do?"

"I thought maybe you could stay here for a little while. Is that all right? Just so Hugo doesn't have to be alone. I'm going to look for Patrik."

Johnny nodded and pulled off his coat.

"I want to come with you," Hugo said. He was standing in the door to his room.

"It's better if you stay here, in case Patrik calls. You can try to call Ahmed, Giorgio, Anton, Emil, and ..."

"Mossa," Hugo finished.

"Good. Mossa too. But don't say anything about the police. If they ask, just say you want to reach Patrik. If Patrik calls tell him to call me on my cell phone, okay?"

Eva did not like the narrow walking paths that connected the various areas of the neighborhood. Some stretches cut through dense forest and were poorly lit. This late at night there were not usually many people out, perhaps a couple of teenagers or the occasional dog owner. narrow walking paths that connected the various areas of the neighborhood. Some stretches cut through dense forest and were poorly lit. This late at night there were not usually many people out, perhaps a couple of teenagers or the occasional dog owner.

She walked at a brisk clip in the direction of the school and saw a patrol car in the distance. Naturally they were going around, snooping. But if they thought they could find Patrik they were naive. He was smart enough to stay away. The Savja jungle drums did their work and he would surely know they were looking for him.

The first wave of anxiety was beginning to give way to anger. What was he doing out in the first place? He had promised to stay home. But she should have known better. Patrik was a restless soul who hated staying in. Sometimes she could tempt him with watching a video, otherwise he left as soon as dinner was over.

And now she would have an even harder time keeping tabs on him. Several times a week, and every other weekend she had to work. She stopped at an intersection. Should I stop working at Dakar? Is it right to be gone so much? She turned to the right and came to an area that was even more deserted.

The darkness was oppressive where the streetlamps were even more s.p.a.ced out. She heard rustling in the fallen leaves, a blackbird flew up and disappeared into the tree canopy.

She ran around for an hour, to the school, toward the southern part of the area and back, swung down to the grocery store and turned back again. During this time she called Patrik's cell phone a few times and once back to Hugo at home.

She encountered ten or so other people, of whom four were dog owners and three were teenage girls. Eva knew one of them from preschool. That was ten years ago, but you could tell it was the same girl. She nodded to Eva, who slowed down a bit, not sure if she should ask if they had seen Patrik, but decided not to and continued on quickly to the old post office.

She heard the girls laughing behind her. They probably knew that the police were out. Tomorrow all of Savja and half of Bergsbrunna would know.

She stopped under a streetlight. Was there any sense in running around like this? She was convinced Hugo was calling around to all the friends.

Patrik was wanted by the police, he was most likely aware of it by now and G.o.d only knew what the child was going to do.

She ran the last part home. The a.s.sembly of young people in the yard had dispersed. The light was still on in Helen's apartment. Darkness descended over the area. A tawny owl started to make its call.

Her cell phone rang at that moment.

"Hi, it's me."

"Where are you?"

"That doesn't matter."

"What have you done?"

"Nothing. It's just the cops who-"

"Tell me about the a.s.sault!"

She could hear Patrik's breaths.