The Sandman (51 page)

‘You have very unusual eyes, Joona,’ she says, then walks off.

Saga stands still and closes her burning eyelids for a little while before walking over.

She knocks on the open door, walks into the room, and stops in the light of the sun shining through the dirty window.

Saga stares at the empty bed, then draws closer. The drip is dangling from its support with blood on the needle. The tube is still swaying in the air. There’s a broken wristwatch on the floor, but the room is empty.

Five days later the police put out an alert, but Joona Linna had vanished. After six months the search was called off. The only person who carried on looking was Saga Bauer, because she knew he wasn’t dead.