Sweet Jesus! You are absolutely prescient. The descriptions and even photos of the clothes show up in Dagens Nyheter on day three. The police mill grinds slow, but it grinds exceedingly fine. Too late for the police to take advantage of that intelligence. The kids are gone. But that is part of the story that got cut out, along with the interrogation of the other people at the club. All good stuff. If any of it goes back in, it will be to build suspense and pump up the growing danger to the kids.gkmoberg1 wrote:My worry is this: The police can go back to the store where Eli bought the clothes and ask the clerk what she bought. If he remembers well enough, the investigators can find a boy who would fit the same clothing - in the same sizes - that Eli purchased for "her brother." The clerk might, for example, remember the length of the inseam for the pants Eli brough with her. This would give them a pretty good picture of size of her brother. As well the department store might be able to find clothes that match what Eli was wearing. Now they can have two children dressed up so as to match the two they are looking for.
Such an exciting chapter for your story! The kids are lucky, very lucky, to find Mr Ávila who is so willing to take them in. While I think this would take a great deal longer to actually develop, I am content to 'go with it' for the sake of this story.
You and Trige both commented on how quickly Mr. Ávila bought in, but that is essential for two reasons. One, they don't have any more time left in Vällingby. They are more than ready to head back to Örebro regardless of how it goes with the call to him. (Note that Oskar is the "brainiac," but he always defers to Eli's intuition.) Two, if Mr. Ávila is at all timid or tepid in his commitment, he will not be able to completely take charge of their living arrangements in Malmö. He would devolve into a kind of Håkan, minus the blood collecting, and the new and stable life they seek would just be another big disappointment. Note the equanimity with which Ávila accepts that he's got two little vampires on his hands. That will be echoed later in Malmö in another freaky situation. Ávila is just one cool dude.