Sandhammaren is a coastal location associated with the search for Robert Modin after he disappears in a car. Its beach is one of the few places his father can suggest as a possible refuge, but the police find no trace of his vehicle there. The location also anchors later searches along the coast, where the landscape offers both a possible hiding place and difficult terrain for pursuing an armed suspect.

A Possible Hiding Place

When Kurt Wallander asks Modin’s father where the frightened young man might go, the father says that he likes walking on the beach at Sandhammaren, or in the fields around Backåkra. He is uncertain whether either place is a true refuge. Wallander likewise considers a beach too exposed, though the thick fog might conceal someone moving through the area. The suggestion is practical rather than conclusive: it gives the police a lead, not a confirmed destination.

Police Search

Wallander tells Ann-Britt Höglund about the possibility and directs her to Sandhammaren with two patrol cars while he goes to Backåkra. Later, from Sandhammaren, Höglund reports that the fog is highly localised: air traffic is operating normally at Sturup, and visibility is clear farther north, beyond Brösarp. She finds no sign of Modin’s car. Wallander remains convinced that Modin has not travelled far, but the location yields no immediate answer to where he has gone.

The search expands beyond the initial vehicle checks. Police dog units pick up a scent leading toward the water, but by three o’clock they have lost the trail along the coast. The evidence does not establish that Modin reached Sandhammaren itself; instead, the beach forms part of the coastline being checked as the search for him continues.

The Coast and the Armed Pursuit

Later, police receive information about a suspicious man hiding in bushes and behaving oddly. The ensuing pursuit takes place north of Sandhammaren, in a small wooded area bordered by the road to Skillinge and open fields, with a path leading down to the sea. The suspect fires at police officers, prompting a wider effort to surround him and bring in a helicopter with spotlights. This is a distinct incident from the search for Modin, but its proximity gives Sandhammaren a continuing association with the investigation’s coastal searches and the danger moving through the area.

Narrative Significance

Sandhammaren matters as a plausible destination rather than a proven refuge. The search turns on the gap between what Modin’s father knows about his habits and what the police can verify: a familiar beach is suggested, checked, and left without a sighting. Fog, the coast, and the scent trail make the landscape a field of uncertain clues, while the later gunfire north of the location shows how a search for a missing person can overlap with a separate threat.