Buried Angels

Chapter Twenty-Two

Ebba jumped on to the dock at Valö, offering effusive thanks for the lift. For the first time since she’d come here, she had a sense of anticipation and joy as she walked up the path towards the house. There were so many things she was looking forward to telling Tobias.

As she got closer, she was struck by how beautiful the house was. Of course it still needed a lot of work – in spite of all their efforts, they’d really only just begun – but it had potential. Like a white jewel, it stood there amidst all the greenery, and even though she couldn’t see the water, she knew it was all around her.

It was going to take time for her and Tobias to find their way back to each other, and their life would never be the same. But that didn’t mean that it would be worse. Maybe they’d be able to have a stronger relationship. She’d hardly dared think of such a thing before, but maybe they could also find room for a child in their life. Not while everything was still so new and fragile and they had so much work left to do, both on the house and on themselves, but maybe later Vincent could have a brother or sister. That was how she looked at it. A brother or sister for their angel-child.

And she’d managed to calm her parents’ fears. She had apologized for not telling them about everything that had happened and then persuaded them not to come rushing out to Fjällbacka. She’d also given them another call to say that she’d been learning about her biological family, and she knew they would be happy for her and understand how much it meant to her. But her adoptive parents didn’t want her to go back to the island until the police worked out what was going on. So she had told a white lie, saying that she would spend another night at Erica’s house, and that had seemed to satisfy them.

It scared her to think that someone was trying to harm them, but Tobias had chosen to stay, and now she had decided to join him. For the second time in her life, she chose Tobias. The fear of losing him was greater than her fear of some unknown person threatening them. It was impossible to control everything in life – Vincent’s death had taught her that. And it was her destiny to stay with Tobias, no matter what happened.

‘Hello?’ Ebba dropped her bag on the floor in the front hall. ‘Tobias? Where are you?’

It was very quiet in the house. She listened for sounds as she slowly went upstairs. Could he have gone to Fjällbacka on some errand? No, she’d seen the boat at the dock. There was another boat moored there too. Did they have visitors?

‘Hello?’ she called again, but she heard only her own voice echoing between the bare walls. Bright sunshine shone through the windows, lighting the dust motes that whirled through the air as she moved. She went into the bedroom.

‘Tobias?’ She stopped in surprise at the sight of her husband sitting on the floor, leaning against the wall, staring straight ahead. He didn’t respond.

Ebba was instantly alarmed. She squatted down and stroked his hair. He was haggard and worn out. ‘What’s wrong?’ she asked.

He turned to look at her.

‘You came back?’ he said in a flat voice, and she nodded.

‘Yes, and you have no idea all the things I want to tell you. I’ve had time to think while I’ve been staying with Erica. I realized something that I think you already know: that we only have each other, that we need to try. I love you, Tobias. Both of us will always carry Vincent here,’ she placed her hand on her heart, ‘but we can’t live as if we’re dead too.’

She fell silent, waiting for a reaction, but he didn’t say a word.

‘So many things fell into place when Erica told me about my family.’ She sat down next to him and eagerly began recounting the stories about Laura, Dagmar, and the Angelmaker.

When she was done, Tobias nodded. ‘The guilt has been passed down.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘The guilt has been passed down,’ he repeated, his voice rising to a falsetto.

He ran his hand through his hair, making it stand on end. Ebba reached out to smooth it down, but he knocked her hand away.

‘You’ve never been willing to admit your guilt.’

‘What guilt?’ An uneasy feeling settled over her, but she tried to shake it off. This was Tobias, her husband.

‘Guilt for Vincent’s death. How can we go on if you never will admit your guilt? But now I understand why. It’s inside of you. Your grandmother’s grandmother was a murderer of children, and you murdered our child.’

Ebba recoiled as if he’d struck her. And he might as well have done; that was how terrible his words were. He was accusing her of killing Vincent? Despair rose in her chest, and she wanted to scream at him, but she realized that something must be wrong with him. He didn’t know what he was saying. That was the only explanation. Otherwise he would never say something so dreadful to her.

‘Tobias,’ she said as calmly as she could, but he merely pointed at her and went on:

‘You’re the one who murdered him. You carry the guilt. You always have.’

‘Sweetheart, what are you talking about? You know what happened. I didn’t kill Vincent. No one is to blame for his death, and you know that.’ She grabbed Tobias by the shoulders, trying to shake some sense into his eyes.

She looked around and suddenly noticed that the bed was rumpled and had not been made. A tray on the floor held plates with leftover food and two glasses with dregs of red wine.

‘Who’s been here?’ she asked, but he didn’t answer. He merely stared at her with ice-cold eyes.

Slowly she began to slide away from him. She instinctively knew that she had to get out of here. This was not Tobias, this was someone else, and for a second she wondered how long he’d been this person that she now saw in front of her. How long had that coldness been in his eyes without her noticing?

She continued to back away.

Moving stiffly, and without taking his eyes off her, Tobias stood up. Terrified, she moved faster, trying to get to her feet, but he stretched out his hand and pushed her back down to the floor.

‘Tobias?’ she said again.

He had never laid a hand on her. Never. He was the one who always protested if she wanted to kill a spider, insisting instead that she carefully carry it outside. But that Tobias no longer existed. Maybe he had been destroyed when Vincent died. She’d just been too immersed in her own grief to notice, and now it was too late.

Tobias tilted his head to one side as he studied her, as if she were a fly caught in his web. Her heart was pounding, but she didn’t have the strength to fight back. And where could she flee? It was easier to surrender. She would go to join Vincent. Death didn’t scare her. Right now all she felt was sorrow. Sorrow that Tobias had fallen apart like this, sorrow that her hopes for the future had been so quickly shattered.

When Tobias leaned down and placed his hands around her neck, she calmly looked him in the eye. His hands were warm and their touch was so familiar. Those hands had caressed her skin so many times before. He pressed harder, and she felt her heart race. She saw flashes of light, and her body resisted, fighting for air, but by sheer force of will she made herself relax. As the darkness descended over her, she accepted her fate. Vincent was waiting for her.

Gösta was alone in the conference room. The excitement he’d felt when they discovered one passport was missing had now subsided. Maybe he was a cynic, but he couldn’t help thinking that there could be many explanations for a missing passport. Annelie’s passport could have been destroyed or lost, or it might simply have been kept elsewhere, separate from the others, and then disappeared when the house was emptied. It was still plausible that its absence was significant, but Patrik would have to work that out. In the meantime, Gösta felt an urge to go through everything one more time. He owed it to Ebba to be as thorough as possible. There might be something they’d overlooked, something they hadn’t examined sufficiently.

Maj-Britt would never have forgiven him if he failed to do all he could to help the lass. Ebba had gone back to Valö. Something dark and threatening awaited her out there, and he had to do everything in his power to prevent her from being harmed.

She’d held a special place in his heart ever since she’d clung to him on that day as she was about to leave their home. It had been one of the worst days of his life. Every detail of that morning when the social worker had come to take Ebba to her new family was imprinted in his memory. Maj-Britt had given the child a bath and combed her hair, tying it with a bow. Then she’d put the little girl into the dress with the ribbon around the waist, the dress that she’d sat up sewing for several nights in a row. Gösta had hardly been able to face the sight of Ebba on that morning, she had looked so sweet.

Fearing that his heart might break, he had planned to avoid saying goodbye, but Maj-Britt had insisted that they take a proper farewell from the lass. So he had squatted down and held out his arms, and she had come running to him, the bow in her hair fluttering and the skirt of her dress spread out like a white sail behind her. She had put her arms around his neck and held on tight, as if she knew that this would be the last time they saw each other.

Gösta swallowed hard as he cautiously took Ebba’s baby clothes out of the box that Patrik had just packed.

‘Gösta.’ Patrik was standing in the doorway.

He gave a start and turned around. He was still holding a baby jumper in his hands.

‘How did you happen to know where Ebba’s parents live in Göteborg?’ asked Patrik.

Gösta didn’t reply. Thoughts whirled through his mind, and he tried to think of some explanation. Maybe he could say that he’d seen the address somewhere. He could probably make Patrik believe him, but instead he sighed and said:

‘I was the one who sent all those cards.’

‘So you’re “G”?’ Patrik asked. ‘I can’t believe that never occurred to me before.’

‘I should have told you. I did try to bring it up a few times.’ He bowed his head in shame. ‘But I only sent cards to Ebba’s parents. The last one that Tobias brought over here was not from me.’

‘I realize that. To be honest, I’ve been wondering about that particular card. The message was so drastically different from the others.’

‘And it wasn’t a very good copy of my handwriting either.’ Gösta put down the baby sweater and crossed his arms.

‘No, it wouldn’t be easy to copy your cramped style.’

Gösta smiled, relieved that Patrik had decided to be so understanding. He wasn’t sure that he’d have been as magnanimous.

‘I know that this case has special meaning for you,’ said Patrik, as if he’d read Gösta’s mind.

‘I can’t let anything happen to her.’ Gösta turned around and began going through the contents of the box again.

Patrik didn’t move, and Gösta turned to face him. ‘It would change everything if Annelie is still alive. Or at least was still alive. Have you contacted Leon to say that we want to have another talk with him?’

‘I’d prefer to surprise him. If we can catch him off guard, there’s a greater chance that we can get him to talk.’ Patrik fell silent, looking a bit uncertain about whether to go on. Then he said: ‘I think I might know who sent that last card.’

‘Who?’

Patrik shook his head. ‘It’s just an idea that occurred to me, and I’ve asked Torbjörn to check it out. I’ll know more after I hear from him. Until then, I’d prefer not to say anything, but I promise that you’ll be the first to know.’

‘I truly hope so.’ Gösta again turned away. There were still a lot of things to look through. Something that he’d already seen kept nagging at his memory, and he wasn’t about to give up until he worked out what it was.

Rebecka probably wouldn’t understand, but Josef had left her a letter nonetheless. At least she’d know that he loved her and he was grateful for the life they’d had together. He realized now that he had sacrificed both her and the children for the sake of his dream. The shame and pain had made him blind to how much they meant to him. Yet they had loyally stood by his side.

He had sent a letter to each of the children as well. No explanation was given to them either, just a few words of farewell and instructions about what he expected of them. It was important for them not to forget that they had a responsibility and a mission to fulfil even though he wouldn’t be present to remind them.

Slowly he ate his lunchtime egg, boiled for exactly eight minutes. Early in their marriage Rebecka had been careless about the precise time. Sometimes seven minutes, sometimes ten. But it was years now since she’d failed to boil the egg properly. She had been a good and dutiful wife, and his parents had been fond of her.

But occasionally she was too indulgent with the children, which bothered him. They might be adults, but they still needed to be guided with a firm hand, and he wasn’t convinced that Rebecka would be able to do that. He also doubted that she could keep their Jewish traditions alive. But what choice did he have? His shame would cling to them and ruin any chance they had of going through life with their heads held high. He was forced to sacrifice himself for their future.

In a weak moment the idea of revenge had occurred to him, but he had immediately pushed it out of his mind. From experience he knew that revenge never led to anything good, it only brought more darkness.

After eating the last of his egg, he carefully wiped his mouth and got up from the table. As he left his home for the last time, he did not look back.

She was awakened by the sound of a heavy door opening. Confused, Anna squinted at the strip of light. Where was she? She had a terrible headache, and it took a real effort for her to sit up. It was cold, and she had only a thin sheet wrapped around her body. Shivering, she hugged her arms to her chest, as she felt panic creeping over her.

Tobias. He was the last thing she remembered. They had been lying in bed – his and Ebba’s. They’d been drinking wine, and she was filled with an overwhelming desire. It all came back to her now. She tried to push the memory away, but the image of her naked body against his flickered in her mind. They had moved towards each other on the bed, the moonlight shining down on them. Then there was nothing but blackness. She couldn’t remember anything more.

‘Hello?’ she called, facing the door, but there was no answer. Everything seemed unreal, as if she’d landed in another world, like Alice in Wonderland falling down the rabbit hole. ‘Hello?’ she called again as she tried to stand up, but her legs gave way and she collapsed on the floor.

Something big was tossed through the door, which was then slammed shut with a bang. Anna sat perfectly still. It was again pitch dark. Not a scrap of light from anywhere, but she realized that she needed to find out what had been thrown into the room. She started to crawl, using her hands to feel her way forward. The floor was so cold that her fingers went numb, and the rough surface tore at her knees. Finally she nudged something that felt like cloth. She kept on fumbling with her hands, recoiling when she felt skin under her fingertips. It was a person, a woman, judging by the scent and the hair. The eyes were closed, and at first she couldn’t tell if the woman was breathing, although her body was warm. Cautiously she ran her hands over the neck until she felt a faint pulse. Without thinking, she pinched the woman’s nostrils closed and at the same time tilted her head back. Then Anna leaned down and placed her mouth over the woman’s. As she breathed into the woman’s mouth, she had a vague feeling that she recognized her perfume.

Anna had no idea how long she continued the CPR. Intermittently she would place one hand on top of the other and press down on the woman’s chest. She wasn’t sure that she was doing it properly. The only time she’d seen it done was in the hospital dramas on TV, so she hoped that they’d presented the procedure accurately.

After what seemed like an eternity, the woman began to cough. It sounded like she might throw up, so Anna turned her on to her side and stroked her back. The coughing eased, and the woman breathed in air, taking long, whistling breaths.

‘Where am I?’ she croaked.

Wanting to reassure her, Anna ran her hand over the woman’s hair. Her voice was so strained that it was hard to guess her identity, but she had her suspicions.

‘Ebba? Is that you? It’s so dark in here that I can’t see a thing.’

‘Anna? I thought I’d gone blind.’

‘No, you’re not blind. It’s dark, and I don’t know where we are.’

Ebba started to say something but was cut off by another coughing fit that shook her whole body. Anna continued to stroke her hair until Ebba made a move to sit up. Holding her arm, Anna helped her into a sitting position, and after a while she stopped coughing.

‘I don’t know where we are either,’ Ebba said.

‘How did we get here?’

At first Ebba didn’t answer. Then she said quietly: ‘Tobias.’

‘Tobias?’ Again Anna saw the image of their naked bodies. Feelings of guilt made bile rise up in her throat, and she had to fight back an impulse to vomit.

‘He…’ Ebba coughed some more. ‘He tried to strangle me.’

‘Tried to strangle you?’ Anna repeated in disbelief. Then she realized that she’d had a vague sense that everything was not as it should be with Tobias – like an animal that can smell that another member of the herd is sick. But that had only increased his attraction. She was used to danger; it was something familiar, and yesterday she’d recognized her husband Lucas in Tobias.

Nausea surged up inside her again, and the cold from the floor spread through her body. She started shivering harder.

‘Good Lord, it’s cold in here. Where could he have taken us?’ said Ebba.

‘Surely, he’s going to let us out,’ said Anna, but she could hear the doubt in her own voice.

‘I didn’t recognize him. He was like a different person. I saw it in his eyes. He said…’ She stopped and suddenly began to cry. ‘He said that I murdered Vincent. Our son.’

Without saying a word Anna put her arms around Ebba and pressed her head to her shoulder.

‘What happened?’ she asked after a moment.

At first Ebba was crying so hard that she couldn’t answer. Then her breathing grew calmer and she was able to speak.

‘It was in early December. We were really busy. Tobias had three building projects that he was working on at the same time, and I was also working long days. It was obviously taking a toll on Vincent because he kept acting up and pushing our patience to the limit. We were totally worn out.’ She sniffled some more, and Anna could hear her wiping her nose on her shirtsleeve. ‘On the morning it happened, we were both about to leave for work. Tobias was supposed to drop Vincent off at the day-care centre, but then they called from one of the construction sites to say that he had to come immediately. Some sort of crisis, as usual. Tobias asked me to take Vincent so that he could go straight out there, but I had an important meeting that morning and I was furious that he thought his work should be given higher priority. We started quarrelling, and finally Tobias simply walked out the door, leaving me with Vincent. I realized that I was going to be late for yet another meeting, and when Vincent had another one of his tantrums, I couldn’t take it any more. So I locked myself in the bathroom and sat down to cry. Vincent was crying too and pounding on the door, but after a few moments everything was quiet, so I assumed that he’d given up and gone to his room. I let a few more minutes pass as I dried my eyes and calmed down.’

Ebba was talking so fast that the words practically spilled from her lips. Anna wanted to put her hands over her ears so she wouldn’t have to hear the rest. But she owed it to Ebba to hear the whole story.

‘I had just come out of the bathroom when there was a loud bang from the driveway outside. A second later I heard Tobias scream. I’ve never heard a scream like that before. It didn’t sound human, it was more like a wounded animal.’ Ebba’s voice broke as she went on. ‘I knew at once what had happened. I knew that Vincent was dead. I could feel it in my body. But I rushed outside, and there he lay behind our car. He didn’t have a coat on, and even though I could tell that he was dead, I kept thinking that he’d gone out in the snow without putting on his zip-suit. And he was going to catch cold. That was what I thought as I saw him lying there – that he was going to catch cold.’

‘It was an accident,’ said Anna quietly. ‘It wasn’t your fault.’

‘Yes, it was. Tobias was right. I killed Vincent. If only I hadn’t sat there in the bathroom, if only I’d told myself that it didn’t matter if I was late for that meeting, if only…’ Her sobs became a wail, and Anna pulled her closer and let her cry as she gently stroked her hair and murmured consoling words. She felt Ebba’s sorrow deep in her own body, and for a moment it pushed aside the fear about what was going to happen to them. For a moment they were simply two mothers who had each lost a child.

When Ebba’s sobs subsided, Anna made another attempt to stand up. Her legs felt steadier now. Slowly she got to her feet, not sure whether she might bump her head on something, but she was able to stand up straight. Cautiously she took a step forward. Something touched her face and she shrieked.

‘What is it?’ said Ebba, clinging to Anna’s leg.

‘I felt something on my face, but it’s probably just a spiderweb.’ Trembling, she raised her hand and held it out in front of her. Something was hanging there, and it took several tries before she got hold of it. A string. She gave it a tug. The light that switched on was so bright that she had to shut her eyes.

When she opened her eyes again, she looked around in surprise. From the floor she heard Ebba gasp.

For so many years Sebastian had enjoyed having power, even in those instances when he’d chosen not to exercise it. Asking something from John would have been too dangerous. John was no longer the person that Sebastian had known on Valö. Though he managed to hide it well, he was so full of hatred that it would have been foolhardy to exploit the opportunity that fate had handed him.

He hadn’t asked anything of Leon either, simply because Leon was the only person other than Lovart for whom he’d ever had any respect. After what happened, he’d quickly disappeared, but Sebastian had followed his career in the newspapers and via the gossip that had made its way to Fjällbacka. Now Leon had got entangled in the game, but Sebastian had already succeeded in getting what he could from it. Josef’s ridiculous project was no more than a memory. The land and the granite were the only things of value, and he had converted them into a handsome profit in accordance with the agreement that Josef had signed without giving the document so much as a cursory glance.

And Percy. Sebastian chuckled to himself as he drove his yellow Porsche along Fjällbacka’s narrow streets, waving to everyone he saw. Percy had been living a myth for so long that he’d failed to realize that he could lose everything. It was true that he’d been uneasy when Sebastian appeared like an angel to the rescue, but he’d never seriously believed that he might lose the birthright that was his. Now the manor was owned by Percy’s younger siblings, and he had only himself to blame. He hadn’t managed his inheritance properly, and Sebastian had merely seen to it that disaster struck a bit sooner than it otherwise might.

He had earned good money from the deal as well, but that was merely a bonus. Power was what gave him the most satisfaction. The funny thing was that neither Josef nor Percy seemed to have seen what was coming before it was too late. In spite of everything, they had counted on his good will and believed that he actually wanted to help them. What idiots! Oh well. Now Leon was going to put an end to the game. That was probably why he wanted all of them to meet. The question was how far he intended to go. Sebastian wasn’t particularly worried. His reputation was such that people wouldn’t be too surprised. But he was curious to see how the others would react. Especially John, who had the most to lose of any of them.

Sebastian parked the car but remained sitting in the driver’s seat for a few minutes. Then he got out, made sure the key was in his pocket, and went up to the door to ring the bell. It was showtime.

Erica sipped her coffee as she read. It had been sitting for too long and tasted awful, but she didn’t feel like making a fresh pot.

‘You’re still here?’ Gösta came into the station’s kitchen and poured himself a cup.

She stopped flipping through the folder and closed it.

‘Yes, I got permission to stay and read through the file on the old investigation. So I’m sitting here wondering what it means that Annelie’s passport is missing.’

‘How old was she? Sixteen?’ said Gösta as he sat down at the table.

Erica nodded. ‘Yes, sixteen, and clearly head over heels in love with Leon. Maybe there was a quarrel and she decided to leave. If so, it wouldn’t be the first time that a teenager caused a tragedy. But I have a hard time believing that a sixteen-year-old girl would single-handedly murder her whole family.’

‘You’re right, that doesn’t sound plausible. She would have needed help. Maybe from Leon, if they were having a relationship. Maybe her father issued an ultimatum, they lost their tempers, and…’

‘It’s possible that’s what happened, but it says in the file that Leon was out fishing with the other boys. So why would they give him an alibi? How would that benefit them?’

‘I doubt they would have all colluded in Annelie’s plan,’ said Gösta pensively.

‘I agree, I don’t think they were sophisticated enough to do something like that.’

‘Even if we assume this has to do with Annelie, and Leon, there still doesn’t seem to be any credible motive to murder an entire family. Killing Rune ought to have been sufficient.’

‘I was thinking the same thing.’ Erica sighed. ‘So I’m sitting here going through the interview transcripts. There must be something in what the boys said that doesn’t ring true, but they all gave the same story. They were out fishing for mackerel, and when they came back, the family was gone.’

Gösta froze, his coffee cup halfway to his lips.

‘Did you say mackerel?’

‘Yes, that’s what it says in the transcripts.’

‘How the hell could I have missed something so obvious?’

‘What do you mean?’

Gösta set down his cup and rubbed his hand over his face. ‘It’s amazing how you can read through a police report again and again without seeing what’s right in front of your face.’

For a moment he fell silent, but then he gave Erica a triumphant smile.

‘You know what? I think we just cracked the boys’ alibi.’