The Fire Witness

139

Saga is still standing at the end of the bed and looking at Vicky, who is lying on her side, motionless. Only her index finger moves along the rail of the bed.

“I’m thinking about what you told me about the man in the car,” Saga says. “The man who wanted you to come home with him. I think your feeling that he was dangerous was absolutely correct.”

Vicky slowly sits up and looks into Saga’s cornflower-blue eyes.

“Do you think you could help me trace him down once all this is over?” asks Saga.

Vicky nods and swallows hard. Then she wraps her arms tightly around her knees. It’s difficult for Saga to see how this thin, delicate girl could have broken the skulls of two human beings.

“Before we go any further, let me just tell you that people always feel better when they tell the truth,” Saga says.

Saga feels the tingling calm she gets when she enters a boxing ring. She knows that she is close to a truthful confession. She can feel the change in the room: it’s in the tone of voice, the warmth, the level of moisture in the eyes. Saga pretends to write something in her notebook and waits for a few moments before she looks at Vicky as if the girl has already confessed to the killings.

“So you were sleeping in bloody sheets,” Saga begins, softly.

“I killed Miranda, didn’t I?” Vicky whispers.

“Tell me about it.”

Vicky’s mouth trembles and her face darkens into a blush.

“There are times I get really, really mad,” she whispers as she covers her face.

“Were you angry at Miranda?”

“I was.”

“What did you do?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

Signe walks over to Vicky and says, “You know that you don’t have to say a word, don’t you?”

“I don’t have to tell you anything,” Vicky says to Saga.

“The interrogation is over,” Susanne Öst says.

“Thanks,” whispers Vicky.

“She needs time to remember what happened,” says Saga.

“We have a confession,” says Susanne.

“I don’t know if I-”

“You just confessed to killing Miranda Eriksdotter,” Susanne says in a louder voice.

“Don’t yell at me!”

“You hit her, didn’t you? You hit her in the head.”

“I don’t want to say anything else.”

“This interrogation is over,” Signe says sharply.

“How did you hit Miranda?” Susanne asks.

“It doesn’t matter.” Vicky’s voice breaks and she starts to cry.

“Your fingerprints were on a bloody hammer, which-”

“I can’t talk about it! What the hell do you want from me?”

“You don’t have to say anything,” Saga says. “You have the right to remain silent.”

“Why did you get angry at Miranda?” Susanne asks. “So angry that you-”

“I’m making a note of this,” the lawyer says.

“How did you get into Miranda’s room?”

“I unlocked the door,” Vicky says, and tries to get out of bed. “I really can’t talk about this anymore.”

“How did you get the keys?”

“I don’t know, I-”

“Elisabet had them, am I right?”

“I borrowed them,” Vicky says as she stands up.

“Did she want to give them to you?”

“I smashed her skull in! That’s what you want to hear, isn’t it?” Vicky screams. She throws her food tray at the prosecutor and orange juice and yogurt with cornflakes spatter the wall.

“Go to hell!” she screams at Signe, who is so startled she falls backward into one of the chairs.

Before Saga and Joona can reach her, Vicky rips out her IV and seizes the pole. She hits Susanne as hard as she can. The bag flies off and bursts against the wall.