The Fire Witness

88

Elin and Daniel drive away from the hospital, neither one of them saying a word. As she pulls onto the E4, she gets out her cell phone and calls Joona Linna.

“Sorry to bother you,” she says, her voice tinged with despair.

“You can call me whenever you want,” Joona says. His tone is friendly.

“I’m in my car with Daniel Grim and he doesn’t believe that Vicky did those horrible things,” Elin explains quickly.

“Even though all the technical evidence points to her.”

“It can’t be true. Daniel says that she’s not violent,” Elin says.

“She can become violent,” Joona says.

“You don’t know her!” Elin erupts.

Joona says nothing for a few seconds. Then he says calmly, “Ask Daniel about Eutrexa. It’s a drug.”

“Eutrexa?”

Daniel looks at Elin.

“Ask him about side effects,” Joona says before hanging up.

Elin drives quickly back along the coast, heading toward the forest.

“What side effects does Eutrexa have?” she asks.

“A person can become extremely aggressive if he or she takes an overdose,” Daniel says matter-of-factly.

“Was Vicky prescribed this drug?”

Daniel nods and Elin says nothing.

“It is a good drug,” Daniel tries to explain, but then he falls silent.

Almost all the light from the headlights is swallowed by the trees at the edge of the forest. The shadows overlap until there is nothing but darkness.

“Did you notice that you said Vicky was your daughter?”

“Yes, I know,” Elin says. “It just came out.”

“She was your daughter for a little while.”

“Yes, she was,” Elin says, keeping her eyes on the road.

They drive past the vast Armsjön Lake. It gleams like cast iron in the darkness.

Daniel takes a deep breath. “I was trying to think of something Vicky said when she first arrived but now I can’t remember it. Oh yes, she said she had some friends from Chile who had a house…”

He falls silent and looks out the passenger-side window. There are tears on his cheeks.

“Elisabet and I were hoping to go to Chile and then there was the huge earthquake…”

He takes a deep breath, but sits quietly with his hands in his lap.

“You were talking about Vicky,” Elin says.

“That’s right. Where was I?”

“You said she had friends from Chile.”

“Yes.”

“They had a house somewhere.”

“Did I say that?”

“Yes.”

“Damn it,” he mumbles. “What is wrong with me? That is… Maybe I should have stayed at the hospital. This is kind of crazy.”

Elin smiles weakly at him. “I’m glad that you didn’t.”