The Ice Child

Chapter Eight

Terese had phoned everyone she could think of: the few relatives that Lasse had, though most of them were far away; his old drinking buddies; some of his newer friends; several former co-workers; and members of the church that he’d mentioned.

She was feeling guilty. Yesterday she’d stood in the kitchen, baking cinnamon buns and feeling something akin to joy because she’d decided to leave him. She hadn’t started to worry until close to seven thirty in the evening when he hadn’t come home for dinner and wasn’t answering his phone. Usually Lasse came and went as he pleased, and lately he’d been at the church if he wasn’t at home. But not this time. They hadn’t seen him at church all day, which made her even more anxious. He had nowhere else to go.

The car was also missing. She’d borrowed her neighbour’s car to drive around and look for him half the night, even though the police had told her they’d look into the matter in the morning. Lasse was a grown man, after all, and he might have just decided to go off on his own for a while. But she couldn’t simply sit at home and worry. While Tyra stayed with the boys, Terese drove all over Fjällbacka and then out to Kville, where the church was located. Nowhere did she see their red Volvo estate car. She was grateful the police had at least taken her seriously when she reported Lasse missing. Maybe they’d heard the panic in her voice. Even during the periods when Lasse’s drinking was at its worst, he had always come home at night. And he hadn’t had a drink in ages.

Naturally the police officer who came to the house to talk with her had asked whether Lasse might have started drinking again. This was a small town, and he knew about her husband’s past. She had explained in no uncertain terms that Lasse didn’t drink any more. But when she thought about it, she realized that he’d been acting differently over the last few months. And it wasn’t just his fanatical religious ranting; there was something else. Every once in a while she’d caught him smiling to himself, as if he were thinking about some big secret, something he didn’t want to tell her.

Terese didn’t know how to explain something so vague to the police. She could hear how crazy it would sound. Yet she was suddenly convinced that Lasse did have some sort of secret. And as Terese sat in the kitchen with the morning light slowly driving away the dark, what scared her most was that this secret might have got Lasse in terrible trouble.

Marta rode Valiant along the forest path, startling a flock of birds that flew up as she rode past. Valiant reacted nervously by setting off at a trot. She knew he wanted to run, but she reined him in and they continued at a slow pace on this quiet morning. Even though the temperature had dropped, she wasn’t cold. She was warmed by the horse’s body, and she also knew how to dress properly, wearing several layers. With the right clothing she could stay out riding for hours, even in winter.

Molly’s training had gone well yesterday. Her daughter was developing into an excellent rider, and Marta was actually quite proud of her. Usually it was Jonas who bragged about Molly, but when it came to horseback riding it was clear where the girl got her talent. It was a skill she shared with her mother.

Marta urged Valiant forward, enjoying the sensation when he started moving faster. She never felt as free as when she was riding a horse. It was as if she were always playing a role, and only in her interaction with a horse did she become her true self.

Victoria’s death had changed everything. She noticed it in the mood at the stable, and at home. Even at Einar and Helga’s house. The girls were subdued and scared. Some of them had come straight to the stable after the memorial service yesterday. She and Jonas had given a couple of them a lift in their car. The girls had sat in the back seat, not saying a word. No trace of their usual laughter and noise. And strangely enough the rivalry between the stable girls now seemed even fiercer than before. They squabbled over the horses, competed for Marta’s attention, and glared with envy at Molly, since they knew she held a position that could never be threatened.

It was a fascinating dynamic. Sometimes she couldn’t resist stoking the fire. She would let one girl ride a favourite horse more often than she should have been allowed. She would give a girl extra attention during several lessons while she ignored someone else. It worked every time, instantly heightening the intrigues and spreading discontent. She saw the envious looks and the cliques that formed. She found it all very amusing. It was so easy to play off the girls’ insecurity, so easy to predict their reactions.

She’d always had a talent for such things, and maybe that was why she’d found it so difficult when her daughter was small. Young children were unpredictable. She couldn’t make her daughter go along with her wishes in the same way. Instead she’d been forced to comply with Molly’s needs. It was the child who decided when she would sleep and eat, and sometimes she would suddenly start crying for no reason. If Marta was honest with herself, she no longer found it as wearisome to be a mother. As Molly got older, it had become easier to deal with her, to foresee how she would act and respond. And once Marta discovered Molly’s talent for horseback riding, she’d begun to feel closer to her daughter. As if they actually belonged together, and Molly wasn’t just some strange creature who had come from her body.

Valiant now took off at a gallop, clearly glad to be racing along. Marta knew the route so well that she let him run as fast as he liked. Occasionally she had to duck under a branch, and snow fell on her from the trees as they thundered past. The snow also whirled up from the horse’s hooves, so it was like racing through clouds. She was breathing hard, feeling her whole body working. People who didn’t ride horses thought it was just a matter of sitting passively in the saddle. They didn’t understand that every muscle was active. After a good ride, her whole body ached so wonderfully.

Jonas had rushed off to take care of an emergency early this morning. He was always on call, 24/7, and just before five his phone had rung: a cow had fallen ill on one of the nearby farms. In minutes Jonas was dressed and in his car. Having been woken by his mobile, Marta lay in bed, watching him get dressed in the dark. After all these years together, the situation was so familiar and yet it was never entirely pleasant. Living together hadn’t always been easy. They’d had their quarrels, and there were times when she wanted to scream and punch him from sheer frustration. But the certainty that they belonged together had never faded.

Only once had she been afraid. She usually refused to admit it, didn’t even want to think about it, but when she was out riding, when freedom took over her body and she was able to relax, the thoughts would surface. They had almost lost everything: each other, their life together, the loyalty and intimacy that they’d known from the first time they met.

There was a measure of insanity to their love. It was scorched at the edges by the fire that constantly burned, and they knew how to keep it going. They had explored their love in every way imaginable, testing the boundaries to see if it would hold. And it had. Only once had their love been close to breaking, but at the last second everything had settled down and returned to the way it ought to be. The danger was over, and she had chosen to give it as little thought as possible. That was best.

Marta urged Valiant to go even faster, and almost soundlessly they flew through the woods. Heading towards nothing, towards everything.

Patrik sat down at the kitchen table and gratefully accepted the cup of coffee that Erica handed to him. Their romantic dinner last night had been cut short when Terese Hansson phoned to say she was worried about her husband Lasse. Patrik had gone over to talk with her, and when he came back home Erica had cleared everything away. This morning no trace remained of their dinner. She had cleaned the kitchen so it sparkled, no doubt out of sheer spite since Kristina and Gunnar were supposed to come over in the afternoon for Sunday coffee.

He glanced at the painting propped against the wall. It had been there for a year because he’d never got around to hanging it up. If he didn’t watch out, Mr Fix-it would show up with a hammer when he came to visit. Patrik knew he was being childish, but he wasn’t exactly happy about another man fixing things in his home. That was something he ought to do himself – or at least pay somebody to do it, he hurried to add since he was fully aware that his handyman skills were limited.

‘Forget about the painting,’ said Erica with a smile when she saw what he was looking at. ‘I’ll put it away before they get here if you don’t want Gunnar to hang it up.’

For a moment Patrik considered accepting her offer, but then he felt foolish.

‘No, leave it there. I’ve had plenty of time to deal with it, but I just never have. The same is true for a lot of other things I should have done. I’ve only got myself to blame, and I should be grateful for his help.’

‘You’re not the only one who could hang up that painting and fix other things. I know how to use a hammer too. But we’ve had other priorities, such as taking care of our work, and spending time with the kids and each other. What does it matter if that painting is still sitting on the floor?’ She sat down on his lap and put her arms around him. He closed his eyes and breathed in her scent; he never grew tired of it. Of course daily life had taken its toll on the passionate desire they’d felt in the beginning, but in his opinion it had been replaced by something even better. A calm and steady but enduring love. And there were still times when he felt as aroused by his wife as when they’d first met. Just not as often as in the past, which was probably nature’s way of making sure that human beings got things done instead of spending all their days in bed.

‘I had some plans for yesterday,’ said Erica, nibbling on his lip. Even though Patrik was dead tired after working so hard the past few days and then tossing and turning last night, he could feel his body responding.

‘Hmm… I did too,’ he replied.

‘What are you doing?’ said a voice from the doorway, and they both jumped self-consciously. With young children in the house, it was almost impossible to kiss and make out in peace.

‘We were just kissing a little,’ said Erica, getting up.

‘Blech. That’s disgusting,’ said Maja, and then she ran back to the living room.

Erica poured herself a cup of coffee. ‘She won’t be saying that ten years from now.’

‘I don’t even want to think about that.’ Patrik shuddered. If it had been within his power, he would have stopped time so Maja never became a teenager.

‘What are the police going to do now?’ asked Erica, leaning against the worktop. Patrik drank some more of his coffee before answering. The caffeine was having only a marginal impact on the fatigue he felt.

‘I just talked to Terese, and Lasse still hasn’t turned up. She was out driving around and looking for him half the night. Now we need to help her.’

‘Any theory about what might have happened to him?’

‘No, not really. But Terese said Lasse has been acting strangely over the past few months. There’s been something different about him, though she couldn’t quite put her finger on it.’

‘So she doesn’t have a clue? Most people can sense if their spouse is up to something. Maybe a mistress? Or a gambling habit?’

He shook his head. ‘No, but we’ll be talking to some of his friends today. I’ve also asked Malte at the bank to print out an account statement so we can see if Lasse has made any withdrawals lately, or purchased anything that might explain where he’s gone. Malte was going to run over to the bank, so he should have the information for us soon.’ Patrik glanced at his watch. It was almost nine, and the morning light was finally appearing on the horizon. He hated winter with its eternal nights.

‘That’s one of the advantages of living in a small town. The bank manager can just “run over” and take care of things.’

‘I know. It makes our job a lot easier. And I hope it will give us a lead. According to Terese, Lasse is the one who handles the family’s finances.’

‘I suppose you’ll also check to see if he has paid for something with a credit card or made a withdrawal from a cashpoint machine, right? Maybe he was just fed up and decided to leave. Caught the next plane to Ibiza, or some place like that. You should check with the airlines. It wouldn’t be the first time that an unemployed father of young kids fled the daily drudgery.’

‘I’ve had the same thought myself, even though I’m not unemployed,’ said Patrik with a grin. He was rewarded with a light swat on the shoulder.

‘Don’t you dare! Don’t even think about going off to Magaluf and drinking shots with some sweet young thing.’

‘I’d probably fall asleep after one drink. And then I’d phone her parents to tell them to come and get their daughter.’

Erica laughed. ‘You have a point there. But you should still check with the airlines. You never know. Not everyone is as tired and ethical as you are.’

‘I’ve already asked Gösta to do that. And Malte is going to look at credit card charges and cashpoint withdrawals too. Plus we’re going to check on Lasse’s mobile usage as soon as we can. So I’ve got the situation under control. Thanks.’ He gave her a wink. ‘What are your plans for today?’

‘Kristina and Gunnar are coming over later this afternoon. And if you don’t mind, I was thinking of asking them to babysit for a while so I could get some work done. I feel like I need to keep going right now or I’ll never understand why Laila is so interested in those missing girls. If I find a connection, maybe she’ll open up about what happened that day when Vladek was murdered. I’ve always had a feeling she wanted to tell me something, but she just hasn’t known how to do it. Or hasn’t dared.’

The morning light was now coming through the windows and flooding the whole kitchen. It made Erica’s blond hair shine, and Patrik realized again how much he loved his wife. Especially at moments like this when she was beaming with enthusiasm and passion for her work.

‘By the way, the fact that the family car is missing might mean that Lasse has left the area,’ said Erica, abruptly changing the subject.

‘That may be true. Terese went out looking for him, but there are lots of places he could have left the car. On a trail in the woods, for example. Or if he parked it in a garage somewhere, it will be hard to find. I’m hoping we’ll get some help from the public. That might make it easier to locate the car, if it’s still here.’

‘What kind of car is it?’

Patrik downed the last of his coffee and stood up. ‘A red Volvo estate car.’

‘You mean like that one out there?’ said Erica, pointing towards the big car park down by the water near their house.

Patrik turned to look where she was pointing. His mouth fell open. There it was. Lasse’s car.

Gösta ended the call. Malte had phoned to say that he was faxing over the bank documents, so Gösta got up to fetch them. He still thought it was amazing that someone could put a piece of paper in a machine and only minutes later what seemed to be the same paper magically appeared in another machine someplace else.

He yawned. It would have been nice to sleep later or even to have a free Sunday, but that wasn’t going to happen, not the way things were going right now. He watched the papers slowly spill out of the fax machine. When all of them seemed to have arrived, he gathered them up and went into the kitchen. It was a more pleasant place to read than in his office.

‘Would you like some help?’ asked Annika, who was already sitting at the table.

‘Sure. That would be great.’ He divided the papers into two piles and gave one to her.

‘What did Malte say about any credit card charges?’

‘He said Lasse hasn’t used the card since the day before yesterday, and there haven’t been any cashpoint withdrawals either.’

‘Okay. I sent a query to the airlines. But it seems so unlikely that he’d go abroad without paying for the ticket with a credit card, unless he decided to use cash.’

Gösta began leafing through the documents he’d placed on the table. ‘Well, we can take a look at his bank account, to see if he made any large cash withdrawals recently.’

‘It seems unlikely they’d have enough in their account for any big withdrawals,’ said Annika.

‘I know. Lasse is unemployed, and I can’t imagine that Terese makes much. It’s my guess that money’s tight in that household. But wait a minute…’ he said in surprise as he studied the figures on the statement in front of him.

‘What is it?’ Annika leaned forward to see what Gösta was looking at. He turned the page around and pointed at the amount at the bottom.

‘My word!’ she said in amazement.

‘They’ve got fifty thousand Swedish kronor in their account. How the hell could they have so much money?’ He quickly scanned the rest of the bank statement. ‘There are a lot of deposits. And it looks like they were cash deposits. Five thousand at a time, once a month.’

‘Lasse must have been the one who made the deposits, since he handles the family’s finances.’

‘That seems right. But we’ll have to ask Terese.’

‘Where do you think he got the money? Gambling?’

Gösta drummed his fingers on the table. ‘I’ve never heard any gossip about him gambling, so I don’t think so. We can check his computer, in case he’s been gambling online. But if he was, there should have been deposits from the gaming company. Maybe these were payments for some sort of shady jobs he did, and he didn’t want Terese to know.’

‘Doesn’t that sound a bit far-fetched?’ Annika frowned.

‘Not really, given the fact that he’s now disappeared. Plus Terese said that he seems to have been hiding something from her over the past few months.’

‘Well, it’s not going to be easy to find out what those jobs were. We can’t trace where the cash came from.’

‘No, we can’t. Unless we turn up a possible employer. Then we can inspect that person’s bank account to see whether comparable sums were withdrawn.’

Gösta carefully examined each bank transaction again, with his reading glasses perched on the tip of his nose. He didn’t find anything else suspicious. Aside from the cash deposits, it looked as if the family had been having a hard time making ends meet, and he noted that they seemed to have a lot of expenses.

‘It’s worrisome that there’s so much money in the account, and yet he disappeared without taking any of it,’ said Annika.

‘That’s what I was thinking too. It doesn’t bode well.’

Gösta’s mobile rang, and he grabbed it from the table. He saw on the display that the call was from Patrik.

‘Hi. What? Where? Okay, we’ll be right there.’

He ended the conversation and got up as he put his mobile in his pocket.

‘Lasse’s car is parked at Sälvik. And they’ve found blood at the bathing beach.’

Annika nodded. She didn’t seem surprised.

Tyra stood in the kitchen doorway and looked at her mother. Her heart ached to see Terese’s anxious expression. She’d been sitting there at the kitchen table as if paralysed ever since returning from her nighttime search.

‘Mamma,’ said Tyra, but there was no response. ‘Mamma?’

Terese glanced up. ‘What is it, sweetheart?’

Tyra went over and sat down at the table, taking her mother’s hand. Her skin felt cold.

‘Are the boys okay?’ asked Terese.

‘They’re fine. They’re playing at Arvid’s house. But, Mamma…’

‘Sorry. What did you want to tell me?’ Terese rubbed her face. It looked as if she could hardly keep her eyes open.

‘There’s something I want to show you. Come with me.’

‘All right.’ Terese got up and followed Tyra into the living room.

‘I found this a while ago, but I didn’t know whether… I didn’t know if I should say anything.’

‘What is it?’ Terese looked at her daughter. ‘Is it something to do with Lasse? If so, you need to tell me this instant.’

Tyra reluctantly nodded.

‘Lasse has two Bibles, but he reads only one of them. I wondered why, because the second one is right here. So I looked inside.’ She took the Bible from the shelf and opened it. ‘Look.’

Someone had carved a hole in the pages to make a hiding place.

‘What on earth…?’ said Terese.

‘I discovered it a few months ago, and I’ve looked inside off and on. Sometimes there was money, and always the same amount. Five thousand kronor.’

‘But I don’t understand. Where would Lasse get that kind of money? And why would he hide it?’

Tyra shook her head. She could feel a knot forming in her stomach.

‘I don’t know, but I should have told you about it. What if something has happened to him because of the money? Then it will be all my fault, because if I’d told you before, maybe…’ She couldn’t hold back her tears.

Terese put her arms around her daughter.

‘This is not your fault, and I can understand why you didn’t tell me. I’ve had a feeling that Lasse was hiding something, so this must be it. Nobody could have predicted that anything would happen, and we don’t know yet that it has. Maybe he fell off the wagon and got drunk, and he’s passed out somewhere. I’m sure the police will find him soon.’

‘I can tell you don’t believe that,’ sobbed Tyra against her mother’s shoulder.

‘Hush now. We don’t know anything, and it would be foolish to try and guess what happened. I’ll phone the police and tell them about the money. Maybe that will be of some help to them. And no one is going to blame you. You were just being loyal to Lasse because you didn’t want to make trouble for him. And I think that was a nice thing for you to do. Okay?’

Terese stepped back and pressed the palms of her hands against Tyra’s flushed cheeks, kissed her daughter on the forehead and then went off to ring the police. Tyra stayed where she was for a few moments, wiping away her tears. She was just about to join her mother in the kitchen when she heard her scream.

Mellberg was standing at the end of the dock, staring down at the hole in the ice.

‘So, it looks like we’ve found him.’

‘We can’t be sure yet,’ Patrik insisted. He was standing a short distance away, waiting for the crime scene technicians to arrive. But he’d been unable to hold Mellberg back.

‘Lasse’s car is parked over there. And you can see the blood here. It’s clear as daylight that he was killed and then dumped in the hole in the ice. We won’t see hide nor hair of him again until his body floats up in the spring.’

Patrik gritted his teeth when he saw Mellberg take a few more steps along the dock. ‘Torbjörn is on his way. It would probably be best if we try not to disturb anything,’ he pleaded.

‘No need to tell me that. I know how to deal with a crime scene,’ said Mellberg. ‘You were hardly even born when I handled my first investigation, and you really ought to show a little respect for your elders because-’

He took a step back. When he noticed that he’d stepped into thin air, his pompous expression changed instantly. With a crash he fell into the hole, taking down with him a huge chunk of ice.

‘Bloody hell!’ shouted Patrik, rushing forward.

He almost panicked when he saw there was no life preserver or any other equipment within reach. Against his better judgement he considered lying down on his stomach on the ice in an attempt to pull Mellberg out. But just as he was about to throw himself on to the ice, Mellberg seized hold of the bathing ladder and hauled himself up.

‘Damn, it’s cold!’ Panting hard, he sat down on the snow-covered planks. Patrik gloomily surveyed the havoc all around. Torbjörn would have to work miracles to make any sense of this crime scene after what Mellberg had done to it.

‘Come on, Bertil, you need to get someplace warm. I’ll take you over to my house,’ he said, pulling Mellberg to his feet. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Gösta and Martin making their way down to the bathing area. He shoved Mellberg ahead of him.

‘What the…?’ Gösta stared in astonishment at his boss, whose hair and clothes were soaking wet. Mellberg huffed and puffed as he hurried past, heading up the steep path towards the car park and Patrik’s house.

‘Don’t ask,’ Patrik told his colleagues with a sigh. ‘Just stay here and wait for Torbjörn and his team. And warn them that the crime scene is not in the best of shape. They’ll be lucky to find anything at all.’

Jonas hesitantly pressed the doorbell. He had never been to Terese’s flat before, and he’d had to look up the address on the Internet.

‘Hi, Jonas.’ Tyra peered at him with surprise when she opened the door. Then she stepped aside to let him come in.

‘Is your mother home?’

She nodded and pointed. Jonas looked around. It was a pleasant and tidy place without anything fussy about it, just the way he’d thought it would look. He went into the kitchen.

‘Hi, Terese.’ She too gave him an astonished look. ‘I just wanted to come over and see how you and Tyra are doing. I know it’s been a long time since we last met, but the stable girls told me about Lasse. They said he’s missing.’

‘Not any more.’ Terese’s eyes were swollen from crying and she spoke in a monotone, her voice cracking.

‘So they found him?’

‘No, just the car. But he’s probably dead.’

‘What? What are you saying? Do you want me to phone someone to come over here to be with you? A pastor, or a friend?’ He knew that her parents had passed away several years ago, and she had no siblings.

‘Thanks, but Tyra is here. The boys are staying with good friends. I haven’t told them anything yet.’

‘Okay.’ He seemed at a loss as he stood there in the kitchen. ‘Would you like me to leave? Maybe you’d rather be alone.’

‘No, stay.’ Terese nodded towards the coffee machine. ‘There’s coffee. And milk in the fridge. I seem to remember that you take milk in your coffee.’

Jonas smiled. ‘You’ve got a good memory.’ He poured himself a cup and refilled hers. Then he sat down across from her.

‘Do the police know what happened?’

‘No. They didn’t want to say much on the phone. Only that they have reason to believe Lasse is dead.’

‘Do they usually notify families of a death over the phone?’

‘I rang Patrik Hedström about… a different matter. And I could hear from his voice that something had happened, so he felt he had to tell me. But someone from the police department is supposed to come over here in a while.’

‘How did Tyra take the news?’

Terese hesitated before answering.

‘She and Lasse were never very close,’ she said. ‘During the years when he was drinking he was always so out of it. When he stopped drinking he found religion. And that often seemed just as alienating.’

‘Do you think what’s happened to him could be related to these new interests of his? Or to something in his past?’

She gave him a quizzical look. ‘What do you mean?’

‘Well, maybe there was some trouble within the church that got out of hand. Or maybe he went back to hanging out with his old drinking buddies and got mixed up in something illegal. Do you think somebody wanted to harm him?’

‘No. And I have a hard time believing he would start drinking again. You can say what you like about that church, but it has kept him sober. And he never had a bad word to say about anybody in the congregation. They gave him love and forgiveness. Those are his words, not mine.’ She couldn’t hold back a sob. ‘I didn’t forgive him. In fact, I’d made up my mind to leave him. But now that he’s gone, I miss him.’ Tears spilled down her cheeks, and Jonas handed her a paper napkin from the holder on the table. She wiped her face.

‘Are you okay, Mamma?’ Tyra was standing in the doorway, looking at her anxiously.

Terese smiled through her tears. ‘I’m okay. Don’t worry.’

‘Maybe it was stupid of me to come here,’ said Jonas. ‘I just thought I might be of some help.’

‘It was nice of you to think of us. I’m glad you came,’ said Terese.

At that moment the doorbell rang, startling both of them. It was a shrill sound, and the bell rang again before Tyra managed to open the door. On hearing footsteps approaching, Jonas turned and encountered yet another surprised look.

‘Hi, Gösta,’ he hastened to greet the officer. ‘I was just leaving.’ He got up and looked at Terese. ‘Let me know if there’s anything I can do. Don’t hesitate to call.’

She gave him a grateful look. ‘Thanks.’

As he left the kitchen, Jonas felt a hand on his arm. In a low voice so Terese wouldn’t hear, Gösta said, ‘There’s something I want to talk to you about. I’ll drop by as soon as I’m done here.’

Jonas nodded. He felt his mouth go dry. He didn’t like the tone of Gösta’s voice.

Erica couldn’t stop thinking about Peter, the son that Laila’s mother had taken in. The boy who later vanished. Why had the grandmother agreed to care for him but not his sister? And had he left voluntarily after his grandmother died?

There were far too many questions surrounding Peter, and it was time for her to try to answer at least some of them. Erica leafed through her notebook until she came to the pages with contact information for all the individuals involved. She always tried to be methodical and keep them all in one place. The problem was that sometimes she had a hard time deciphering her own handwriting.

From downstairs she heard the children laughing merrily as they played with Gunnar. They had quickly grown fond of their grandmother’s pal, as Maja called him. They were having a great time, so with a clear conscience Erica could continue working a little longer.

She turned to look out of the window. She’d seen Mellberg drive up in his car and then come to a screeching halt. He jumped out and jogged down to the bathing beach. But no matter how much she craned her neck, she couldn’t see that far, and she’d been given strict orders to stay away. So she would just have to wait patiently until Patrik came home and told her what they’d found.

Again she glanced at her notebook. She’d jotted down a phone number in Spain next to the name of Laila’s sister. She reached for the phone as she squinted at what she’d written. Was the last digit a seven or a one? She sighed, thinking that if nothing else, she’d just have to try both. She decided to start with the seven, and punched in the phone number.

She heard a muted ring tone. It always sounded different when she rang a number outside of Sweden, and she wondered why that was.

‘¡Hola!’ said a man’s voice.

‘Hello. I would like to speak to Agneta. Is she home?’ said Erica in English. She’d studied French in school, not Spanish, so she had almost zero knowledge of the language.

‘May I ask who is calling?’ said the man in flawless English.

‘My name is Erica Falck.’ She hesitated. ‘I’m calling about her sister.’

A long silence followed. Then the voice spoke again, this time in Swedish, though with a slight accent.

‘My name is Stefan. I’m Agneta’s son. I don’t think my mother wants to talk about Laila. They haven’t been in touch for a long time.’

‘I know. Laila told me that. But it still might be important for me to talk to your mother. Tell her it has to do with Peter.’

Silence again. She could feel resistance streaming towards her through the phone.

‘Don’t you ever wonder how your relatives in Sweden are doing?’ Erica couldn’t help asking.

‘What relatives?’ replied Stefan. ‘Laila is the only one left, and I’ve never even met her. Mamma moved to Spain before I was born, so we’ve never had any contact with her side of the family. And I think that’s what my mother wants.’

‘Could you ask her? Please?’ Erica could hear the pleading tone in her voice.

‘Okay. But don’t count on her saying yes.’

Stefan put down the phone and carried on a murmured conversation with someone. Erica thought he spoke excellent Swedish. His accent was barely noticeable, just a hint of a lisp, which she knew came from Spanish.

‘You can talk to her for a few minutes. Here she is.’

Erica was startled to hear Stefan’s voice again. She’d been far away, thinking about linguistic differences.

‘Hello?’ said a woman’s voice.

Erica quickly pulled herself together and introduced herself. She said that she was writing a book about her sister’s case, and she would be extremely grateful if she could ask a few questions.

‘I don’t know what I could tell you. Laila and I broke off all contact years ago, and I know nothing about her or her family. I couldn’t help you even if I wanted to.’

‘Laila told me the same thing, but I have a few questions about Peter, and I was hoping you could answer them.’

‘What is it you want to know?’ said Agneta, sounding resigned.

‘I’ve been wondering why your mother didn’t take in both Peter and Louise. It seems like it would have been only natural for the grandmother to take care of both children instead of splitting them up. Louise ended up in a foster home.’

‘Louise needed… special care. And that wasn’t something my mother could do.’

‘But what sort of special care? Was it because she’d been so traumatized? And didn’t any of you ever suspect that Vladek was abusing his family? Your mother lived here in Fjällbacka. Didn’t she notice that something wasn’t right?’ The questions poured out of Erica, and at first she heard only silence on the phone.

‘I really don’t want to talk about this. It happened so long ago. It was a dark time, and I’d prefer to forget all about it.’ Agneta’s voice sounded faint and hesitant. ‘My mother did everything she could to protect Peter. That’s all I can say.’

‘What about Louise? Why didn’t she try to protect her?’

‘Vladek took care of Louise.’

‘Was it because she was a girl that she suffered the most? Was that why they always referred to her as simply the Girl? Did Vladek hate women, but not men, and so he treated his son better? Laila also suffered injuries.’ She continued to ask questions because she was afraid that at any second Agneta would end the conversation.

‘It was… complicated. I can’t answer your questions. And I have nothing more to say.’

It sounded as if Agneta was about to hang up, so Erica hurried to change tack.

‘I realize it must be painful to talk about this, but what do you think happened after your mother died? According to the police report, her death was due to a burglary gone wrong. I’ve read the report and talked to the officer who was in charge of the investigation. But I wonder if that’s really what happened. It seems quite a coincidence for two murders to occur in one family, even with many years in between.’

‘Things like that do happen. It was a burglary, just as the police decided. A thief, or possibly several thieves, broke into the house during the night. My mother woke up, and the thieves panicked and killed her.’

‘With a poker?’

‘Yes, they must have been in a hurry, and that was the only weapon they could find.’

‘There were no fingerprints. None whatsoever. They must have been exceedingly careful thieves. It seems a bit odd that they’d planned the break-in so well but then panicked when someone inside the house woke up.’

‘The police didn’t think it was odd. They did a thorough investigation. They even theorized that Peter might have had something to do with it, but he was completely cleared of any involvement.’

‘And then he disappeared. What do you think happened to him?’

‘Who knows? Maybe he’s living on an island somewhere in the Caribbean. It’s a nice thought, but I’m afraid I don’t believe it. I think the trauma of his childhood, and the fact that another person close to him was murdered, ended up being too much for him.’

‘So you think… you think he committed suicide?’

‘Yes, I do,’ said Agneta. ‘Unfortunately. But I hope I’m wrong. Now I’m afraid I have no more time to talk with you. Stefan and his wife are about to leave, and I’m going to babysit for their boys.’

‘Just one more question,’ Erica begged. ‘What sort of relationship did you have with your sister? Were you close when the two of you were growing up?’ She wanted to end with a more neutral question so that Agneta wouldn’t refuse to speak to her if she phoned again.

‘No, we weren’t,’ said Agneta after a long pause. ‘We were incredibly different and had very little in common. And I’ve chosen not to get mixed up in Laila’s life and the choices she made. None of the Swedes in our social circle here know that she’s my sister, and I don’t want you to tell anyone that we’ve talked. Not even Laila.’

‘I promise not to say anything,’ replied Erica. ‘Just one last question. Laila has been collecting newspaper clippings about the girls who have disappeared during the past two years in Sweden. One of them went missing from here in Fjällbacka. She turned up again last week, but then she was struck by a car and died. She had suffered terrible injuries during the time she was held captive. Do you know why Laila would be so interested in these cases?’ When Erica stopped speaking she heard only the sound of Agneta breathing.

‘No,’ she said curtly and turned away to shout something in Spanish. ‘I need to take care of my grandsons now. And as I told you: I have no wish to be linked to any of this.’

Erica again assured Agneta that she wouldn’t mention their talk to anyone, and then the conversation was over.

Just as she was about to type up her notes, she heard a loud commotion from downstairs in the front hall. Quickly she got up from her desk and dashed out of the room to peer over the railing.

‘What on earth?’ she said, and then ran downstairs. There stood Patrik pulling the wet clothes off a grumbling Bertil Mellberg. His lips were blue, and he was shaking with cold.

Martin stepped inside the station and stomped the snow off his boots. As he passed the reception area, Annika glanced up at him, peering over the rims of the glasses she wore for using the computer.

‘How’d it go?’

‘About the same as usual whenever Mellberg gets involved.’

Seeing the inquisitive look on Annika’s face, he told her about Mellberg’s latest exploits.

‘Good Lord.’ Annika shook her head. ‘That man never ceases to amaze me. What did Torbjörn say?’

‘He said that unfortunately it’s going to be hard to secure footprints or anything else after Mellberg tramped around so much. But he took samples of the blood, and it should be possible to see if it matches Lasse’s blood type. They can also compare it to his sons’ DNA, so we should know whether it’s his blood or not.’

‘That’s good, at least. Do you think he’s dead?’ asked Annika cautiously.

‘There was a lot of blood on the dock and on the ice next to the hole cut for the bathers, but no blood traces leading away from the site. So if it’s Lasse’s blood, the chances are that he’s dead.’

‘How sad.’ Annika’s eyes filled with tears. She’d always been soft-hearted, and ever since she and her husband Lennart had adopted a little girl from China, she’d become even more sensitive to all the injustices in life.

‘Yes, it is. We hadn’t imagined it would turn out like this. We thought we’d probably find him drunk somewhere.’

‘What a sorry fate. His poor family.’ Annika took a moment to regain her composure. ‘By the way, I managed to get hold of all the investigators working on the missing girl cases, and the meeting is scheduled for tomorrow morning at ten o’clock in Göteborg. I’ve already told Patrik, and Mellberg’s going with him. What about you and Gösta? Do you want to go?’

Martin had started to sweat in the heat inside the station. He took off his jacket and ran his fingers through his red hair, which was already feeling damp.

‘I wish I could go. I know Gösta would like to be there too. But we’ll stay here. We can’t leave the station unmanned. Especially now that we have another murder investigation on our hands.’

‘That’s probably smart. And speaking of smart: Paula is down there in the archives again. Would you mind checking on her?’

‘Sure. I’ll do it now,’ said Martin, though he first made a detour to his office to take off his coat.

Down in the cellar the door to the archives stood open. Even so, he knocked before entering, because he could see that Paula was deeply immersed in her work. She was skimming through the contents of the boxes set in front of her as she sat on the floor.

‘So you haven’t given up yet?’ he said, walking over to her.

She glanced up as she set yet another folder aside.

‘I probably won’t find it, but at least I’ve had some time to myself. Who would have thought it could be so much work taking care of a baby? It wasn’t like this with Leo.’

She unfolded her legs and then started to stand up. Martin held out his hand to help. ‘Well, from what I’ve heard,’ he said, ‘Lisa is a little different. Is she home with Johanna now?’

Paula shook her head. ‘Johanna took Leo out sledding, so Lisa is home with her grandmother.’ She took several deep breaths and stretched out her back. ‘So, how’s it going otherwise? I heard that you found Lasse’s car and that there was blood nearby.’

Martin gave her the same report he’d given Annika, telling her about the blood, the hole in the ice, and also about Mellberg’s involuntary bath.

‘You’re kidding! How clumsy can that man be?’ Paula stared at her colleague. ‘Is he okay?’ she then added, and Martin was touched that Paula was still able to worry about Mellberg. He knew that Bertil had a close relationship with Paula and Johanna’s son, and there was something about the old guy that made people like him, even though at times he could be difficult.

‘Yes, he’s fine. He’s over at Patrik’s house getting thawed out.’

‘Something always happens when Bertil gets involved.’ Paula laughed. ‘So, I was just thinking about taking a break. My back gets stiff from sitting on the floor hunched over all these file boxes. Want to keep me company?’

They went upstairs and were on their way to the kitchen when Martin stopped abruptly. ‘I’ve just got to check on something in my office.’

‘Okay, I’ll go with you,’ said Paula, following him.

He began rummaging through the papers on his desk as she went over to look at the books on the shelves, at the same time keeping a surreptitious eye on what Martin was doing. His desk was incredibly cluttered, as usual.

‘Do you miss being at work?’ he asked her.

‘You can say that again.’ She tilted her head to read the titles on the spines of the books. ‘Have you read all of these? Psychology books, crime scene techniques… My God, you even have copies of…’ She didn’t finish her sentence as she studied the series of books neatly lined up on the shelf.

‘What an idiot I am. It wasn’t in the archived files that I read about the severed tongue. It was in one of these.’ She pointed to the books, and Martin turned around in surprise to see what she was talking about. Could that be possible? he thought.

Gösta drove into the yard in front of the stable. It was always difficult to speak to family members. In this instance, he hadn’t had any definite information about Lasse’s death to tell his wife. But there were clear indications that something had happened to him, and it seemed highly likely that he was no longer alive. Terese would be forced to deal with this uncertainty for a while.

He had been surprised to find Jonas at her flat. Why was he there? He’d looked nervous when Gösta said he wanted to have a talk with him. That was fine. If Jonas was feeling off balance for some reason, it would be easier to get him to reveal the truth. At least, that had been Gösta’s experience in the past.

‘Knock, knock,’ he said out loud as he tapped on the front door of Jonas and Marta’s house. He was hoping to speak to Jonas alone, so if Marta or their daughter was at home, he planned to suggest that they go over to the veterinary clinic.

Jonas opened the door. His face had a grey tinge to it that Gösta hadn’t noticed before.

‘Are you home alone? There’s something I need to discuss with you in private.’

Jonas paused for a few seconds before answering, leaving Gösta waiting on the doorstep. With an air of resignation he then stepped aside, as if he already knew what Gösta was going to say. And maybe he did know. He must have realized that it was only a matter of time before the affair would reach the ears of the police.

‘Come in,’ said Jonas. ‘I’m the only one here.’

Gösta looked around. The house seemed to have been furnished without much care or thought, and it was not particularly inviting. He’d never visited the Persson family before, so he hadn’t known what to expect, but he’d assumed that beautiful people would live in beautiful surroundings.

‘It’s awful what happened to Lasse,’ said Jonas. He motioned towards a sofa in the living room.

Gösta sat down. ‘Yes. It’s never pleasant to deliver that sort of news. By the way, why were you visiting Terese?’

‘We dated for a while, back when we were young. Since then we’ve pretty much lost contact, but when I heard that Lasse had disappeared, I went over to find out if there was anything I could do. Her daughter spends a lot of time here at the stable, and she’s been very upset about what happened to Victoria. I wanted to show them that I care, since they’re going through such a hard time.’

‘I see,’ said Gösta. For a moment neither of them spoke. He saw that Jonas was tensely waiting to hear what he would say.

‘I wanted to ask you about Victoria. About your relationship with her,’ said Gösta at last.

‘Oh,’ said Jonas. ‘Well, there’s not much to say. She was one of Marta’s students. One of the group of girls always hanging about the stable.’ He plucked an invisible piece of lint from his jeans.

‘From what I understand, that’s not the whole truth,’ said Gösta, keeping his eyes fixed on Jonas.

‘What do you mean?’

‘Do you smoke?’

Jonas frowned. ‘No, I don’t smoke. Why do you ask?’

‘Okay. Never mind. Let’s go back to Victoria. From what I’ve heard, the two of you were having a… well, an intimate relationship.’

‘Who told you that? I hardly ever talked to her. If I happened to be in the stable, I might exchange a few words with her, just as I do with all the other girls.’

‘We’ve talked to her brother Ricky, and he claims that you and Victoria were having an affair. On the day she disappeared, he saw you and his sister quarrelling outside the stable. What were you arguing about?’

Jonas shook his head. ‘I don’t even recall talking to her that day. But if I did, it definitely wasn’t an argument. Sometimes I may have a few sharp words for the girls if they don’t tend to their chores in the stable. That’s probably all it was. They don’t always like being reprimanded. They’re teenagers, you know.’

‘I thought you just said that you rarely had any contact with the girls at the stable,’ said Gösta calmly, leaning back on the sofa.

‘Well, obviously I do have some contact with them. I’m a part-owner of the riding school, even though Marta actually runs it. Occasionally I lend a hand with practical matters, and if I notice something isn’t being done properly, I speak up.’

Gösta paused before going on. Could Ricky have exaggerated what he saw? But even if they weren’t having a row, Jonas still should have remembered speaking to Victoria.

‘Argument or not, according to Ricky, he ended up yelling at you. He saw the two of you from some distance away, and then he ran over shouting. He kept on yelling at you after Victoria ran off. You really don’t remember any of this?’

‘No. He must be mistaken.’

Gösta realized he wasn’t going to get anywhere by insisting, so he decided to move on, even though he didn’t find Jonas’s answer convincing. Why would Ricky lie about confronting Jonas?

‘Victoria had also received threatening letters hinting at the same thing, that she was having an affair with someone,’ Gösta said.

‘Letters?’ said Jonas, looking as if thoughts were whirling through his head.

‘Yes. Anonymous letters that were sent to her home.’

Jonas looked genuinely surprised. But that didn’t necessarily mean anything. Gösta had been fooled in the past by a person’s innocent expression.

‘I don’t know anything about anonymous letters. And I really didn’t have a relationship with Victoria. First of all, I’m married – happily married. And second, she was only a child. Ricky is mistaken.’

‘Well, let me thank you for your time,’ said Gösta, getting up. ‘I’m sure you realize that we have to take this sort of information seriously, and we’ll be looking into it some more and interviewing other people.’

‘You’re not going to go around asking about something like that, are you?’ said Jonas as he too stood up. ‘You know what people are like here. The mere fact that you ask the question is enough to make them believe it’s true. Don’t you realize what sorts of rumours will start to spread and what that would mean for the riding school? This whole thing is a misunderstanding. A lie. Good Lord, Victoria was the same age as my daughter. What do you take me for?’ His face, normally so open and pleasant, was now contorted with anger.

‘We’ll be discreet. I promise,’ said Gösta.

Jonas ran his hand through his hair. ‘Discreet? This is madness!’

Gösta went to the hall, and when he opened the door he found Marta standing on the porch. He gave a start.

‘Hi,’ she said. ‘What are you doing here?’

‘Er, uh… I was just checking on a few things with Jonas.’

‘Gösta had some more questions about the break-in,’ called Jonas from the living room.

Gösta nodded. ‘Yes, that’s right. There were a few things I forgot to ask the other day.’

‘I heard about Lasse,’ said Marta. ‘How’s Terese doing? According to Jonas, she seemed quite calm.’

‘Well…’ Gösta didn’t know how to respond.

‘What’s happened? Jonas said the police had found Lasse’s car.’

‘I’m afraid I can’t talk about an ongoing investigation,’ said Gösta, pushing past her. ‘And now I need to get back to the station.’

He held on to the railing as he went down the front steps. At his age, there was always the risk that he might not get up again if he stumbled and fell.

‘Let us know if there’s anything we can do!’ shouted Marta as he headed for his car.

He waved in reply. Before he got into the driver’s seat, he glanced back at the house, where Marta and Jonas were now visible as shadows in the living room window. In his heart, Gösta was certain that Jonas had lied about the argument and maybe even about the relationship. There was something off about what he’d said, but it wasn’t going to be easy to find out the truth.