The Ice Child

Chapter Twelve

The kitchen was utterly quiet. Everyone was looking expectantly at Erica, who remained standing even though both Gösta and Martin had offered her their chair. There was so much nervous energy inside her that she knew she wouldn’t be able to sit still.

‘Patrik asked me to have a look at these interviews.’ She pointed to the box of DVDs that she’d placed on the floor.

‘Yes, I did. Erica is good at seeing things that other people may have missed,’ said Patrik apologetically, but no one seemed to have any objections.

‘At first I didn’t see anything worth noting, but the second time I watched them…’

‘Yes?’ said Gösta, his eyes fixed on her face.

‘I realized that the common denominator had nothing to do with the girls themselves. It had to do with their siblings.’

‘What do you mean?’ said Martin. ‘It’s true that all of them except for Minna and Victoria had younger sisters, but what does that have to do with the kidnappings?’

‘I’m not sure exactly. But all the sisters were videotaped in their own bedrooms, and they all had posters on the walls, plus those kinds of ribbons that are won in horseback-riding competitions. They’re all avid riders. And Victoria was too, even though she didn’t compete.’

For a moment everyone was silent. The only sound was the chugging of the coffeemaker, and Erica could see that everyone was trying to put together the puzzle pieces.

‘But what about Minna?’ Gösta then said. ‘She didn’t have any younger siblings. And she wasn’t interested in horseback riding.’

‘Right. Exactly,’ said Erica. ‘And that’s why I don’t believe Minna was one of the perpetrator’s victims. It’s not even certain that she was kidnapped, or that she’s dead.’

‘Then where is she?’ asked Martin.

‘I don’t know. But I was thinking of ringing her mother tomorrow morning. I have a theory.’

‘Okay, but what conclusion can we draw from the fact that the missing girls had younger sisters involved in horseback riding?’ said Gösta, looking confused. ‘Aside from Victoria, none of the girls disappeared in the vicinity of any stable or jump-racing competition.’

‘But maybe the perpetrator was drawn to those sorts of settings and on some occasion had seen the girls in the stands because they happened to be watching their sisters ride. I thought we should check the date of their disappearances to see if any competitions were being held in the area at the time.’

‘If that was the case, wouldn’t one of the families have mentioned it?’ said Annika, pushing up her glasses, which had slid down her nose. ‘Wouldn’t they have said that they were attending a competition on the day their daughter went missing?’

‘They probably didn’t connect it to the disappearance. Everyone’s focus was on the girls and their circle of friends, their interests and activities, and so on. No one was thinking about the younger sisters.’

‘Bloody hell,’ said Patrik.

Erica looked at him. ‘What is it?’

‘Jonas. Time after time he has turned up in the investigation in different connections: the ketamine, the row with Victoria, their purported relationship, Marta’s infidelity, and the blackmailing. And the whole time he has been chauffeuring his daughter around to various jump-racing competitions. Do you think he’s the one who could have done it?’

‘He has an airtight alibi for the time of Victoria’s disappearance,’ Gösta pointed out.

Patrik sighed. ‘I know. But we need to take a closer look at him now that so many things are pointing in his direction. Annika, could you try and find out whether there were any horseback-riding competitions on the days in question? And whether Molly Persson was on the participant list?’

‘Sure,’ said Annika. ‘I’ll see what I can find out.’

‘So maybe there wasn’t a break-in at the veterinary clinic, after all,’ said Gösta.

‘Right. Jonas might have reported it to the police in order to steer suspicion away from himself if Victoria was found. But aside from the issue of his alibi, there are still a lot of other questions. How was he able to kidnap the girls if both Molly and Marta were in the car? Where did he hold the girls captive? And where are they now?’

‘Maybe the same place as Molly and Marta,’ said Martin. ‘Maybe they found out what he’s been doing, and…’

Patrik nodded. ‘That’s possible. We need to search their house again, and the rest of the farm too. Considering where Victoria turned up, she might have been held somewhere on the property. So let’s go out there again.’

‘Don’t we need to wait for a search warrant?’ asked Gösta.

‘We should, but there’s no time. Marta and Molly may be in serious danger.’

Patrik went over to Erica and stared at her for a moment. Then he leaned down and gave her a big kiss, without worrying about the others in the room.

‘Good job, sweetheart.’

Helga looked out of the window on the passenger side, her expression blank. The snow was falling heavily, and it was starting to look like the sort of blizzards they used to have in the past.

‘What are we doing?’ she asked.

Jonas didn’t say anything, but she hadn’t really expected him to reply.

‘How did I go wrong?’ she said, turning to look at him. ‘I had such high hopes for you.’

The snowy conditions forced him to keep his eyes on the road, so he spoke without looking at her.

‘You didn’t do anything wrong.’

His words should have pleased her, or at least made her feel calmer. But instead she felt even more concerned. What should she have done if she’d known?

‘There’s nothing you could have done,’ he said, as if reading her mind. ‘I’m not like you. I’m not like anyone else. I’m… special.’

His tone of voice betrayed no emotion, and she shivered.

‘I loved you. I hope you realize that. And I still love you.’

‘I know,’ he said calmly as he leaned forward to peer through the windscreen at the whirling snow. The wipers were doing their best, but they couldn’t keep up with the amount of snow coming down. He was driving so slowly that it felt like the car was only inching forward.

‘Are you happy?’ She wondered where the question came from, but it was meant with all sincerity. Had he been happy?

‘Up until now my life has probably been better than most people’s,’ he said with a smile.

His smile gave her goose bumps. But no doubt that was true. He’d certainly had a better life than she’d had, at any rate. She had spent her days cowering and in terror of the truth she didn’t want to see.

‘Maybe we’re the ones who are right, and you’re the one who’s wrong. Have you ever thought of that?’ he added.

She didn’t really understand what he meant. She had to think about it for a moment, and when she realized what he was saying, she was filled with sorrow.

‘No, Jonas. I don’t think I’m the one who’s wrong.’

‘Why not? You’ve now demonstrated that we’re not so different.’

She grimaced at the thought, resisting the truth that might lie behind his words.

‘The most basic instinct in the world is for a mother to protect her child. There’s nothing more natural than that. Everything else is… unnatural.’

‘Is it?’ For the first time he turned to look at her. ‘I don’t agree.’

‘Could you just tell me what we’re going to do once we arrive?’ Helga tried to see as far ahead as she could on the road. But the darkness and the heavy snowfall made it impossible.

‘You’ll see when we get there,’ he said. Outside the car the snow continued to fall.

Erica was in a bad mood when she got home. Her joy at having aided the investigation by providing some new information had been replaced by dissatisfaction because she wasn’t allowed to accompany the police out to the farm. She’d tried every possible argument to persuade Patrik, but he had stubbornly refused, so there was nothing for her to do but drive home. Now she would probably lie awake all night, wondering what was going on.

Anna came into the hall from the living room to greet her.

‘Hi,’ said Erica. ‘How’d it go with the kids?’ Then she stared at her sister in surprise. ‘You look so happy. Did something happen?’

‘Yes, Dan came over. Thank you so much for talking to him.’ She put on her jacket and stuck her feet into her boots. ‘I think everything’s going to be fine now, but I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow.’ She kissed Erica on the cheek and then headed out into the snowstorm.

‘Drive carefully! It’s really slippery out there!’ Erica called after her and then closed the door before too much snow blew inside.

She smiled to herself. What if things were finally going to settle down for her sister? Thinking about Dan and Anna, she went into the bedroom to get a cardigan. Then she looked in on the children. They were all sound asleep, so she went to her study. She stood in front of the map for a long time, just staring at it. She knew she ought to go to bed, but the blue Xs were still baffling her. She could swear that they were somehow connected to everything else, but she couldn’t work out what the link could be. Why had Laila saved those newspaper clippings about the missing girls? What was her connection to all of this? And how did it happen that Ingela Eriksson and Victoria had exactly the same injuries? There were so many loose ends, but she had a feeling the answer was right in front of her, if only she could see it.

Frustrated, Erica turned on her computer and sat down at her desk. The only thing she could do right now was to go through all the material she’d collected. She knew she wouldn’t be able to fall asleep, so she might as well do something useful.

She read page after page of her notes. She was grateful that she was in the habit of typing them into the computer. Otherwise later on she’d never be able to decipher her own scribblings.

Laila. At the centre of everything was Laila. She was like a sphinx, silent and inscrutable. She held the answers, but she merely sat in silence, staring at life and her surroundings. Could she be protecting someone? If so, who and why? And why did Laila refuse to speak about what happened on that fateful day?

Erica began reading methodically through all the transcripts of her conversations with Laila. In the beginning she was even less willing to speak than she was now. Erica had only scanty notes from those first meetings, and she remembered how strange it had felt to sit there with someone who hardly said a word.

It was only when she had asked Laila about her children that she started to talk. She had avoided saying much about her poor daughter, so the conversation was mostly about Peter. As Erica continued to read, she recalled the mood in the room and Laila’s face when she spoke of her son. Her expression was brighter than usual, but also full of longing and sorrow. Her love for him was unmistakable. She described his soft cheeks, his laughter, his quiet manner, the way he lisped when he began to talk, the blond lock of hair that kept falling into his eyes, the…

Erica abruptly stopped reading and went back to the last passage. She read it again, then closed her eyes to think. And suddenly everything fell into place. She’d found one of the important puzzle pieces that had been missing. It was a long shot, but plausible enough for a likely scenario to emerge. She had an urge to phone Patrik, but she decided to wait. She wasn’t positive. And there was only way to find out if she was right. Only Laila could confirm what she suspected.

Patrik could feel the tension in the air as he got out of the car in the yard in front of Jonas and Marta’s house. Were they really about to find answers to all their questions? For some reason that frightened him. If the truth was as gruesome as he thought, this wasn’t going to be easy, either for him and his colleagues or for the families of the missing girls. Yet during his years on the police force he had learned that knowing was always better than not knowing.

‘We’ll fetch Jonas first.’ He had to shout to be heard over the howling wind. ‘Gösta, you take him back to the station and interview him while Martin and I search the house.’

With their shoulders hunched against the cold, they went up the steps to the front door and rang the bell, but no one came to open the door. The car was gone, and it was unlikely that Jonas had gone to bed, now that Marta and Molly were missing. So after ringing the bell again, Patrik cautiously pushed down on the handle. The door wasn’t locked.

‘We’re going in,’ he said, and the others followed.

No lights were on inside, and there wasn’t a sound. They quickly concluded that no one was home.

‘I suggest we search all the farm buildings as fast as we can to make sure Molly and Marta aren’t anywhere else on the property. Then we’ll come back here and do a more thorough search of the house. Torbjörn is on standby in case we need his team.’

‘Okay.’ Gösta looked into the living room. ‘I wonder where Jonas is?’

‘Maybe he went out to search for his wife and daughter,’ said Patrik. ‘Or else he knows exactly where they are.’

They went back outside, and Patrik held on to the railing so he wouldn’t slip on the stairs, which were covered with a thick layer of new-fallen snow. He paused to survey the grounds. After a moment he decided to wait to go over to Helga and Einar’s house. They might get worried and confused, and it was better to search the other buildings first in peace and quiet.

‘We’ll start with the stable, then Jonas’s clinic,’ he said.

‘Look over there. It’s open,’ said Martin, heading towards the long stable building.

The door was swinging back and forth in the wind. Cautiously they went inside the stable, which was eerily quiet. Martin walked along the centre aisle, looking into the horse stalls.

‘It’s totally empty.’

Patrik felt a hard knot starting to form in his stomach. Something was very wrong. What if they’d had the perpetrator under their very noses? What if he’d been in their district the whole time, and now they’d discovered everything too late?

‘By the way, have you phoned Palle?’ asked Gösta.

Patrik nodded. ‘Yes, he’s been informed. They’re ready to send reinforcements if we need them.’

‘Good,’ said Gösta, opening the door to the riding arena. ‘It’s empty in here too.’

In the meantime Martin had checked the common room and feed room, and now he came back to the stable.

‘Okay, let’s go over to the clinic,’ said Patrik. He stepped outside into the cold, with Gösta and Martin close behind. The snow felt like tiny needles striking their cheeks as they dashed back to the house.

Gösta tried the clinic door. ‘It’s locked.’

He cast an enquiring glance at Patrik, who nodded. With ill-concealed glee, Gösta backed up a few steps, then launched himself forward to kick at the door. He repeated the manoeuvre several times, and finally the door flew open. Considering the type of substances stored in the clinic, the place was far from burglar proof, and Patrik couldn’t hold back a smile. It wasn’t every day that he got to see Gösta practising Kung-fu.

It was a small place, and the search didn’t take long. Jonas wasn’t there. Everything was neat and tidy, except for the medicine cabinet, which stood open. Some of the shelves inside were bare.

Gösta studied the contents. ‘He seems to have taken a lot with him.’

‘Damn it,’ said Patrik. It was extremely worrisome to think that Jonas had fled with ketamine and other substances that were now missing from the cabinet. ‘Do you think he might have drugged his wife and daughter and then kidnapped them?’

‘What a sick devil that guy is.’ Gösta shook his head. ‘How could he seem so normal? That’s almost the worst thing of all. The fact that he was so… pleasant.’

‘Psychopaths can fool anyone,’ said Patrik. He went back out into the night after casting one last look at the clinic.

Martin was shivering as he followed. ‘Where should we look next? His parents’ house or the barn?’

‘The barn,’ said Patrik.

They ran as fast as they dared across the slippery yard.

‘We should have brought torches with us,’ said Patrik when they went inside the barn. It was so dark they could hardly make out the cars that were parked inside.

‘Sure. Or we could just turn on a light,’ said Martin, pulling a string on the wall.

A faint, ghostly light illuminated the big space. Here and there snow was coming in through gaps in the wall, yet it seemed slightly warmer in the barn because they were at least out of the biting wind.

Martin shuddered. ‘It looks like some sort of car graveyard.’

‘No, not at all. These are amazing cars. With a little love and attention they’d be worth a lot of money,’ said Gösta, running his hand over the bonnet of a Buick.

He began walking among the cars as he took a look around. Patrik and Martin did the same, and a few minutes later they concluded that there was nothing to find in here either. Patrik was feeling discouraged. Maybe they needed to put out an All Points Warning for Jonas. Clearly he wasn’t here, unless he happened to be hiding in his parents’ house. But Patrik didn’t think so. He assumed that only Helga and Einar were asleep over there.

‘We’re going to have to wake up his parents,’ said Patrik, pulling the string to turn off the light.

‘How much should we tell them?’ asked Martin.

Patrik paused to consider. It was a relevant question. How should he tell the parents that their son was probably a psychopath who had kidnapped and tortured young girls? That wasn’t something they’d taught him to deal with at the police academy.

‘We’ll play it by ear,’ he said at last. ‘They know we’re looking for Marta and Molly, and now Jonas is missing too.’

Once again they crossed the windswept yard. Patrik knocked loudly on the front door. When nothing happened, he tried again. A light switched on upstairs, possibly in the bedroom. But no one came to open the door.

‘Shall we go in?’ asked Martin.

Patrik tried the door. It was open. Sometimes it made things easier for the police that people who lived out in the country seldom locked their doors. He stepped into the front hall.

‘Hello?’ he shouted.

‘Who the hell is that?’ an angry voice yelled from upstairs. They quickly assessed the situation. Einar must be home alone, and that was why no one had opened the door.

‘Police officers. We’re coming up.’ Patrik signalled for Gösta to follow him as he said in a low voice to Martin, ‘Take a look around while we talk to Einar.’

‘I wonder where Helga is,’ said Martin.

Patrik shook his head. He was wondering the same thing. Where was Helga?

‘We’ll have to ask Einar,’ he said and hurried upstairs.

‘What do you think you’re doing, waking people up in the middle of the night like this!’ snarled Einar. He was partly sitting up in bed, wide awake. His hair was tousled, and he wore only a white undershirt and underpants.

Patrik ignored his question. ‘Where’s Helga?’

‘She’s asleep over there.’ Einar pointed at a closed door across the hall.

Gösta went to open the door and peered inside. Then he shook his head. ‘Nobody’s there, and the bed hasn’t been slept in.’

‘What? Where the hell is she? Helgaaa!’ bellowed Einar, his face turning red.

Patrik stared at him. ‘So you don’t know where she is?’

‘No. If I did, I would have told you. Why is she out running around?’ A trickle of saliva ran out of his mouth and on to his chest.

‘Maybe she went out to look for Marta and Molly,’ Patrik suggested.

Einar snorted. ‘I can’t believe what a fuss everybody’s making. I’m sure they’ll turn up on their own. It wouldn’t surprise me if Marta got upset about something Jonas did or didn’t do, and she decided to leave for a while and take Molly with her, just to punish him. That’s the sort of childish things women always do.’ His words dripped with scorn, and Patrik had to restrain himself from speaking his mind.

‘So you don’t know where Helga is?’ he repeated patiently. ‘Or where Molly and Marta are?’

‘No! I told you I don’t know!’ shouted Einar, punching the covers with his fist.

‘What about Jonas?’

‘Is he missing too? No, I don’t know where he is either.’ Einar rolled his eyes, but Patrik noticed that he cast a quick glance out of the window.

A feeling of great calm came over him, as if he’d suddenly landed in the eye of the storm. He turned to Gösta.

‘I think we need to do another search of the barn.’

A mouldy and clammy smell filled her nostrils. Molly felt as if she were going to suffocate in the stifling air, and she swallowed hard to rid her mouth of the musty taste. It wasn’t easy to stay calm the way Marta wanted.

Once again Molly asked, ‘Why are we here?’ as she stared into the darkness.

And again she got no answer.

‘Don’t waste your energy,’ Marta finally said.

‘But we’re being held prisoner! Somebody has locked us up in here, and it must be the same person who took Victoria. I heard what happened to her. I don’t understand why you’re not scared.’

She could hear how weak her voice sounded, and she began to sob as she rested her head on her knees. She felt the chain tighten, and she moved closer to the wall so the shackle wouldn’t cut into her ankle.

‘It wouldn’t do any good,’ said Marta. That was the same thing she’d repeated for the past few hours.

‘But what are we going to do?’ Molly yanked on the chain. ‘We’re going to starve to death and then rot in here!’

‘Don’t be so dramatic. We’ll get help.’

‘How can you know that? We’re still here and nobody has come to help us.’

‘I’m convinced that things will work out. And I’m not a spoiled brat who’s used to having everything served to her on a platter,’ snapped Marta.

Molly started crying again. Even though she knew that Marta didn’t love her, it was hard to understand how she could be so unaffected in such a horrible situation.

‘Maybe that was a bit harsh,’ said Marta in a gentler tone of voice. ‘But there’s no point in screaming and crying. It’s better if we save our energy while we wait for someone to come and help us.’

Molly fell silent, feeling placated. That was as close to an apology as Marta was capable of.

For a while neither of them spoke, but then Molly gathered her courage. ‘Why have you never loved me?’ she asked quietly. She had wanted to ask that question for such a long time, but she’d never dared. Now, in the shelter of darkness, it suddenly didn’t seem as frightening to say the words.

‘I was never suited to be a mother.’

‘Then why did you have a child?’

‘Because that’s what your father wanted. He wanted to see himself in a child.’

‘So did he wish you’d had a boy instead?’ Molly was amazed at her own boldness. All these questions that she’d held inside like tiny, tightly wrapped packages were now being opened. And she spoke without feeling hurt, as if the answers had nothing to do with her. She just wanted to know.

‘I supposed he did before you arrived. But after you were born, he was just as happy to have a daughter.’

‘That’s great to hear,’ said Molly sarcastically, though she didn’t mean to complain.

‘I did the best I could, but I was never meant to have a child.’

It was strange that their first honest conversation was taking place when it might be too late. But there was no reason to keep anything hidden any longer, and maybe that was what was needed so they could stop pretending.

‘How can you be so sure that we’ll be rescued?’ Molly was freezing as she sat on the cold floor, and the wind was starting to seep inside. She was filled with panic at the thought that she might have to pee right where she was sitting.

‘I just am,’ said Marta. As if in reply to her confident words, they suddenly heard a door open.

Molly pressed her back against the wall. ‘What if it’s him? What if he’s coming to hurt us?’

‘Take it easy,’ said Marta. And for the first time since Molly woke up here in the dark, she felt Marta’s hand on her arm.

Martin and Gösta stood as if paralysed at one end of the room. They didn’t know how to deal with the incomprehensible evil staring them in the face.

‘My God,’ said Gösta. Martin had no idea how many times he’d said that, but he had to agree. My God.

Neither of them had really believed Patrik when he came out of Einar’s room and said there was something in the barn. But they’d helped him to search the place again, making a more thorough job of it this time. And when he found the trap door in the floor under one of the cars, all their objections vanished. Eager to find Molly and Marta, Patrik had yanked open the trap door and dashed down the narrow ladder into the dim light below. Patrik had a hard time seeing anything, but he was able to determine that no one was there. So they decided to call in Torbjörn and his team. In the meantime, they’d wait up above in the barn.

Now that the tech experts had arrived, spotlights lit up the entire space like a stage set. After the team had secured prints from the ladder and sections of the floor, Patrik went down, with Gösta and Martin following.

Martin heard Gösta gasp for breath when he entered the room, and he was still in shock at the sight before them. The cold walls and the hard-packed dirt floor, the filthy mattress covered with dark patches that were most likely dried blood. In the middle of the room a metal pole had been stuck in the ground and a couple of rough ropes were fastened to it, also spattered with blood. The air was heavy, making it hard to breathe, and the stench of something rotting filled the space.

Torbjörn’s voice roused him from his horrified thoughts.

‘Something stood over there. Mostly likely a camera tripod.’

‘Are you saying that somebody filmed what went on in here?’ Patrik craned his neck to see where Torbjörn was pointing.

‘I think so. Have you found any films or videos?’

‘No,’ said Patrik, shaking his head. ‘Maybe over there.’

He walked over to a dirty bookcase against the wall. Martin followed. The dust on one shelf had been cleared away in one spot, and next to it was an empty DVD case.

‘He must have come down here to get them so he could take them along,’ said Martin. ‘The question is, where did he go?’

‘Yes. And did he take Molly and Marta with him?’

Martin could feel the nauseating atmosphere taking a toll on his strength.

‘Where the hell could they be?’

‘I have no idea,’ said Patrik. ‘But we need to find him. And them.’

Martin saw Patrik’s jaw clench as he tried to control his anger.

‘Do you think that he…’ He couldn’t finish the sentence.

‘I don’t know. I don’t know anything any more.’

The resigned tone of Patrik’s voice almost made Martin lose hope, but he understood how he felt. They had made a real breakthrough in the investigation, but they hadn’t succeeded when it came to the most important task: to find Molly and Marta. And after what they’d found down here, they were probably in the hands of a very sick man.

‘Come and look at this!’ called Torbjörn from up in the barn.

‘We’re coming!’ Patrik called in reply.

All three of them climbed back up the ladder.

‘You were right,’ Torbjörn told Patrik as he hurriedly led the way to the far end of the barn where the horse transport van was parked. It was bigger and sturdier than many others Martin had seen on the roads. On closer inspection it seemed unnecessarily spacious for anyone, such as the Persson family, who needed to transport only one horse.

‘Look. The van was reconfigured. That side wasn’t used for a horse. Instead, the floor was raised to create an empty space underneath, big enough to hold a person if they weren’t too big. You’d think someone would have noticed, but there was hay on top, and maybe the mother and daughter had other things to think about.’

‘How the hell did…?’ said Gösta, looking at Patrik in surprise.

‘I was wondering how Jonas was able to bring the girls here. It would have been impossible in the car if Molly and Marta were with him. So the horse van was the only option.’

‘Of course.’ Martin felt stupid that he hadn’t thought of that, but everything had happened so fast and he’d hardly been able to take it all in. Now he was seeing the details, and a clearer picture began to emerge.

‘Secure all the evidence you can find to prove the girls were inside there,’ said Patrik. ‘We’re going to need to be on our toes. Jonas must be one clever bastard to have managed all this without anybody noticing.’

‘Yes, sir,’ said Torbjörn, but with no trace of a smile.

None of them felt like joking. In fact, Martin felt close to tears, thinking about all the evil people in the world. How could they live so close, and yet do such horrific things under cover of their seemingly normal behaviour?

He squatted down to look inside the space. It was dark outdoors, and the lights in the barn were dim, but the spotlights that Torbjörn had brought along made it possible for him to get a good look.

‘Imagine waking up inside there.’ He felt his chest tighten with claustrophobia.

‘He probably kept them sedated the whole time. Partly for practical reasons, and partly so Molly and Marta wouldn’t hear anything.’

‘So he took his own daughter along when he kidnapped girls the same age?’ said Gösta. He stood a short distance away, his arms folded. It was clear from his expression that he still couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

‘We need to find the films,’ said Patrik.

‘And Jonas,’ Martin added. ‘Do you think he suspected we were on his trail, and he left the country? If so, where are Molly and Marta? And Helga?’

Patrik shook his head. His face was grey with exhaustion as he stared at the small space inside the horse van.

‘I don’t know,’ he said again.

‘You finally came,’ said Marta when the light went on and footsteps reached the bottom of the stairs.

‘I got here as fast as I could.’ Jonas knelt down to put his arms around her. As always, it felt as if they merged into one.

‘Jonas!’ cried Molly, but he didn’t move. After a moment he let Marta go and turned to his daughter.

‘Calm down. I’m going to get both of you out of here.’

Molly started sobbing hysterically, and Marta had an urge to slap her. Everything was fine now. They were going to be freed. That was what her daughter had been wailing about. Marta herself had never been worried. She knew that Jonas would find them.

‘What is Grandma doing here?’ Molly asked.

Marta exchanged a glance with Jonas. During the hours they’d sat here in the dark, she’d worked it all out. The sweetened tea that Helga had offered them, and the way everything had suddenly gone black. She was impressed that her mother-in-law had been able to lug them into her car and then drag them down here. But women were stronger than men thought, and after living so many years on the farm, Helga had the strength that she’d needed.

‘Grandma had to come with me. She has the keys. Isn’t that right?’ Jonas held out his hand towards his mother who was standing silently behind him.

‘It was the only way,’ Helga said. ‘The police were after you, and I had to do something that would make you seem less suspicious.’

‘So you were willing to sacrifice my wife and my daughter?’ said Jonas.

After a slight pause, Helga put her hand in her pocket and took out two keys. Jonas tried to unlock Marta’s shackle with one of the keys. It didn’t work, but with a little click the other one did. She massaged her ankle.

‘Shit. That really hurts,’ she said, grimacing. She looked up at Helga and was pleased to see the fear in her eyes.

Jonas went over to Molly and squatted down. He had a hard time getting the key in the lock because Molly was holding on to him so tight, sobbing against his shoulder.

‘She’s not yours,’ said Helga quietly.

Marta stared at her. She wanted to throw herself at the woman to shut her up, but she didn’t move. She waited to see what would come next.

‘What?’ Jonas pulled away from Molly without taking off the shackle.

‘Molly isn’t your daughter.’ Helga could no longer hide the fact that she was enjoying saying those words out loud.

‘You’re lying!’ he said, standing up.

‘Ask her. She’ll tell you.’ Helga pointed at Marta. ‘You don’t need to believe me. But ask her.’

Marta quickly weighed her options. Various strategies and lies raced through her mind, but it was futile. She could lie to anyone without so much as blinking and without arousing the slightest suspicion. But it was different with Jonas. She’d been forced to live with the lie for fifteen years, but at this moment she couldn’t lie to him.

‘It’s not a hundred per cent certain,’ she said, her gaze fixed on Helga. ‘She could be Jonas’s daughter.’

Helga snorted. ‘I can count. She was conceived during the two weeks when Jonas was away taking a course.’

‘What? When?’ said Jonas, looking from his mother to Marta.

Molly had fallen silent and was staring at the grown-ups in bewilderment.

‘How did you find out?’ asked Marta, standing up. ‘Nobody knew.’

‘I saw you,’ said Helga. ‘I saw the two of you in the barn.’

‘Did you see that I fought against him? Did you see that he raped me?’

‘As if that makes any difference.’ Helga turned to Jonas. ‘Your father slept with your wife while you were away, and he is Molly’s father.’

‘Tell me she’s lying, Marta,’ said Jonas.

She felt a stab of annoyance that he was so upset. What did it matter? It had only been a question of time before Einar assaulted her. Even Jonas must have realized that, since he knew his father so well after everything that had happened. It was unfortunate that she got pregnant, but Jonas had never wondered. He had never counted up the weeks, even though he was a veterinarian. He had simply accepted Molly as his own.

‘What Helga says is true. You were away, and your father could no longer resist the temptation. That shouldn’t surprise you.’

She looked at Molly, who was listening in silence, her eyes wide and slowly filling with tears.

‘Quit blubbering. You’re old enough to hear the truth, even though it would have been better if no one ever found out. But what’s done is done. So what are you planning to do now, Jonas? Are you going to punish me because your father raped me? I kept quiet because it was best for everyone.’

‘You’re sick,’ said Helga, curling her hands into fists.

‘You think I’m sick?’ Marta felt laughter bubbling up inside of her. ‘In that case I’d say that I’ve simply become like everyone around me. You’re not exactly well yourself, considering what you’ve done.’ She pointed to the shackle that still held Molly captive.

Jonas didn’t speak as he looked at her. Molly grabbed hold of his leg.

‘Please, please get me out of here. I’m so scared.’

Brusquely he stepped away so she had to let go. She sobbed loudly, holding out her hands.

‘I don’t understand what you’re all talking about. I’m scared. Get me out of here.’

Jonas went over to stand close to Marta, and she looked into his eyes. Then she felt his hand caress her cheek. What they shared had not been broken. It was still there and always would be.

‘It wasn’t your fault,’ he said. ‘Nothing was your fault.’

He stood still for a moment with his hand on her cheek. She felt the strength radiating from him, the same wild and unbridled power that she’d instinctively known he possessed the very first time she saw him.

‘We have a lot to do,’ he said, looking deep into her eyes.

She nodded. ‘Yes, we do.’