The Ice Child

Chapter Sixteen

‘I’m going out to get the post,’ said Patrik, stuffing his feet into his boots. During the past few days he and Erica had hardly seen each other. He and his colleagues had been busy from morning to night with all the interview sessions and follow-up work. But now Friday had finally arrived, and he had decided to take the morning off.

‘Damn, it’s cold out!’ he said when he came back inside. ‘We must have got a metre of snow overnight.’

‘I know. It seems like it’s never going to stop.’ Erica gave him a weary smile as she sat down at the kitchen table.

He sat down across from her and began looking through the post. Erica rested her head on her hands and seemed lost in thought. He put down the post and studied her face.

‘So how’s it going? Be honest.’

‘I don’t know. Mostly I’m feeling a little uncertain about how to proceed with my book. Or whether to keep working on it at all. It’s a whole different story now.’

‘But don’t you think Laila would want you to write it?’

‘Yes. I think she sees the publication of the book as a sort of safety measure. She thinks that Marta won’t dare do anything else if people read about who she really is and what she has done.’

‘And there’s no risk that the opposite might happen?’ Patrik cautiously ventured. He didn’t want to tell Erica what to do, but it made him uneasy to see her writing a book about people who were as evil as Jonas and Marta. What if they decided to take revenge on her?

‘No, I think Laila is right. And in my heart I know that I need to finish this book. You don’t have to worry,’ said Erica, looking him in the eye. ‘Trust me.’

‘It’s those two I don’t trust. We have no idea where they are.’ He couldn’t hide the concern he was feeling.

‘But they probably won’t dare come back here. There’s nothing left for them here.’

‘Except their daughter,’ said Patrik.

‘They don’t care about Molly. Marta never has, and Jonas’s interest in her seems to have vanished as soon as he found out that she’s not his daughter.’

‘The question is: where have they gone? It seems unbelievable that they could have left the country, considering that the police are on high alert.’

‘I have no clue,’ said Erica, looking through the post and slitting open one of the envelopes. ‘But Laila is worried they’ll go to Spain and try to find Peter.’

Patrik nodded. ‘I realize that. But I’m convinced they’re still in Sweden, and sooner or later we’ll get them. And when we do, they’re going to have a lot to answer for. We’ve already identified some of the girls in the videos. Some that Einar kidnapped and some that were victims of Jonas and Marta.’

‘I can’t understand how you were able to watch those videos.’

‘It was horrifying.’

Some of the images appeared again in Patrik’s mind. They would no doubt stay in his consciousness for ever, as a reminder of what evil people were capable of.

‘Why do you think they decided to kidnap Victoria?’ he said then. ‘That must have been incredibly risky.’

Erica paused before replying. There was no obvious answer. Jonas and Marta were gone, and the videos showed what they’d done but provided no motive.

‘I think Marta fell in love with Victoria, but when Jonas discovered the relationship, there was no question where her loyalties lay. Maybe she sacrificed Victoria to appease Jonas. Maybe it was her way of asking for his forgiveness.’

‘We should have realized much sooner that Marta was involved,’ said Patrik. ‘She had to be the one who took Victoria captive.’

‘But how could you have known that? It’s impossible to comprehend the actions and motivations of these people. I tried to talk to Laila about the whole thing yesterday, but even she couldn’t explain Marta’s behaviour.’

‘No, I realize that, but I still can’t help blaming myself. And no matter what, I’m going to try to work out the reasons behind what they did. For example, why did Marta and Jonas choose to follow in Einar’s footsteps? Why did they torture their victims in such a macabre way?’ Patrik swallowed hard, overcome with nausea at the thought of those videos.

‘I think that Jonas’s madness took root during his childhood, when Einar forced him to film his assaults,’ said Erica. ‘And Marta – or Louise – was equally damaged by what she’d experienced as a child. If what Gerhard Struwer said is true, then it all had to do with control. Apparently Einar kept the girls imprisoned, except for Ingela Eriksson and maybe others we don’t know about. By transforming them into passive dolls, he satisfied his own perverse needs. And then he passed on those needs to Jonas, who in turn initiated Marta. Maybe the passion in their relationship depended on the power they exerted over the girls.’

‘My God, what a horrible thought.’ Patrik felt another wave of nausea come over him.

‘So what does Helga say?’ asked Erica. ‘Did she know about everything?’

‘She refuses to talk. She says only that she’s willing to accept her punishment, and she claims we’ll never find Jonas. But I think she did know what was going on and simply chose to close her eyes. In some ways she was also a victim.’

‘She must have been living in hell all these years. And even if she was aware of Jonas’s true nature, he’s her son and she loves him.’

Patrik sighed. ‘So much guessing and speculating. It’s so frustrating that we still don’t have all the answers. We just have to keep wondering. But at least you’re sure that Marta is Louise Kowalski, right?’

‘Yes, I am. I can’t explain it logically, but it seemed obvious when I realized that Marta and Jonas had kidnapped the girls in connection with horseback-riding competitions. Plus they had to be the ones who sent the postcards and newspaper clippings to Laila. Who but Louise would have a reason to hate Laila and threaten her? Besides, Marta’s age coincides with Louise’s. And Laila has confirmed my theory. She has long suspected that Louise was still alive. She was afraid that Louise wanted to kill both her and Peter.’

Patrik gave his wife a sombre look and said, ‘I wish I had more of your intuition, but please stop acting so impulsively. At least this time you had the presence of mind to leave me a phone message and tell me where you’d gone.’ He shuddered at the thought of what might have happened if he hadn’t rescued Erica from the ice-cold cellar in the House of Horrors.

‘But everything worked out fine in the end.’ Erica took another envelope from the stack of post and slit it open with her finger. She took out a bill. ‘I can’t believe Helga was willing to sacrifice both Marta and Molly so that her son could go free.’

‘Well, you know how strong a mother’s love can be,’ said Patrik.

‘Speaking of that,’ said Erica, her face lighting up. ‘I talked to Nettan again, and it sounds like she and Minna are finding their way back to each other.’

Patrik smiled. ‘It was lucky you happened to think about that car.’

‘Uh-huh. I’m just sorry I didn’t make the connection earlier, when I saw the car in the photo album.’

‘The strange thing is that Nettan didn’t make the connection herself. Both Palle and I had asked her about the white car.’

‘I know. And when I asked her again, she got very cross. She said that of course she would have said something long ago if she knew of anyone who had a white car. But when I mentioned the photo of her former boyfriend Johan standing in front of a white car, she suddenly fell silent. Then she said Minna would never have voluntarily got into his car. She hated him more than anyone.’

‘Parents often know so little about their teenage daughters,’ said Patrik.

‘How true. But who would have thought that Minna would fall in love with her mother’s ex-boyfriend? Especially since they were always arguing. Or that she would get pregnant and then decide to run away with him because she was afraid Nettan would be angry with her.’

‘Well, it’s not the first thing anyone would think of.’

‘At any rate, Nettan has promised to help Minna with the baby. They’re both furious with that shithead Johan, who apparently got tired of Minna as soon as the pregnancy started to show. And I think Nettan was so relieved when they found Minna safe and sound in Johan’s cabin that she’s going to do everything in her power to make things right for her daughter.’

‘At least something good has come from all this misery,’ said Patrik.

‘Yes. And soon Laila will be reunited with her son. After more than twenty years… The last time I talked to her, she said that Peter is going to come and visit her at the prison. And I’ll get to meet him too.’

Erica’s eyes shone with joy and anticipation. It made Patrik happy to see how pleased she was that she’d been able to help Laila. Personally, he longed to put this whole case behind him. He’d had enough of evil and darkness.

‘It’s going to be nice to have Dan and Anna over for dinner tonight,’ he said, changing the subject.

‘Yes. It’s wonderful that they’ve been able to work things out at last. And Anna said they have good news to tell us. I hate it when she does that and then doesn’t give me any details. But I couldn’t get another word out of her. She said I’d just have to wait until tonight.’

Erica was looking through the post piled up on the table. Mostly bills, but at the bottom was a thick white envelope that looked very elegant.

‘What could this be? It looks like a wedding invitation.’ She got up to fetch a knife to open the envelope. Inside was a beautiful card with two gold rings on the front. ‘Do we know anyone who’s getting married?’

‘Not that I know of,’ said Patrik. ‘Most of our friends have been married for ages.’

Erica opened the card. ‘Uh-oh,’ she said, and looked at Patrik.

‘What?’ He grabbed the card out of her hand. Then he read it aloud, his voice incredulous.

‘We wish to invite you to be a guest at the wedding of Kristina Hedström and Gunnar Zetterlund.’

He glanced up at Erica and then looked back at the invitation.

‘Is this a joke?’ he said, turning the card over.

‘I don’t think so.’ Erica started to giggle. ‘It’s so sweet!’

‘But they’re so… old,’ said Patrik, trying not to think about his mother wearing a white gown and veil.

‘Don’t be silly,’ said Erica, getting up to give him a kiss. ‘It’s going to be great. Our very own Mr Fix-it in the family. We won’t have anything left to repair in the house, and maybe he’ll even build an extension so we’ll have twice the amount of space.’

‘What a dreadful thought,’ Patrik said, but he couldn’t help laughing. Erica was right. He wished nothing but joy for his mother, and it was wonderful that she’d found love in her old age. He just needed some time to get used to the idea.

‘Sometimes you’re so childish,’ said Erica, ruffling his hair. ‘It’s lucky you’re so nice.’

‘You too,’ he said and smiled.

He decided to try and put all thoughts of Victoria and the other girls behind him. There was nothing more he could do to help them. But here at home he had his wife and children, who needed him and gave him so much love. There was nothing about his life that he would change. Not a single thing.