But right now he needed Sebastian. It was his only hope of realizing the dream he’d had for so many years: to pay homage to his Jewish heritage and make public what he knew about the assaults that had been carried out, and were still being levelled against the Jewish people. If that meant he had to sign a pact with the devil, then he’d do it. He hoped that over time he’d be able to end his association with Sebastian.
‘As my partner here was saying,’ Sebastian continued, ‘it’ll be a really great museum, and a pilgrimage destination for tourists from all over the world. And all of you will get the credit for backing this project.’
‘Doesn’t sound half bad,’ said Erling. ‘What do you think?’ He turned to Uno Brorsson, his second-in-command on the council, who in spite of the heat was wearing a checked flannel shirt.
‘It might be something worth considering,’ muttered Uno. ‘But it depends how much we’re expected to contribute. Times are hard.’
Sebastian gave him a big smile. ‘I’m sure we can reach an agreement. The main thing is that there’s enough interest to move forward. I’m personally investing a large sum in the project.’
Right. But you’re not about to tell them what your terms are, thought Josef. He clenched his jaw. All he could do was silently go along with whatever was offered and keep his eye on the goal. He leaned forward to shake hands with Erling. Now there was no turning back.
A small scar on her forehead, scars on her body and a slight limp were the only visible traces of the accident eighteen months ago. The accident when she lost the baby that she and Dan were expecting, and when she herself almost died.
Inside, it was a different matter. Anna was still feeling broken.
She hesitated a moment at the front door. Sometimes it was hard to be with Erica and see how everything had worked out for her. Her sister bore no scars from what had happened, and she had lost nothing. Yet it also did Anna good to see her. The wounds inside Anna twinged and ached, but the time she spent with Erica somehow helped them heal.
It was probably just as well that Anna hadn’t realized how long the healing process would drag on. If she’d had any clue, she might never have emerged from the automatonlike state she’d landed in after her life shattered into a thousand pieces. Recently she’d joked to Erica that she was like one of the old vases she used to handle when she worked for an auction house. A vase that had fallen to the floor and broken, then been laboriously glued back together. From a distance it appeared whole, but as you got closer, the cracks became painfully obvious. But as Anna rang Erica’s doorbell, she realized it wasn’t really a joke. That was her situation now. She was a broken vase.
‘Come in!’ shouted Erica from somewhere inside the house.
Anna went in and kicked off her shoes.
‘I’ll be right there. I just have to change the twins’ nappies.’
Anna went into the kitchen, which was so familiar to her. This house had belonged to their parents, and she knew every nook and cranny of it. Several years ago the house had prompted a quarrel between the two sisters that had almost destroyed their relationship, but that was in a different time, a different world. These days they could laugh about it and talk about ‘LWL’ and ‘LAL’ – ‘Life With Lucas’ and ‘Life After Lucas’. Anna shuddered. She had vowed to think as little as possible about her ex-husband Lucas and what he’d done. He was gone now. All that remained were the only good things he’d ever given her: the children, Emma and Adrian.
‘Want something to eat?’ asked Erica as she entered the kitchen, carrying a twin on each hip. The boys’ faces lit up when they saw their aunt. When Erica set them down on the floor, they ran towards Anna and tried to climb into her lap.
‘Take it easy, there’s plenty of room for both of you.’ Anna lifted the boys up and then looked at Erica. ‘That depends on what you’ve got.’ She craned her neck to see what Erica had to offer.
‘How about Grandma’s rhubarb cake with marzipan?’ Erica held out a cake covered with cling wrap.
‘Are you kidding? Who could say no to that?’
Erica cut two big slices of cake and put them on a platter that she set on the table. Noel immediately launched himself towards the platter, but Anna managed to pull him back just in time. She broke off a little chunk of cake for each of the twins. Noel happily stuffed the whole piece in his mouth while Anton carefully nibbled at one corner as he gave her a big smile.
‘They’re so different,’ said Anna, ruffling the hair of the two towheaded boys.
‘You reckon?’ said Erica sarcastically, shaking her head.
She poured the coffee and set Anna’s cup down, making sure, as usual, that it was out of the twins’ reach.
‘Are you doing okay, or should I take one of them?’ she asked, noticing that Anna was trying to juggle the children, the coffee cup and the cake all at once.
‘No, I’m fine. It’s lovely to hold them close.’ Anna nuzzled the top of Noel’s head. ‘So where’s Maja?’
‘She’s glued to the TV. Her new great love in life is Mojje. At the moment she’s watching “Mimmi and Mojje in the Caribbean”. I think I’m going to puke if I have to listen to “On a Lovely Caribbean Beach” one more time.’
‘Adrian is obsessed with Pokemon right now, and it’s driving me crazy too.’ Anna cautiously sipped her coffee, afraid of spilling it on the squirming eighteen-month-old toddlers sitting on her lap. ‘What about Patrik?’
‘He’s at work. Suspected arson out on Valö.’
‘Valö? Whose house?’
Erica hesitated before answering. ‘The summer camp,’ she said, unable to keep the excitement out of her voice.
‘Oh, how awful. It always gives me the creeps when I think about that place and the way they disappeared into thin air.’
‘I know. I’ve tried to do a little research about it, off and on. I thought I could turn the story into a book if I found out anything. But there’s been nothing much to go on. Until now.’
‘What do you mean?’ Anna took a big bite of rhubarb cake. She’d also been given her grandmother’s recipe, but she rarely baked. Practically never, in fact.
‘She’s back.’
‘Who?’
‘Ebba Elvander. Although her last name is Stark now.’
‘You mean that little girl?’ Anna stared at Erica.
‘Exactly. She and her husband have moved to Valö, and apparently they’ve started renovating the place. And last night somebody tried to burn it down. That makes me wonder.’ Erica had given up trying to hide her enthusiasm.
‘Couldn’t it be a coincidence?’
‘Of course it could. But I still think it’s odd. The fact that Ebba comes back and suddenly things start to happen.’
‘Only one thing has happened,’ Anna pointed out. She knew how quickly Erica’s imagination could jump to conclusions. How her sister had ever managed to write a series of carefully researched and substantiated books seemed both a miracle and a mystery to Anna.
‘Okay, okay. One thing,’ said Erica, waving her hand dismissively. ‘I can hardly wait until Patrik comes home. Actually, I wanted to go with him, but I didn’t have anyone to take care of the children.’
‘Don’t you think it would have seemed a bit strange for you to show up with Patrik?’
By now Anton and Noel had grown tired of sitting on Anna’s lap. They climbed down on to the floor and dashed off to the living room.
‘Well, I was thinking of going out there to talk to Ebba one of these days,’ said Erica, refilling their coffee cups.
‘I can’t help wondering what happened to that family,’ said Anna pensively.
‘Mammmmaaaaa! Get them out of here!’ Maja cried shrilly from the living room. Erica got up with a sigh.
‘I knew it was too good to be true. This is what happens all day long. Maja is forever getting cross with her brothers. You have no idea how many times I have to intervene each day.’