Ebba was talking so fast that the words practically spilled from her lips. Anna wanted to put her hands over her ears so she wouldn’t have to hear the rest. But she owed it to Ebba to hear the whole story.
‘I had just come out of the bathroom when there was a loud bang from the driveway outside. A second later I heard Tobias scream. I’ve never heard a scream like that before. It didn’t sound human, it was more like a wounded animal.’ Ebba’s voice broke as she went on. ‘I knew at once what had happened. I knew that Vincent was dead. I could feel it in my body. But I rushed outside, and there he lay behind our car. He didn’t have a coat on, and even though I could tell that he was dead, I kept thinking that he’d gone out in the snow without putting on his zip-suit. And he was going to catch cold. That was what I thought as I saw him lying there – that he was going to catch cold.’
‘It was an accident,’ said Anna quietly. ‘It wasn’t your fault.’
‘Yes, it was. Tobias was right. I killed Vincent. If only I hadn’t sat there in the bathroom, if only I’d told myself that it didn’t matter if I was late for that meeting, if only…’ Her sobs became a wail, and Anna pulled her closer and let her cry as she gently stroked her hair and murmured consoling words. She felt Ebba’s sorrow deep in her own body, and for a moment it pushed aside the fear about what was going to happen to them. For a moment they were simply two mothers who had each lost a child.
When Ebba’s sobs subsided, Anna made another attempt to stand up. Her legs felt steadier now. Slowly she got to her feet, not sure whether she might bump her head on something, but she was able to stand up straight. Cautiously she took a step forward. Something touched her face and she shrieked.
‘What is it?’ said Ebba, clinging to Anna’s leg.
‘I felt something on my face, but it’s probably just a spiderweb.’ Trembling, she raised her hand and held it out in front of her. Something was hanging there, and it took several tries before she got hold of it. A string. She gave it a tug. The light that switched on was so bright that she had to shut her eyes.
When she opened her eyes again, she looked around in surprise. From the floor she heard Ebba gasp.
For so many years Sebastian had enjoyed having power, even in those instances when he’d chosen not to exercise it. Asking something from John would have been too dangerous. John was no longer the person that Sebastian had known on Valö. Though he managed to hide it well, he was so full of hatred that it would have been foolhardy to exploit the opportunity that fate had handed him.
He hadn’t asked anything of Leon either, simply because Leon was the only person other than Lovart for whom he’d ever had any respect. After what happened, he’d quickly disappeared, but Sebastian had followed his career in the newspapers and via the gossip that had made its way to Fjällbacka. Now Leon had got entangled in the game, but Sebastian had already succeeded in getting what he could from it. Josef’s ridiculous project was no more than a memory. The land and the granite were the only things of value, and he had converted them into a handsome profit in accordance with the agreement that Josef had signed without giving the document so much as a cursory glance.
And Percy. Sebastian chuckled to himself as he drove his yellow Porsche along Fjällbacka’s narrow streets, waving to everyone he saw. Percy had been living a myth for so long that he’d failed to realize that he could lose everything. It was true that he’d been uneasy when Sebastian appeared like an angel to the rescue, but he’d never seriously believed that he might lose the birthright that was his. Now the manor was owned by Percy’s younger siblings, and he had only himself to blame. He hadn’t managed his inheritance properly, and Sebastian had merely seen to it that disaster struck a bit sooner than it otherwise might.
He had earned good money from the deal as well, but that was merely a bonus. Power was what gave him the most satisfaction. The funny thing was that neither Josef nor Percy seemed to have seen what was coming before it was too late. In spite of everything, they had counted on his good will and believed that he actually wanted to help them. What idiots! Oh well. Now Leon was going to put an end to the game. That was probably why he wanted all of them to meet. The question was how far he intended to go. Sebastian wasn’t particularly worried. His reputation was such that people wouldn’t be too surprised. But he was curious to see how the others would react. Especially John, who had the most to lose of any of them.
Sebastian parked the car but remained sitting in the driver’s seat for a few minutes. Then he got out, made sure the key was in his pocket, and went up to the door to ring the bell. It was showtime.
Erica sipped her coffee as she read. It had been sitting for too long and tasted awful, but she didn’t feel like making a fresh pot.
‘You’re still here?’ Gösta came into the station’s kitchen and poured himself a cup.
She stopped flipping through the folder and closed it.
‘Yes, I got permission to stay and read through the file on the old investigation. So I’m sitting here wondering what it means that Annelie’s passport is missing.’
‘How old was she? Sixteen?’ said Gösta as he sat down at the table.
Erica nodded. ‘Yes, sixteen, and clearly head over heels in love with Leon. Maybe there was a quarrel and she decided to leave. If so, it wouldn’t be the first time that a teenager caused a tragedy. But I have a hard time believing that a sixteen-year-old girl would single-handedly murder her whole family.’
‘You’re right, that doesn’t sound plausible. She would have needed help. Maybe from Leon, if they were having a relationship. Maybe her father issued an ultimatum, they lost their tempers, and…’
‘It’s possible that’s what happened, but it says in the file that Leon was out fishing with the other boys. So why would they give him an alibi? How would that benefit them?’
‘I doubt they would have all colluded in Annelie’s plan,’ said Gösta pensively.
‘I agree, I don’t think they were sophisticated enough to do something like that.’
‘Even if we assume this has to do with Annelie, and Leon, there still doesn’t seem to be any credible motive to murder an entire family. Killing Rune ought to have been sufficient.’
‘I was thinking the same thing.’ Erica sighed. ‘So I’m sitting here going through the interview transcripts. There must be something in what the boys said that doesn’t ring true, but they all gave the same story. They were out fishing for mackerel, and when they came back, the family was gone.’
Gösta froze, his coffee cup halfway to his lips.
‘Did you say mackerel?’
‘Yes, that’s what it says in the transcripts.’
‘How the hell could I have missed something so obvious?’
‘What do you mean?’
Gösta set down his cup and rubbed his hand over his face. ‘It’s amazing how you can read through a police report again and again without seeing what’s right in front of your face.’