‘No, it’s not me who sends the bills, you know. Ellen does that, she’s married to the boss.’
Astra realises that she shouldn’t get involved in a discussion about prices at this juncture. That was stupid. He mustn’t start making difficulties now.
‘Okay. But I need to get in here.’
The locksmith puts his toolbox down. Crosses his arms.
‘Oh really? But it was a bloke what lived here, you know? It said Titus Jensen on the door then. And it still does. Can you see?’
‘Yes sure, the thing is he works for Winchester Publishing. And now he has disappeared. I’ve got to check whether there are any clues inside here.’
‘Yeah but… if I let you in here, you know, it’d be like a break-in. Can’t do that. Very risky, that sort of thing, you know. That’s not what we locksmiths get paid to do, you see. Crime and punishment, you know. Then you need a risk surcharge.’
Astra gets her wallet out of her bag and pulls out a thousand-kronor note.
‘Would this work?’
The locksmith grabs the banknote and then produces the largest keyring that Astra has ever seen. He rattles the keys in a demonstratively loud manner before finding the right one. Jangle and click. One, two, three and the door is open.
Astra goes through the flat with the guy shadowing her, his muscular arms crossed.
‘For goodness’ sake, leave me alone!’ Astra exclaims, irritated.
He slouches out and stands in the stairwell. Mutters something grumpy about how he perhaps ought to phone his trade union. You know.
The flat looks like your average bachelor pad. Not exactly chaos, but nothing pedantic either. She looks inside the fridge. It doesn’t look as if Titus had planned a long absence. There are opened cartons of milk and some leftovers rather carelessly packed. The little airing window in the kitchen is open. Astra gets the feeling the Titus has left the place all of a sudden.
She goes up to the computer in the living room and blow-starts it, keeping an eye on the door while waiting for the pop-up. She hopes the enzyme program works as promised.
Hello, Astra! If you want a back-up, then you must stick the memory card in the socket on the right-hand side of the computer.
A good job she is one of those people who thinks of everything.
When Titus wakes up he is back in the dark. He isn’t tied up any longer. The last thing he remembers is Lenny putting a rag over his face and becoming incredibly tired. Now he is lying on a mattress, at least that’s what it feels like. With his hands he feels outside the mattress. A cold stone floor. He is back in the earth cellar.
He crawls along the floor to what he intuitively knows is the way out. He comes to a solid door and searches with his fingers for a doorknob which isn’t there. But a keyhole? Is there a keyhole? He touches a bit of metal which feels rough and rusty. He twists it aside. Light! Yes, the bit of metal hung over the keyhole. He bends down and puts his eye against the hole.
Out there it is daytime. He can see a lawn with a large oak tree in front of a little cottage painted red. A little gravel path in front of the cottage. A porch and a window. No sign of life.
He bangs on the door, which is so thick that his bangs make no impression. It feels like banging on a tree trunk out in the forest. Who is going to hear him?
He puts his mouth up against the keyhole and shouts:
‘Hello! Help! Is anyone there?’
He looks out again. A squirrel scuttles across the yard and up into the oak.
Everything is still.
Titus continues to bang on the door for quite a while. In the end he realises nobody can hear him. The cottage doesn’t even seem to have any neighbours. Are they going to let him die here?
Desperate and snuffling, he crawls back to the mattress.
He huddles up and puts his arms between his thighs and stomach and his forehead against his knees. All his energy and determination is lost. He cries and sobs.
Astra is becoming increasingly worried. After a couple of days with no sign of life from Titus, she has a very uncomfortable feeling about it. The book fair is rapidly approaching and she very much wants Titus there when The Best Book in the World is going to be marketed to the international agents and Sweden’s booksellers. Since Lenny is the last person she knows talked to Titus before he disappeared, she looks for him too. But he has vanished as well, and Eddie doesn’t answer the phone either. What’s happening with everybody? Can’t they answer the phone?
Eddie is sitting in the little kitchen in the cottage and staring at a half-full can of beer. An old cobbler’s lamp with a broken shade hangs above the kitchen table. The naked light bulb is transparent and the red glowing thread matches the whites of Eddie’s eyes, which are now pink. He has some beard stubble and the usually so shiny hair is un-brushed and matted. He inhales deeply on his cigarette. What has he done to deserve this? Hasn’t he always been so nice to people?
In front of him on the table are three mobile phones. When one stops ringing, another starts. And all the time it is Astra who is calling: first to Titus, then Lenny and then Eddie. Over and over again. It never stops. But he is unable to talk to her or even listen to her messages. Because what would he say? That she can’t be his publisher until Titus admits his theft? That all his love has come to an end?
Lenny comes into the kitchen.
‘He’s woken up now. He’s banging on the door.’
‘Mmmm.’
Eddie looks at Lenny with tired eyes. Is Lenny really on his side? Or does he just feel forced to help him? Does he even understand what Titus is guilty of? It really is a bit steep to have the whole world against you. There is just no gratitude!
‘Can I phone Malin?’ Lenny asks. ‘She’ll be wondering where I’ve got to.’
‘No, not now. Not one call is going to be made from here. They are hunting us. She is trying to find us. You can do it later. When he has admitted his guilt.’
‘But please. It won’t take a second.’
‘NO!’
Ought she to ring the police and report him missing? How credible is it to issue a description of a middle-aged single man who has only been gone a couple of days?
Perhaps she ought at least to discuss it with Evita? Evita is always interested to know everything about Titus. You’d almost think that he makes her feel a bit horny. Mind you, there’d be a hell of a fuss about jeopardising the success of the book fair and that she isn’t focusing on the right issues. No, she can’t talk to Evita, not yet.
But can it really be a coincidence that all three have disappeared? Could Titus have been right after all with his nutty ideas about Eddie and Lenny? Have those two cooked up some mischief?
She must get hold of them.
Who might know something?
Hang on a moment, isn’t Lenny with that pretty girl who works at the Moderna Museet café? What’s her name? Lena or Linda? Something like that. Lina… Malin…? Yep, Malin, that’s it! Definitely.
Astra calls directory enquiries and asks to be connected to the restaurant at Moderna Museet. There is a murmur from the guests in the background when they answer.
‘Hello, could I speak to Malin please?’
‘One moment.’
Astra takes a deep breath. Why the hell hadn’t she thought of Malin earlier?
‘Hello, Malin here!’
‘Hello, Malin. My name is Astra and I’m a friend of Eddie X and I know Lenny too a bit.’
‘Yeah, hi.’
‘I need to talk to them about something. Have you any idea where they could be?’
‘Yeah, I think they were going to the country to rehearse something.’
‘Ah, so that’s it! The country… whereabouts?’