The auxiliary moved closer to the nurse and lowered her voice.
‘We don’t know how much she grasps of what’s going on around her,’ she said. ‘But sometimes I think she’s listening. I mean, she’s fully mobile. There’s nothing to indicate that she doesn’t understand what we say.’
Thea almost burst out laughing. The yoghurt tasted disgusting, and the bread was dry. She ate it anyway. There was no more conversation between the nurse and the auxiliary, and after a little while she was left alone. When the door closed behind them, Thea felt nothing but relief.
She got up from the table and switched on the television. She gripped the remote firmly and went back to her seat. The stroke she had suffered a few years earlier had caused enough long-term damage to prevent her from living alone, but on the whole she coped relatively well with everyday life. She would go mad if the staff interfered with her life any more than they already did.
The morning news had just started.
‘The police confirmed yesterday that the body found in Midsommarkransen was that of Rebecca Trolle, a young student who went missing one evening almost two years ago. They have not released any further details, and have stated that they do not have a particular suspect in mind at this stage.’
Thea stared blankly at the television. She had followed every single news broadcast since she heard that it was Rebecca Trolle’s body that had been found. Her heart was beating slightly faster. Now it would begin, she was certain of that. She had been waiting for the conclusion for almost thirty years, and now it was coming.
8
Alex Recht walked up to the crater and stared down into the damp earth. The men standing at the edge of the excavated area were surrounded by trees. Peder moved closer, leaning forward to get a better view.
‘How did you find him?’ Alex asked.
‘We dug around the area where Rebecca Trolle was buried, and we found a man’s shoe that looked as if it had been lying in the ground for a long time. We expanded the search area and dug deeper, and there he was.’
The man who had answered Alex’s question pointed out exactly where the second body had been found.
‘How long had he been there?’
‘The pathologist said he couldn’t be sure until the body was brought in, but probably several decades.’
Alex breathed in the fresh air; in spite of everything, it was good to see the rays of the sun caressing the trees and the ground, still wet with dew. Spring was his favourite time of year, and he was definitely a morning person. It was still only seven o’clock, and he was pleased that Peder had been able to join him at such an early hour.
‘How can you be sure it’s a man?’ Peder asked.
‘The height,’ replied a female officer who had been involved in investigating the scene. ‘The pathologist estimated that the deceased was over six feet; not many women are that tall.’
‘That should make the identification easier,’ Peder said. ‘If we can get an idea of how long the body has been in the ground, and an approximate height and age, we ought to be able to match the profile with people who disappeared around that time.’
Alex crouched down, studying both graves.
‘There’s not a cat in hell’s chance that this was a coincidence.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘The fact that Rebecca was buried in this particular spot.’
Alex squinted into the sun.
‘The person or persons who buried Rebecca here had buried someone else here in the past.’
‘Although he or she must have felt safer last time,’ said the female officer.
‘In what way?’
‘The man we found last night still had his head and hands.’
Alex thought for a moment.
‘The perpetrator was younger the first time,’ he said. ‘Which means he might well have been both naive and careless.’
Peder zipped up his jacket as if he had suddenly realised he was cold.
‘How do we know it was the first time?’ he asked.
Fredrika Bergman had just got up when Alex called to tell her that he and Peder were on their way to the place where Rebecca Trolle had been found, and that a second body had been discovered the previous night.
‘See you at HQ,’ Alex said.
Fredrika hurried into the kitchen for breakfast.
Spencer was sitting at the table reading the paper. She kissed his forehead and stroked his cheek. She poured herself a cup of coffee and cut two slices of bread. She gazed at the love of her life in silence.
Talk to me, Spencer. I’ve known you for over ten years; I know what you look like when you’re unhappy.
He didn’t say a word, refusing to let her in.
‘What are you two going to do today?’ Fredrika asked.
‘I don’t know; I expect we’ll go for a walk.’
Spencer put down the newspaper.
‘I could do with going to Uppsala this afternoon, and I’d prefer to go without Saga.’
‘That’s fine,’ Fredrika said, even though she suspected it could be a long day at work. ‘I’ll come home when you need to go.’
She took a bite of her sandwich, chewed and swallowed. Her friends had taken the news that she had gone back to work much better than she had expected. Several of them had even hinted that it wasn’t a complete surprise.
‘Are you going to the department?’ she asked Spencer.
‘Yes, to a meeting.’
A meeting. No more, no less. When had they started talking in half-sentences? Fredrika thought about Alex, about the previous winter when his wife had found out she was ill and hadn’t told him. Suddenly she went cold.
‘Spencer, you’re not ill, are you?’
He looked at her in surprise. Grey eyes, like stones shot through with more shades than she could count.
‘Why would I be ill?’
‘I can tell there’s something wrong. Something more than an argument at work.’
Spencer shook his head.
‘It’s nothing, believe me. The only thing I might have left out is…’
He hesitated, and she waited.
‘Apparently, one of my students wasn’t happy with her supervision last autumn.’
‘For goodness’ sake, you were still off sick most of the time!’
‘That was the problem,’ Spencer said. ‘I had to share the supervision with a graduate tutor who had only just started in the department, and it wasn’t a popular move.’
Fredrika could feel the relief flooding through her body.
‘I thought you were dying or something!’
Spencer gave her the crooked smile that always made her melt.
‘I wouldn’t leave you now we’re living together at long last.’
Fredrika leaned forward to kiss him, but was interrupted by the unmistakable sound of Saga waking up in the room next door. She followed Spencer with her eyes as he limped out of the kitchen.
‘Now what?’ said Peder when they were back at HQ.
‘We wait for more precise details from the forensic pathologist, and we continue to pursue the investigation into the murder of Rebecca Trolle,’ Alex replied. ‘I spoke to the pathologist on the phone; he thinks the man has been lying there for at least twenty-five years, possibly more.’
‘A serial killer?’
‘Who kills at random? Such disparate victims, three decades apart?’ Alex shook his head grimly. ‘I don’t think so. Besides which, serial killers are few and far between. This is something different.’
He cursed his own shortcomings, even though he knew it was pointless. At the time of Rebecca’s disappearance there had been nothing whatsoever to indicate that she might have been one of several victims; the investigation had been based on the premise that this was an isolated incident. Were there more victims? Alex wondered. He hadn’t hesitated to order the complete excavation of the site where the bodies had been found, expanding the parameters of the search area. It would take several days to complete the task, but if there were more bodies in the ground, Alex wanted them found.