are in the process of taking samples from his remains. Samples from Stig have already been analysed. We have also conducted a search of your house today, and…' Patrik glanced at Charlotte but then turned back to Lilian, 'we made a few other discoveries. We can discuss them here if you like, in front of your daughter and everyone else here, or you can come with us to the station.' His voice was devoid of any emotion, but his eyes contained a coldness that she didn't think he was capable of.
Lilian's eyes met Charlotte's for a moment. Charlotte understood nothing Patrik was saying. A brief glimpse at Lilian's eyes increased her confusion and made an icy chill spread down her spine. Something was definitely wrong.
'But Pappa had Guillain-Barre syndrome. He died of a nerve disease,' she said, both as explanation and inquiry, directed at Patrik.
He didn't reply. Soon enough Charlotte would find out more than she ever wanted to know.
Lilian turned her gaze away from her daughter and seemed to make a decision. Then she said calmly to Patrik, 'All right. I'll go with you.'
Stunned, Charlotte stood there, unsure of whether to stay or go with them. At last her indecision settled the matter. She watched as the officers and her mother vanished down the corridor.
HINSEBERG 1962
It was the only visit to Agnes she intended to make. She no longer thought of her as Mother. Only as Agnes.
Mary had just turned eighteen, and she had left her last foster family without looking back. She didn't miss them, and they didn't miss her.
Over the years the letters had arrived frequently. Thick letters that smelled of Agnes. She hadn't opened a single one. But she hadn't thrown them out either. They lay in a trunk waiting to be read one day.
That was also the first thing Agnes asked her. 'Darling, did you read my letters?'
Mary looked at Agnes without answering. She hadn't seen her in four years, and she needed to learn her facial features again before she could say anything.
It surprised her how little the time in prison seemed to have affected Agnes. She couldn't do anything about the clothing, so the elegant dresses and suits were only a memory, but otherwise she seemed to have taken care of herself and her appearance with the same ardour as before. Her hair was newly coiffed, now in a beehive that was the latest style. Her eyeliner was also fashionably thick, and her nails were just as long as Mary remembered them. Now Agnes drummed them impatiently as she waited for an answer.
It took another moment before Mary spoke. 'No, I haven't read them. And don't call me 'darling',' she said, then waited with curiosity for the reply. She was no longer afraid of the woman facing her. The monster inside her had gradually devoured that fear as the hatred had grown. With so much hatred there was no room for fear.
Agnes couldn't pass up such a splendid opportunity for a dramatic scene.
'You didn't read them!' she shrieked. 'Here I sit locked up while you're out running loose and having fun and God knows what else, and the only joy I have is to know that my dear daughter is reading the letters I spend so many hours writing. And I never got a single letter from you or a single telephone call in
'Why did you do it?' asked Mary quietly.
Agnes abruptly stopped crying. With great composure she took out a cigarette and carefully lit it. After taking a few deep drags she replied with the same ghastly calm, 'Because he betrayed me. He thought he could leave me.'
'Couldn't you simply have let him go?' Mary leaned forward so she wouldn't miss a word. She had gone over this topic so many times in her mind that now she didn't want to risk missing even a syllable.
'No man leaves me,' Agnes said. 'I did what I had to do.' Then she shifted her cold glance to Mary and added, 'You know all about that, don't you?'
Mary averted her eyes. The monster inside her stirred restlessly. She said curtly, 'I want you to sign over the house in Fjallbacka to me. I'm thinking of moving there.'
Agnes looked as though she wanted to protest, but Mary hastened to add, 'If you want to have any contact with me in future, then you'll do as I say. If you sign over the house to me, I promise I'll read your letters and write to you.'
Agnes hesitated, so Mary quickly continued, 'I'm the only person you have left now. That may not be much, but I'm still the only one you have.'
For a few unbearably long seconds Agnes weighed the pros and cons, evaluating what would benefit her most, and finally decided.
'All right, that's the deal then. Not because I can understand why you'd want to live in that hole, but if you want to, then fine…' She shrugged, and Mary felt joy rise inside her.
It was a plan that had developed over the past year. She would start over. Become a whole different person. Shake off the past that clung to her like a musty old blanket. Her application to change her name had already been submitted. Gaining access to the house in Fjallbacka was stage two, and she had already begun the work of changing her appearance. Not a single unnecessary calorie had passed her lips in a whole month, and the hour-long walk each morning had also helped. Everything would be different. Everything would be new.
The last thing she heard when she left Agnes sitting in the waiting room was her astonished exclamation, 'Have you lost weight?'
Mary didn't turn round to answer. She was on her way to becoming a new person.
By the next day the storm had subsided, and the autumn was showing its best side. The leaves that had survived the windstorm were red and yellow and fluttered softly in a light breeze. The sunshine gave no warmth, but it still raised the spirits and chased away the raw chill in the air – the kind that crept inside your clothes and made your body feel cold and damp.
Patrik sighed as he sat in the kitchen. Lilian was still refusing to talk, despite all the evidence they had against her. At least it was enough to remand her back into custody, and they still had time to charge her.
'How's it going?' said Annika as she came in to refill her coffee cup.
'Not much happening,' said Patrik with a deep sigh. 'She's as hard as a rock. Doesn't say a word.'
'But do we need a confession if the evidence is sufficient?'
'No, no really,' said Patrik. 'But what we're lacking is a motive. With a little imagination I could come up with a number of plausible motives for killing one husband and attempting to kill the second. But Sara?'
'How did you know that she was the one who murdered Sara?'
'I didn't,' said Patrik. 'Not until now. But all this has made me see that somebody lied about the morning when Sara disappeared, and that somebody had to be Lilian.'
He turned on the tape recorder sitting on the kitchen table. Morgan's voice filled the room. 'I didn't do it. I can't sit in prison for the rest of my life. I didn't kill her. I don't know how the jacket ended up at my place. She was wearing it when she went into her house. Please, don't leave me here.'
'Did you hear that?' said Patrik.
