blood under the nails to slip underneath her dress.
She knew that people were talking behind her back. But once she realized that she would never regain her former social status, she no longer cared. Let them talk. If she could find ways to indulge in some of the good things in life, she had no intention of letting the views of a bunch of narrow-minded workers prevent her from doing so. And if it also bothered Anders occasionally to hear what people were saying about his wife, then all the better. In Agnes's eyes it was his fault that she had ended up where she was, and it made her happy if she could cause him pain.
But the past few weeks something had been bothering her. She felt as though something was going on, but she wasn't part of it. Several times she had come upon Anders lost in thought, staring into space as if he were contemplating something important. On one occasion she had even asked him if he was thinking about anything in particular, but he had denied it, though not very convincingly. He was involved in something, she was sure of it. Something that would affect her, but for some reason she was not allowed to know what it was. The whole thing was driving her crazy, but in this situation she knew her husband well enough to realize that it would do no good to push him to reveal anything before he was ready. He could be stubborn as a mule if he set his mind to it.
Pensively, she picked up the packet of cigarettes and got up to go inside. She wondered briefly where the boys could have run off to, but then shrugged her shoulders, leaving them to take care of themselves. For her part she intended to take a little midday nap.
The afternoon passed slowly. Patrik had spent far too much time poring over Albin's medical records. He wondered whether he'd made the right choice when he decided to wait to bring in the social welfare authorities. But something told him that he had to know more before he did that. Once the bureaucratic wheels began to turn, it would be hard to stop the process, and he knew that both the police and the doctors were reluctant to report suspected child abuse. There was always a risk that there was a natural explanation, but no one would be willing to consider that possibility after social welfare stepped in. Besides, there hadn't been any incidents since the Klinga family had moved to Fjallbacka. Apparently the situation had stabilized. But he couldn't be entirely sure, and if Albin was hurt again the responsibility would be on his shoulders.
The telephone rang and interrupted his gloomy thoughts.
'Patrik Hedstrom.'
'Hello, this is Lars Kalfors from the Goteborg police.'
'Yes?' said Patrik. The man sounded as though he was supposed to recognize his name, but he couldn't recall hearing it before. And he had no idea why someone from Goteborg would be calling him.
'We just sent over some information regarding an ongoing matter to you. It was marked for your attention, I believe.'
'Oh yes?' said Patrik, even more puzzled. 'Offhand I can't recall seeing any message from Goteborg on my desk. When was it sent, and what was it about?'
'I got in touch with you over three weeks ago. I work in the division dealing with the sexual exploitation of children, and we're tracking a child pornography ring. We stumbled on a person from your district, and that's why I contacted you.'
Patrik felt like an idiot, but he had no idea what the man was talking about. 'Who did you talk to here?'
'Well, you seemed to be on parental leave that day, so I was referred to a… let me see…' It sounded like the man was paging through his notes. 'Here it is. I talked with an Ernst Lundgren.'
Patrik felt anger clouding his vision and making him see red. In his mind's eye he pictured himself putting his hands around Ernst's neck and slowly starting to squeeze. With forced calm he said, 'We must have had a communications glitch here at the station. Maybe you should give me the information instead. Then I can look into what's happened.'
'Of course, I can do that.'
Kalfors gave him a broad outline of what their work had involved, and how they came to be working on the child pornography case that was now high priority. When he came to the bit where the Tanumshede police station might be able to contribute something, Patrik gasped. He forced himself to listen to the whole account, then promised they'd give the matter immediate attention. After that he offered the usual polite phrases. But as soon as he hung up he was on his feet. He crossed his office in two strides and yelled out into the corridor, 'ERNST!'
Erica was sitting on the sofa, trying to sort out her thoughts when a knock on the door made her jump again. She guessed who it was and went to open the door. Charlotte stood outside. She had no coat on and looked like she'd run the whole way from her house. Sweat was running down her forehead and she was shaking uncontrollably.
'My God, you look awful,' said Erica, but instantly regretted her choice of words and swept Charlotte into the warmth of the house.
'Is this a bad time?' Charlotte asked pitifully, and Erica shook her head.
'Of course not. You're welcome here anytime, you know that.'
Charlotte just nodded, still shivering with her arms hugging her body. Her hair was plastered to her head from sweat and the damp air, and a stray lock hung into her eyes. She looked like a soaking wet puppy that had been abandoned.
'Would you like some tea?' asked Erica.
Charlotte had a frantic look in her eye, mixed with the haunted expression that had been there ever since she had gotten the news about Sara. But she nodded gratefully in answer to Erica's offer.
'Have a seat, I'll be right back,' Erica said and went into the kitchen. She checked on Maja in the living room, who seemed content and merely cast an interested glance at Charlotte as she walked past.
'I'll get your sofa wet if I sit down,' said Charlotte, as if that would be the end of the world.
'Don't worry, it'll dry,' said Erica. 'Look, I only have wild strawberry tea, is that all right, or do you think it's too sweet?'
'That'll be fine,' said Charlotte. Erica suspected she would have said the same thing if she'd been offered horse-flavoured tea.
Erica soon returned carrying a tray with two big cups of tea, a jar of honey and two spoons. She set it on the table in front of the sofa and sat down next to Charlotte.
Cautiously Charlotte raised her cup and sipped the tea. Erica sat quietly next to her and did the same. She didn't want to force Charlotte into talking, but she felt an almost physical need for her friend to confide in her. Maybe she just didn't know where to start. Erica wondered whether Niclas had told Charlotte that he'd been over to see her. After another long silence when Maja's babble was the only sound, Charlotte answered that question.
'I know that he's been here. He told me. So you already know that he's been seeing someone else. Again, I should add.' A bitter laugh escaped Charlotte's lips, and the tears that she had been holding back finally poured out.
'Yes, I know,' said Erica. She also knew what her friend meant by 'again'. Charlotte had told her about Niclas's recurring affairs. But also that she'd believed they'd stopped since they decided to start over in Fjallbacka. He had promised that it would be a new start in that respect as well.
'He's been seeing her for several months. Can you imagine? For several months. Here, in Fjallbacka. And nobody caught them. He must have incredible damn luck.' Her laugh now had a hint of hysteria to it, and Erica put a consoling hand on her knee.
'Who is it?' Erica said quietly.
'Didn't Niclas tell you?'
Erica shook her head, so Charlotte said, 'Some little bitch who's twenty-five
