Evelyn, he says calmly, there are some police officers here who would like to talk to you.
She looks anxious and takes a step backwards.
If you have time, he says, with a smile.
She gives a faint nod and Erik shouts in the direction of the house. Joona emerges with an irritated look on his face, ready to order Erik back to the car. When he sees the woman he stiffens.
This is Evelyn, says Erik, handing him the shotgun.
Hello.
The colour suddenly drains from her face, and she looks as if shes going to faint.
I need to talk to you, Joona explains, in a serious voice.
No, she whispers.
Come inside.
I dont want to.
You dont want to go inside?
Evelyn turns to Erik. Do I have to? she asks, trembling.
No, he replies. You decide.
Please come in, says Joona.
She shakes her head but begins to head for the house anyway.
Ill wait outside, says Erik.
He walks a little way up the drive. The gravel is covered in pine needles and brown cones. He hears Evelyn scream through the walls of the house. Just one scream. It sounds lonely and despairing, an expression of incomprehensible loss. He recognizes that scream well from his time in Uganda.
Evelyn is sitting on the sofa with both hands clamped between her thighs, her face ashen. On the floor by her feet is a photograph in a frame that looks like a toadstool. Its a mother and father- her mother and father- sitting in something that looks like a hammock, with her little sister between them. Her parents squint into the bright sunlight, while the little girls glasses shine as if they were white.
Im sorry for your loss, says Joona.
Her chin quivers.
Do you think you might be able to help us understand whats happened? he asks. The wooden chair creaks under his weight. He waits for a while, then continues. Where were you on Monday, December seventh?
She shakes her head.
Yesterday, he clarifies.
I was here, she says faintly.
In the cottage?
She meets his gaze. Yes.
You didnt go out all day?
No.
You just sat here?
She makes a gesture toward the bed and the textbooks on political science.
You were studying?
Yes.
So you didnt leave the house yesterday?
No.
Is there anyone who can confirm that?
What?
Was anyone here with you? asks Joona.
No.
Have you any idea who could have done this to your family?
She shakes her head.
Has anyone threatened you? She doesnt seem to hear him. Evelyn?
What? What did you say? Her fingers are still tightly clamped between her legs.
Has anyone threatened your family? Do you have any enemies?
No.
Did you know that your father was heavily in debt?
She shakes her head.
He was, says Joona. He owed money to criminals.
Right.
Could it be one of them who-
No.
Why not?
You dont understand anything, she says, raising her voice.
What is it we dont understand?
You dont understand anything.
Tell us what-
I cant! she screams.
She is so distraught that she begins to cry, straight out, without covering her face. Kristina Andersson goes over and hugs her, and after a while she grows calmer. She sits there motionless, the policewomans arms around her, as occasional sobs shudder through her body.
There, there, Kristina whispers reassuringly. She holds the girl close and strokes her head- and then suddenly screams and pushes Evelyn away, straight onto the floor. Goddammit, she bit me she fucking bit me!
Kristina looks in amazement at her fingers, covered in blood seeping from a wound in the middle of her throat.
On the floor, Evelyn hides a bewildered smile behind her hand. Then her eyes roll back in her head and she slumps into unconsciousness.
Chapter 23
Benjamin has locked himself in his room. Simone is sitting at the kitchen table with her eyes closed, listening to the radio; its a live broadcast from Berwald Concert Hall. She tries to imagine life as a single person. It wouldnt be all that different from what I have now, she thinks ironically. I might go to concerts, galleries, and the theatre, as all lonely women do.
She finds a bottle of single-malt Scotch in the cupboard and pours herself a drop, adding a little water: a weak yellow liquid in a heavy glass. The front door opens as the warm notes of a Bach cello concerto fill the kitchen; it is a gentle, sorrowful melody. Erik stands in the doorway looking at her, his face grey with exhaustion.
That looks good, he says.
Whisky, she says, handing him the glass.
She pours herself a fresh drink; they stand opposite each other and raise their glasses in a toast, their expressions serious.
Difficult day? she asks quietly.
Pretty difficult, he replies, with a pale smile.
He suddenly looks so worn out. There is a lack of clarity to his features, like a thin layer of dust on his face.
What are you listening to? he asks.
Shall I turn it off?
Not on my account- its beautiful. Erik empties the glass, holds it out to her, and she pours him another. So Benjamin didnt get a tattoo, then, he says.
Youve been following the drama on voicemail.
Youve been following the drama on voicemail.
Just now, on the way home. I didnt have time before-
No. She breaks in, thinking about the woman who answered when she called the number last night.
Im glad you went and picked him up, says Erik.
She nods, thinking about how all emotions are interconnected, how no relationship is autonomous and separate, how everything is affected by everything else.
They drink again, and suddenly she notices that Erik is smiling at her. His smile, with those crooked teeth, has always made her go weak at the knees. She thinks how she would love to go to bed with him now, without any discussion, any complications. One day we will all be alone anyway, she says to herself.
I dont know what to think, she says tersely. Or rather I know I dont trust you.
Why do you say-
It feels as if weve lost everything. You just sleep or else youre at work, or wherever it is you are. I wanted to do things, travel, spend time together.
He puts down the glass and takes a step towards her. Why cant we do that?
Dont say it, she whispers.
Why not? He smiles and strokes her cheek; then his expression grows serious again. Suddenly they are kissing each other. Simone can feel how her whole body has longed for this, longed for kisses.
Hey, Dad, do you know where- Benjamin falls silent as he walks into the kitchen and sees them. Youre crazy. He sighs, and goes out again.
Simone calls after him. Benjamin. He comes back. You promised to go and pick up the food.
Have you called?
Itll be ready in fifteen minutes, she says, giving him her purse. You know where the Thai place is, dont you?
Mum! He sighs.
Go straight there and back, she says.
Oh, please.
Listen to your mother, says Erik.
Im just going to the corner to pick up a take-away; nothings going to happen, he says, going into the hallway.
Simone and Erik smile at each other as they hear the front door close and their sons rapid footsteps on the stairs.
Erik gets three glasses out of the cupboard, stops, takes Simones hand, and holds it against his cheek.
Bedroom? she asks.
He looks embarrassingly pleased, just as the telephone rings. Leave it, he says.
It could be Benjamin, she says, picking up the phone. Hello? She hears nothing, just a faint ticking sound, perhaps from a zipper being undone. Hello? She puts the telephone down.
Nobody there? asks Erik, uneasily.
Simone watches as he goes over to the window and looks down at the street. Once again she hears the voice of the woman who answered her earlier call. Stop it, Erik. She had laughed. Stop what? Fumbling inside her clothes, sucking at her nipple, pushing up her skirt?
Call Benjamin, says Erik, his voice strained.
Why do I need to- She picks up the phone just as it rings again. Hello?
When no one speaks she cuts the connection and dials Benjamins number.
Voice mail.
I cant see him, says Erik.
Should I go after him?
Maybe.
Hell be furious with me, she says with a smile.
Ill go, says Erik, moving into the hallway.
He is just taking his jacket off the hanger when the door opens and Benjamin walks in with a plastic bag stacked with cartons of steaming food.
They sit down in front of the TV to watch a movie, eating straight out of the containers. Benjamin laughs at the snappy dialogue, and Erik and Simone glance happily at each other as they did when he was a child, laughing out loud at some childrens programme. Erik puts his hand on Simones knee, and she puts her hand on top of his, squeezing it.
Bruce Willis is on his back, wiping blood from his mouth. The telephone rings again and Erik puts down his food and gets up. He goes out into the hallway and answers as calmly as he can.
Erik Maria Bark. There is no sound, just a faint clicking. Right, thats enough, he says angrily.
Erik? Its Daniellas voice. Is that you, Erik? she asks.
Were just in the middle of eating. He can hear her rapid breathing.
What did he want? she asks. Who?
Josef, she replies.
Josef Ek?
Didnt he say anything? asks Daniella.
When?
Just now on the phone.
Erik can see Simone and Benjamin watching the film in the living room. He thinks about the family out in Tumba. The little girl, the mother and father. The horrendous rage behind the crime.
What makes you think he called me? asks Erik.
Daniella clears her throat. He must have talked the nurse into bringing him a phone. Ive spoken to the exchange; they put him through to you.
Are you sure about this?
Josef was screaming when I went in; hed ripped out the catheter. I gave him alprazolam, but he said a lot of things about you before he fell asleep.
Like what? What did he say?
Erik hears Daniella swallow hard, and her voice sounds very tired when she replies.
That youd been fucking with his head and you should leave his fucking sister alone if you dont want to be eliminated. He said it several times. You can expect to be eliminated.
Chapter 24
It has been three hours since Joona took Evelyn to the Kronoberg custody centre. She was placed in a small cell with bare walls and horizontal bars over the steamed-up window. A stainless steel sink reeked of vomit. Evelyn stood next to the bunk with its green plastic mattress and stared at Joona inquiringly as he left her there.
Once a suspect has been brought in, the prosecutor has up to twelve hours to decide whether the person should be arrested or released. If he decides not to release, he then has until twelve oclock on the third day to submit an application to the court asking for the suspect to be arrested. If he fails to do this, the person is free to go. The basis for requesting an arrest can be either probable grounds for suspicion or, more seriously, reasonable grounds for suspicion.