Kicki had talked a lot about money, according to Agneta, and was always complaining that she was broke. She was fed up with her job but didn’t know how she could afford to give it up or get another job, because she had no qualifications. While she was in Greece she had given some thought to how she could earn more money. The question had come up on several occasions.

After the call, which was memorable largely for the sound of Agneta sobbing, Thomas wasn’t really any the wiser.

But the information that Kicki needed money was interesting. If she had known that her cousin was involved in something illegal, she might well have decided to exploit this knowledge in order to make some cash—the easy money she had been wanting for so long.

Sandhamn, that’s where the money is, Kicki had told her friend.

Thomas thought about the comment. Was it a failed attempt to get ahold of that money that had led to her death?

THURSDAY, THE THIRD WEEK

CHAPTER 30

Why do kids enjoy playing in the sand so much? Nora wondered as she spread the beach towels out on the shore at Trouville. The boys had been nagging her for several days to bring them here. She thought they might have had enough of swimming, since they were taking lessons every day, but a trip to the beach was still the best thing in the world.

The beaches at Trouville were among the finest stretches of sand in the archipelago. There was a reason the real name of the island was Sandön, or Sand Island, although most people these days called it Sandhamn. It was one of the few islands in the Stockholm archipelago that didn’t consist mainly of rocks.

As soon as they woke up, both boys had started campaigning for a trip to the beach. Adam had asked if they could miss their swimming lessons for today, and Nora had allowed herself to be persuaded. Once in three weeks wasn’t the end of the world, after all. In addition, the water was unusually warm: seventy-two degrees. It wasn’t often possible to swim in water like that in the outer archipelago.

Once breakfast was eaten and cleared away, Nora packed their swimming gear and beach towels. Simon found their brightly colored plastic buckets and spades, then they cycled across the sand, past the tennis courts, and through the forest until they reached Trouville.

Adam complained that they were cycling too slowly, but Simon was pedaling as fast as his little legs could go. Nora hadn’t the heart to tell him to hurry up.

After a mile, the Trouville road ended in a fork, and they headed off to the right. Just a few hundred yards along the track they reached the shore.

As it was still quite early, the tourists from Stockholm had not yet arrived. When they came on the ferry from the city at about eleven o’clock, the beach was usually packed, but it was still only ten, so Nora and the boys could choose where they wanted to set up.

Nora certainly didn’t begrudge the tourists their enjoyment of the islands, but she couldn’t help thinking how nice it had been when she was a child and the stream of visitors was a mere trickle. Now she could almost imagine the island was going to sink when she saw all the people pouring off the ferries in July.

Henrik had arrived home late and left early. He would be out sailing all day. She had tried raising the issue of the post in Malmö again, but he made it clear that he wasn’t interested in talking about it. The recruitment company had contacted her, just as the HR director had said they would. They had agreed that she would come into Stockholm the following week for an interview. Nora really wanted to hear more about the new job, but a meeting presupposed that she and Henrik had decided it was a good idea to continue the discussions.

As she dug out sunscreen and sunglasses, she couldn’t stop her thoughts from running away with her. Why not go and meet the consultant, Rutger Sandelin? It couldn’t do any harm, could it? It was just like any other interview really, even if it was being held somewhere other than the office. If she didn’t bother turning up for the interview, HR would think she was crazy. She’d been offered a really exciting job, and yet she couldn’t even be bothered to go through the motions.

She squirted plenty of sunscreen on her shoulders and arms, then rubbed it in with a frenzy that suggested it was a matter of life and death, rather than the avoidance of a sunburn.

With a deep breath she decided she would at least find out what the job involved. The boys could spend the day with her parents. She and Henrik could discuss it later, when she had something concrete to tell him. At the moment it was all quite vague; it wasn’t worth making a stand until she knew more.

The simplest thing would be to say that she had to go into the office for the morning. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d had to make a quick dash into work during the summer. Since it took her only a few hours to get into the city, it was easy to call her in when something urgent came up. At least that’s what her ghastly boss thought. He parked himself and his family on Gotland for the entire summer and refused to get himself back to Stockholm unless it was absolutely essential. Which meant a message either came down from the managing director of the bank or God.

In that order.

Somewhere deep inside she could hear a little voice asking what was really driving her. Why couldn’t she be satisfied with what she had? Appreciate her life, which gave her the opportunity to combine an enjoyable job with a husband and children. A happy marriage, wonderful kids, and enough money to be able to afford the house on Sandhamn. Why turn everything upside down? Why challenge Henrik, instead of paying attention to the clear signals he had given her?

She took the bottle of cold juice out of the beach bag and set it in the shade. She could see her uncertainty and anxiety reflected in its chrome surface. She wasn’t at all sure where she and Henrik were heading.

Suddenly she decided to forget the whole thing. It could only lead to trouble in their marriage. No new job was worth that. No boss was so useless that she couldn’t put up with him. It was better to stay where she was than to start something when she didn’t know where it would lead. The whole thing was ridiculous, just a whim. How could she even think of sneaking off to town behind Henrik’s back?

She took out her cell phone and called Rutger Sandelin to tell him that she couldn’t come and see him, after all, that she’d changed her mind. He could inform HR that she was no longer interested. The number was busy. She sat there with the phone in her hand, then pressed redial. Still busy. Then she started to have second thoughts.

What harm could it do to go and see Sandelin? She had never met anyone from a recruitment company, and she was curious. Plus, her only aim was to find out what he had to offer before she brought the matter up with Henrik again. She was bound to learn something from the experience.

Nora cursed herself. She was being ridiculous. The idea of calling and turning the job down before she had even met Sandelin was just stupid. Of course Henrik would agree that she ought to at least go and see him before making a decision.