‘Have you checked his bank accounts? You might find something interesting there,’ said Patrik, thinking out loud.

Martin shook his head, annoyed that he hadn’t thought of doing that himself. ‘We’ll do that ASAP,’ he said. ‘And we also need to ask Axel whether Erik had a woman in his life. Or man, for that matter. Somebody he might have confided to. Another thing we need to do today is have a talk with the woman who cleaned house for Erik and Axel.’

‘Good,’ said Patrik, nodding. ‘Maybe then you’ll find out why she hasn’t cleaned their house all summer. Which would explain why Erik’s body wasn’t found earlier.’

Paula stood up. ‘I think I’m going to ring Axel right now and find out about any possible love interests Erik might have had.’ She left the room.

‘Do you have the letters that Frans sent to Erik?’ asked Patrik.

Martin got up. ‘I’ll go and get them, since I assume you’d like to have a look at them, right?’

Patrik shrugged, feigning nonchalance. ‘Well, since I’m here anyway…’

Martin laughed. ‘A leopard can’t change its spots. But aren’t you on paternity leave?’

‘Okay, okay, just wait until you’re in the same position. There are only a certain amount of hours you can spend in the sandbox. And Erica is working at home, so she’s only too happy if we stay out of her hair for a while.’

‘She knows your little expedition with Maja was heading for the police station?’ Martin’s eyes twinkled.

‘Well, maybe not, but I’m just dropping by for a moment. To see how you’re all holding up.’

‘Then I suppose I’d better fetch the letters, since you’re just dropping by.’

A few minutes later Martin returned with the five letters, which had now been inserted in plastic sleeves. Maja glanced up from her toy-box, stretching her hand out towards the papers Martin was holding, but he handed them to Patrik. ‘Sorry, sweetheart, these aren’t for you to play with.’ Maja responded with a slightly offended expression but then went back to exploring what was in the box on the floor.

Patrik placed the letters next to each other on the table. He read them in silence, deep furrows on his brow.

‘There’s nothing specific. He mostly just repeats the same things. Says that Erik should lie low because he can’t protect him any longer. And that there are forces within Sweden’s Friends that don’t think before they act.’ Patrik continued reading. ‘And here I get the impression that Erik has replied, because Frans writes:

‘I think what you say is wrong. You talk about consequences. About responsibility. I’m talking about burying the past. About looking forward. We have different opinions, different points of view, you and I. But our point of departure is the same. At the bottom is the same monster, lurking. Unlike you, I think it would be unwise to waken the old monster to life. Certain bones should remain untouched. I already gave you my opinion about what happened in my previous letter, and I won’t speak of it again. I recommend that you do the same. Right now I’ve chosen to act in a protective capacity, but if the situation changes, if the monster is brought out into the open, I may feel differently.’

Patrik looked up at Martin. ‘Did you ask Frans what he meant by this? What’s this “old monster” that he talks about?’

‘We haven’t had a chance to ask him yet. But we’ll be conducting several more interviews with him.’

Paula appeared in the doorway.

‘I’ve managed to discover a woman in Erik’s life. I did as Patrik suggested and phoned Axel. And he said that for the past four years Erik has had a “good friend”, as he put it, by the name of Viola Ellmander. And I’ve already talked to her. We can go see her this morning.’

‘That was fast work,’ said Patrik, giving Paula an appreciative smile.

‘Want to come along?’ asked Martin impulsively. But then he cast an eye at Maja, who was intently studying the eyes of a doll and added, ‘No, of course that wouldn’t work.’

‘Sure it would. You can leave her here with me,’ they heard Annika say from the doorway. She gave Patrik a hopeful look as she smiled at Maja, and was immediately rewarded with a smile in return. Since she had no children of her own, Annika was happy to have an opportunity to borrow one.

‘Hmm…’ said Patrik hesitantly. ‘Don’t you think I can handle it?’ asked Annika. She folded her arms, pretending to take offence.

‘It’s not that,’ said Patrik, still hesitant. But then his sense of curiosity won out and he nodded. ‘Okay, let’s do it. I’ll tag along for a while, so long as I’m back before lunch. But call me if you have any problems. And she needs to eat around ten thirty, and she still prefers mashed food, but I think I have a jar of meat sauce you can warm up in the microwave, and she usually gets tired after eating, but all you have to do is put her in the pushchair and wheel it around a bit, and don’t forget her dummy and she wants her teddy bear next to her when she sleeps and -’

‘Stop, stop,’ said Annika, holding up her hands with a laugh. ‘We’ll be fine, don’t worry. I’ll make sure she doesn’t starve to death in my care, and we’ll manage the nap too.’

‘Thanks, Annika,’ said Patrik, getting to his feet. Then he squatted down next to his daughter and stroked her blonde hair. ‘Pappa is leaving for a little while, but you’re going to stay here with Annika. Okay?’ Maja looked up at him, wide-eyed, for a moment but then shifted her attention back to pulling out the doll’s eyelashes. Slightly miffed, Patrik stood up and said, ‘Well, you can see how indispensable I am. Have a nice time.’

He gave Annika a hug and then went out to the garage. There was a surge of elation as he got behind the wheel of the police car while Martin climbed into the passenger seat next to him. Then Patrik backed the vehicle out of the garage and headed for Fjällbacka. It was all he could do to stop himself bursting into song.

Axel slowly replaced the receiver. Suddenly everything seemed so unreal. It was as if he was still lying in bed, dreaming. The house was so empty without Erik. They’d been careful about giving each other space, eating their meals at different times and keeping to their rooms in separate parts of the house, not wanting to intrude on each other’s privacy. Sometimes several days would pass without them even speaking to one another. But that shouldn’t be interpreted as meaning they weren’t close. They were. Or they had been, Axel corrected himself. Now a different kind of silence filled the house. A silence that was not the same as when Erik used to sit in the library, reading. Back then they’d always been able to break the silence by exchanging a few words, if they felt like it. This silence was all-encompassing and endless.

Erik had never brought Viola home with him. Nor had he ever spoken about her. The only contact Axel ever had with her was if he happened to answer the phone when she rang. These calls would usually be followed by Erik disappearing for a couple of days. He’d pack a small bag with just the essentials, say a brief goodbye, and leave. Occasionally Axel would feel jealous. He’d never been able to form a lasting romantic relationship. There had been women, of course, but they never stuck around for long. His fault, not theirs. Love couldn’t compete with his other, all-consuming passion. Over the years his work had become a demanding mistress that left no room for anything else. It was his life, his identity, his innermost core. He didn’t really know when that had happened. No, that was a lie – he did.

In the silent house, Axel sat down on the overstuffed chair next to the bureau in the hall. And for the first time since his brother died, he wept.

Erica was enjoying the silence in the house. She could even leave the door open to her workroom without being disturbed by any outside noise. She propped her feet up on the desk and thought about the conversation she’d had with Erik Frankel’s brother. It had opened some sort of floodgate for her, provoking a tremendous, insatiable curiosity about aspects of her mother’s life that she’d known nothing about, or even suspected. She sensed that Axel Frankel had told only a fraction of what he knew about her mother. But why was he holding back? What was there in Elsy’s background that he wanted to hide from her? Erica reached for the diaries and started reading from where she’d left off a couple of days ago. But they offered no clue as to what might have prompted that odd tone in Axel’s voice when he spoke of her mother.