She started up the car and headed for Uddevalla. A glance at her mobile showed her that she’d missed two calls from Patrik. He would just have to wait.

Louise rang the bank as soon as it opened. Erik had always underestimated her. She was good at cajoling people and finding out what she wanted to know. Besides, she had all the information she needed to ask the right questions – the account numbers and the company taxpayer ID. She also had such an efficient and commanding voice that the banker didn’t even consider doubting her right to obtain the information.

After Louise hung up the phone, she remained sitting at the kitchen table to think. It was all gone. Well, not really all. He’d been generous enough to leave her a little so they could get by for a while. But he had largely emptied their bank accounts, both the personal and business ones.

Anger rushed through her like a primeval force. She had no intention of letting him get away with this. He was so fucking stupid that he thought she was equally dumb. He’d booked a plane ticket under his own name, and it didn’t take her many phone calls to find out exactly which flight he was taking and what his destination would be.

Louise got up and took a glass out of the cupboard. She held it under the tap of the wine box, which she twisted and then watched as the marvellous red liquid come gushing out. Today she needed the wine more than ever. She raised the glass to her lips, but stopped when the smell of the wine filled her nostrils. This was not the right moment. She was surprised to find that thought occurring to her, because over the past few years it had always been the right moment for a glass of wine. But not today. Right now she needed to be clear-headed and strong. Right now she had to be decisive.

She had all the necessary information. She could point her magic wand and make everything disappear with a ‘poof’, just like Magica De Spell. She giggled and then began whooping with laughter. She laughed as she set the glass on the kitchen counter, and she kept on laughing as she looked at her own reflection in the shiny surface of the refrigerator door. She had taken back control of her life. And soon it was going to go ‘poof’.

Everything was arranged. The courier bringing the documents from Göteborg was on his way. Patrik knew he ought to feel pleased, but he couldn’t muster any real joy. He still hadn’t got hold of Erica, and it made him uneasy to think of her running around in her advanced stage of pregnancy, and getting involved in who knew what. He realized that if anybody could take care of herself, she could. That was one of the many reasons why he loved her. But he still couldn’t help feeling worried.

‘They’ll be here in half an hour!’ shouted Annika, who had put in the order for the courier delivery.

‘Great!’ he shouted back. Then he stood up and grabbed his jacket. He mumbled something incomprehensible to Annika as he passed her on his way out and then jogged through the biting wind over to Hedemyr’s. Patrik was annoyed with himself. He should have done this earlier, but it just wasn’t part of the way he usually handled an investigation. To be honest, the idea hadn’t even occurred to him. Not until he heard the nickname that Christian had given to his sister. The Mermaid.

The book section was located on the ground floor of the department store, and he quickly found his way there. Books by local authors were prominently displayed, and he smiled when he saw the big stack of Erica’s books, along with a life-size cardboard cut-out of her.

‘How awful that it should end like that,’ said the clerk as he paid for the book. He merely nodded, since he wasn’t in the mood for small talk. He slipped the book inside his jacket and ran back to the police station. Annika glanced at Patrik when he came in, but didn’t say anything.

He went into his office and closed the door, then sat down at his desk, trying to make himself as comfortable as possible. He opened Christian’s novel and began to read. There were actually lots of other things that Patrik should have been doing, both practical chores and police tasks. But something told him that this was important. So for the first time in his career, Patrik Hedström sat at his desk reading a novel during work hours.

Kenneth wasn’t sure when he would be discharged from the hospital, but it really didn’t matter. He could stay here or he could go home. She would find him wherever he was.

Maybe it would be better if she found him at home, where Lisbet’s presence was still palpable. And there were a few things he wanted to take care of first. Including Lisbet’s funeral. The service would be only for her family and closest friends. No black clothing, no mournful music. And she would be wearing her yellow scarf. She’d been adamant about that.

A cautious knock on the door roused him from his reverie. He turned his head. Erica Falck. What did she want? he wondered, though it didn’t really interest him.

‘May I come in?’ she asked. Like everyone else, she couldn’t help looking at his bandaged arms. He motioned with one hand, an ambiguous gesture that could mean come in or get lost. Even he wasn’t sure which he intended.

But Erica came into the room, pulled up a chair, and sat down at his bedside, close to his head. She gave him a friendly look.

‘You know who Christian was, don’t you? Not Christian Thydell, but Christian Lissander.’

At first he considered lying to her, the same way he’d lied to the police officers who had come to see him. But her tone of voice was different. Her expression was too. She knew. She already had the answer, or at least part of it.

‘Yes, I know that,’ said Kenneth. ‘I know who he was.’

‘Tell me about him,’ she said. And for some reason he felt compelled to talk to her.

‘There’s not much to tell. He was the one everybody picked on at school. And we… we were the worst of the lot. With Erik taking the lead.’

‘You bullied him?’

‘We wouldn’t have called it that back then. But we made his life miserable as often as we could.’

‘Why?’ she asked, and the word seemed to hover in the air for a moment.

‘Why? Who knows? He was different, and he wasn’t from here. He was also fat. People always have to have someone to kick around, someone to look down on.’

‘I can understand Erik doing that sort of thing. But why you? And Magnus?’

She didn’t sound reproachful, but it still upset Kenneth. He’d asked himself that very same question so many times before. There was something lacking in Erik’s character. It was hard to pinpoint, but it might be an inability to feel empathy. That was no excuse, but it did explain Erik’s behaviour. But he and Magnus knew better. Did that make their sins bigger or smaller? Kenneth couldn’t answer that question.

‘We were young and stupid,’ he said, but he could hear how false that sounded. He had continued to follow Erik, to be governed by him. He had even admired him. It was a matter of ordinary human stupidity. Fear and cowardice.

‘So you didn’t recognize Christian when he moved here as an adult?’ Erica asked.

‘No, never. Believe it or not, I never made that connection. None of the others did either. Christian was a completely different person. It wasn’t just his appearance, it was… he wasn’t the same person. Even now, when I know…’ Kenneth shook his head.

‘What about Alice? Tell me about Alice.’

He grimaced. He didn’t want to do that. Talking about Alice was the same thing as sticking his hand in a fire. Over the years he’d buried all thought of her so deep in his subconscious that it was as if she’d never existed. But that time was now gone. He would simply have to endure the fire, if need be. Because he had to talk about her.

‘She was so beautiful that it took your breath away just to look at her. But as soon as she moved or started talking, you could tell that something wasn’t quite right with her. She was always hanging on Christian. We couldn’t really work out whether he liked it or not. Sometimes he seemed annoyed, but other times he seemed almost happy to see her.’