gestures inquiringly at the recorder and Lisbet nods. He starts the machine and begins by describing the situation: It is Friday, 11th December, at 8:15 in the morning, and Josef Ek is being questioned to try to elicit information. He then lists the people present in the room.
“Hi,” says Joona.
Josef looks at him with heavy eyes.
“My name is Joona. I’m a detective.”
Josef closes his eyes.
“How are you feeling?”
The social worker looks out the window.
“Can you sleep with that thing bubbling away?” he asks.
Josef nods slowly.
“Do you know why I’m here?”
Josef opens his eyes. Joona waits, observing his face.
“There’s been an accident,” says Josef. “My whole family was in an accident.”
“Hasn’t anybody told you what’s happened?” asks Joona.
“Maybe a little,” he says faintly.
“He refuses to see a psychologist or a counsellor,” says the social worker.
Joona thinks about how different Josef’s voice was under hypnosis. Now it is suddenly fragile, almost non-existent, yet pensive.
“I think you know what’s happened.”
“You don’t have to answer that,” Lisbet Carlén says quickly.
“You’re fifteen years old now,” Joona goes on.
“Yes.”
“What did you do on your birthday?”
“Can’t remember,” says Josef.
“Did you get any presents?”
“I watched TV,” Josef replies.
“Did you go to see Evelyn?” Joona asks in a neutral tone.
“Yes.”
“At her apartment?”
“Yes.”
“Was she there?”
“Yes.” Silence. “No, she wasn’t,” says Josef hesitantly, changing his mind.
“Where was she, then?”
“At the cottage,” he replies.
“Is it nice there?”
“Not really … It’s cosy, I guess.”
“Was she happy to see you?”
“Who?”
“Evelyn.” Silence. “Did you take anything with you?”
“A cake.”
“A cake? Was it good?”
He nods.
“Did Evelyn like it?” Joona goes on.
“Only the best for Evelyn,” he says.
“Did she give you a present?”
“No.”
“But maybe she sang to you.”
“She didn’t want to give me my present,” he says, in an injured tone.
“Is that what she said?”
“Yes, she did,” he answers quickly.
“Why?” Silence. “Was she angry with you?” asks Joona.
He nods.
“Was she trying to get you to do something you didn’t want to do?” asks Joona calmly.
“No, she—” Josef whispers the rest.
“I can’t hear you, Josef.”
He continues to whisper, and Joona leans close, trying to hear the words. “That fucking bastard!” Josef yells in his ear.
Joona jumps back and rubs his ear as he walks around the bed. He tries to smile.
Josef’s face is ash-grey. “I’m going to find that fucking hypnotist and bite his throat; I’m going to hunt him down, him and his—”
The social worker moves over to the bed quickly and tries to switch off the tape recorder. “Josef! You have the right to remain silent—”
“Keep out of this,” Joona interrupts.
She looks at him with an agitated expression and says in a trembling voice, “Before the interview began, you should have informed—”
“Wrong. There are no laws governing this kind of interrogation,” says Joona, raising his voice. “He has the right to remain silent, that’s true, but I am not obliged to inform him of that right.”
“In that case, I apologise.”
“No problem,” mumbles Joona, turning back to Josef. “Why are you angry with the hypnotist?”
“I don’t have to answer your questions,” says Josef, attempting to point at the social worker.
31
friday, december 11: morning
Erik runs down the stairs and through the door. He stops outside and feels the sweat cooling on his back. A chill is in the air; not far away, a man sleeps under a thick mound of blankets. After a moment of indecisiveness, he walks slowly up toward Odenplan and sits down on a bench outside the library. He feels sick with fear. How can he be so stupid, pushing Simone away because he feels hurt?
After a while, Erik gets up and sets off for home, stopping to buy bread at the stone oven bakery and a caffè macchiato for Simone. He hurries back and, not wanting to wait for the lift, jogs up the stairs, but as soon as he unlocks the door he realises the apartment is empty. With effort, Erik pushes aside the feeling of desolation the empty apartment fills him with. No matter what, he intends to prove to Simone that she can trust him. However long it takes, he will convince her once again. He thinks this, then drinks her coffee standing up in the kitchen; no sense letting it go to waste. It upsets his stomach, and he takes a Prilosec.
It is still only nine o’clock in the morning, and his shift at the hospital doesn’t start for several hours. He takes a book to the bedroom with him
