agreed to have the baby first. Then we’ll start thinking about a wedding.’
‘So when do you think—’ Erica began, but she was interrupted by ‘Mambo No. 5’ playing on her mobile.
‘Hi, sweetheart,’ she said when she saw the name on the display.
She listened to what Patrik was saying, giving only a few brief remarks in reply.
‘No problem. Don’t worry about the kids. See you later.’
She ended the call and put her mobile back in her purse. Then she looked at Anna. She knew it was asking a lot to get her sister to babysit the kids again, but she had no choice. Kristina was in Uddevalla all afternoon, so she couldn’t ask her.
‘Okay,’ said Anna. ‘I can watch the kids for you. How long will you be gone?’ She laughed when she saw Erica’s embarrassed expression.
‘Could I drop them off again around three? Patrik wants me to come over to the station to tell them about the Stella case. I have to be there at three thirty. So I should be back here by five or five thirty. Will that work?’
‘That’s fine,’ said Anna. ‘Your kids are better behaved with me than with you.’
‘Oh, come on,’ said Erica, blowing her sister a kiss.
But it couldn’t be denied that Anna had a point. The children had behaved like angels.
‘What do you think they’re scared of?’
Sam realized he had started to slur his words. The combination of sun and champagne had gone straight to his head. He was holding the glass in his left hand. His right hand ached after the morning’s target practice.
‘Scared of?’ said Jessie.
She too was slurring her words. She’d had several glasses before he arrived and they were now on the second bottle.
‘Won’t your mother notice some bottles are missing?’ he asked, motioning with the glass.
The golden bubbles sparkled when the sunlight hit the glass. He’d never thought about how beautiful champagne was. On the other hand, he’d never seen it close up.
‘Oh, don’t worry. She won’t care,’ replied Jessie, tossing her head. ‘As long as there’s still some left for her.’
She reached for the bottle.
‘But what did you mean about being scared? I don’t think they’re scared of us.’
‘Of course they’re fucking scared,’ said Sam, holding out his glass.
The foam reached the top and spilled over the rim, but he merely laughed and licked the champagne off his hand.
‘They know we’re not like them. They sense … they can sense the darkness inside us.’
‘Darkness?’
She studied him in silence. He loved the contrast between her green eyes and blond hair. He wished she would realize how beautiful she was. He looked beyond her weight and the spots. He had recognized himself in her when he saw her at the Centrum kiosk. He knew they both shared that lost feeling. And he saw in her the same darkness.
‘They know we hate them. They see all the hatred they’ve already created in us, but they can’t help themselves, they keep pouring it on, keep creating something they won’t be able to control.’
Jessie giggled.
‘My God, you sound so pretentious. Skål! We’re sitting here in the sunshine, on the dock next to a luxury villa, we’re drinking champagne, and we’re having a fucking great time.’
‘You’re right.’ He smiled as their glasses clinked. ‘We’re having a fucking great time.’
‘Because we deserve it,’ Jessie said, stumbling over her words. ‘You and me. We fucking deserve it. We’re better than them. They’re nothing compared to us.’
She raised her glass so abruptly that half the champagne spilled out, landing on her bare stomach.
‘Oops,’ she said, giggling.
She reached for a towel, but Sam stopped her. He looked around. The dock was hidden by a fence, and the boats out in the water were a good distance away. They were alone in the world.
He knelt down in front of her, between her legs. She looked down at him with excitement. Slowly he licked the champagne off her skin. He sucked up the bubbly that had filled her navel and then ran his tongue over her sun-warmed skin. She tasted of champagne and sweat. He raised his eyes and looked at her. Keeping his eyes fixed on hers, he reached for the edge of her bikini bottoms and slowly pulled them down. When he began licking her, he heard her panting breaths mixing with the sound of the seagulls screeching overhead. They were alone. All alone in the world.
Leif Hermansson took a deep breath before he stepped inside the small interview room at the police station. Helen Persson and her parents, KG and Harriet, were waiting inside. He knew the parents – everyone in Fjällbacka did – though they were no more than chance acquaintances. It was different with Marie Wall’s parents. The police in Tanumshede had had countless opportunities to meet them over the years.
Leif wasn’t happy about being police chief. He didn’t enjoy supervising others or having to make the decisions. But he was too good at his job, and it had got him promoted. Of course it was only the police station in Tanumshede; he had politely but firmly turned down all opportunities that would have meant moving somewhere else. He had been born in Tanumshede, and that was where he intended to stay until the very end.
Days like today made him hate being the boss. The responsibility of having to find the perpetrator, male or female, who had killed a little girl, rested heavily on his shoulders.
He opened the door to the dreary room with the grey-painted walls, allowing his eyes to rest for a moment on Helen’s slumped figure as she sat at the table. Then he nodded to Harriet and KG, seated on either side of their daughter.
‘Is it really necessary for us to have this talk here at the station?’ asked KG.
He was chairman of the Rotary Club and a big shot within the local business community. His wife Harriet was always impeccably dressed, with her hair styled and her nails exquisitely manicured. But Leif had no idea what she did with her time other than taking care of her appearance and attending meetings of the Home and School Association. She always seemed to be at KG’s side at various functions and parties, always laughing and with a martini in her hand.
‘We thought it would be easier for you to come to us,’ said Leif, signalling an end to that discussion.
How the police chose to do their job was their own concern, and he had a feeling that KG would try to take over if he didn’t keep tight control of the conversation.
‘It’s the other girl you should be talking to,’ said Harriet, tugging at her freshly ironed white blouse. ‘Marie.
