The Ice Child Read online

  Gösta sat down. ‘Yes. It’s never pleasant to deliver that sort of news. By the way, why were you visiting Terese?’

  ‘We dated for a while, back when we were young. Since then we’ve pretty much lost contact, but when I heard that Lasse had disappeared, I went over to find out if there was anything I could do. Her daughter spends a lot of time here at the stable, and she’s been very upset about what happened to Victoria. I wanted to show them that I care, since they’re going through such a hard time.’

  ‘I see,’ said Gösta. For a moment neither of them spoke. He saw that Jonas was tensely waiting to hear what he would say.

  ‘I wanted to ask you about Victoria. About your relationship with her,’ said Gösta at last.

  ‘Oh,’ said Jonas. ‘Well, there’s not much to say. She was one of Marta’s students. One of the group of girls always hanging about the stable.’ He plucked an invisible piece of lint from his jeans.

  ‘From what I understand, that’s not the whole truth,’ said Gösta, keeping his eyes fixed on Jonas.

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘Do you smoke?’

  Jonas frowned. ‘No, I don’t smoke. Why do you ask?’

  ‘Okay. Never mind. Let’s go back to Victoria. From what I’ve heard, the two of you were having a … well, an intimate relationship.’

  ‘Who told you that? I hardly ever talked to her. If I happened to be in the stable, I might exchange a few words with her, just as I do with all the other girls.’

  ‘We’ve talked to her brother Ricky, and he claims that you and Victoria were having an affair. On the day she disappeared, he saw you and his sister quarrelling outside the stable. What were you arguing about?’

  Jonas shook his head. ‘I don’t even recall talking to her that day. But if I did, it definitely wasn’t an argument. Sometimes I may have a few sharp words for the girls if they don’t tend to their chores in the stable. That’s probably all it was. They don’t always like being reprimanded. They’re teenagers, you know.’

  ‘I thought you just said that you rarely had any contact with the girls at the stable,’ said Gösta calmly, leaning back on the sofa.

  ‘Well, obviously I do have some contact with them. I’m a part-owner of the riding school, even though Marta actually runs it. Occasionally I lend a hand with practical matters, and if I notice something isn’t being done properly, I speak up.’

  Gösta paused before going on. Could Ricky have exaggerated what he saw? But even if they weren’t having a row, Jonas still should have remembered speaking to Victoria.

  ‘Argument or not, according to Ricky, he ended up yelling at you. He saw the two of you from some distance away, and then he ran over shouting. He kept on yelling at you after Victoria ran off. You really don’t remember any of this?’

  ‘No. He must be mistaken.’

  Gösta realized he wasn’t going to get anywhere by insisting, so he decided to move on, even though he didn’t find Jonas’s answer convincing. Why would Ricky lie about confronting Jonas?

  ‘Victoria had also received threatening letters hinting at the same thing, that she was having an affair with someone,’ Gösta said.

  ‘Letters?’ said Jonas, looking as if thoughts were whirling through his head.

  ‘Yes. Anonymous letters that were sent to her home.’

  Jonas looked genuinely surprised. But that didn’t necessarily mean anything. Gösta had been fooled in the past by a person’s innocent expression.

  ‘I don’t know anything about anonymous letters. And I really didn’t have a relationship with Victoria. First of all, I’m married – happily married. And second, she was only a child. Ricky is mistaken.’

  ‘Well, let me thank you for your time,’ said Gösta, getting up. ‘I’m sure you realize that we have to take this sort of information seriously, and we’ll be looking into it some more and interviewing other people.’

  ‘You’re not going to go around asking about something like that, are you?’ said Jonas as he too stood up. ‘You know what people are like here. The mere fact that you ask the question is enough to make them believe it’s true. Don’t you realize what sorts of rumours will start to spread and what that would mean for the riding school? This whole thing is a misunderstanding. A lie. Good Lord, Victoria was the same age as my daughter. What do you take me for?’ His face, normally so open and pleasant, was now contorted with anger.

  ‘We’ll be discreet. I promise,’ said Gösta.

  Jonas ran his hand through his hair. ‘Discreet? This is madness!’

  Gösta went to the hall, and when he opened the door he found Marta standing on the porch. He gave a start.

  ‘Hi,’ she said. ‘What are you doing here?’

  ‘Er, uh … I was just checking on a few things with Jonas.’

  ‘Gösta had some more questions about the break-in,’ called Jonas from the living room.

  Gösta nodded. ‘Yes, that’s right. There were a few things I forgot to ask the other day.’

  ‘I heard about Lasse,’ said Marta. ‘How’s Terese doing? According to Jonas, she seemed quite calm.’

  ‘Well …’ Gösta didn’t know how to respond.

  ‘What’s happened? Jonas said the police had found Lasse’s car.’

  ‘I’m afraid I can’t talk about an ongoing investigation,’ said Gösta, pushing past her. ‘And now I need to get back to the station.’

  He held on to the railing as he went down the front steps. At his age, there was always the risk that he might not get up again if he stumbled and fell.

  ‘Let us know if there’s anything we can do!’ shouted Marta as he headed for his car.

  He waved in reply. Before he got into the driver’s seat, he glanced back at the house, where Marta and Jonas were now visible as shadows in the living room window. In his heart, Gösta was certain that Jonas had lied about the argument and maybe even about the relationship. There was something off about what he’d said, but it wasn’t going to be easy to find out the truth.

  UDDEVALLA 1973

  Vladek’s behaviour was becoming more and more erratic. His workshop had gone bankrupt, and he paced the house like an animal in a cage. He talked a lot about his former life, about the circus and his family. He could talk about these things for hours, and all of them would sit and listen.

  Sometimes Laila would close her eyes and try to imagine everything he was describing. The sounds, the smells, the colours, all the people he mentioned with such love and longing. It was painful to hear him say how much he missed them and to hear the underlying desperation in his voice.

  Yet those moments also gave her an occasional breathing space. For some reason everything would quiet down and the chaos would stop. They all sat there as if in a trance, listening to Vladek, allowing themselves to be spellbound by his voice and his stories. His tales gave her an opportunity to rest.

  Everything he described sounded as if it came from the world of fantasy and fairy tales. He talked about people who could walk a tightrope high above the ground, circus princesses who could do handstands on the back of a horse, clowns who made everyone laugh when they sprayed water at each other, zebras and elephants that performed tricks no one would have believed they were capable of doing.

  And most of all, Vladek talked about the lions. The dangerous and powerful lions that had obeyed his every command. He had trained them as cubs, and they did everything he asked of them in the circus ring. The audience watched with bated breath, waiting for the wild beasts to launch themselves at him and tear him to pieces.

  Hour after hour Vladek would talk about the people and the animals in the circus, about his family members who for generations had passed down the magic and the delight. But the minute he stopped talking, he would be yanked back to the reality that he wanted more than anything to forget.

  The worst part was the uncertainty. It was like having a hungry lion wandering around, waiting to pounce on its prey. The outbursts and attacks were always unexpected, each time com
ing from a different direction than she had imagined. And her sense of exhaustion meant that she was less and less on guard.

  Chapter Nine

  ‘My God, what a spectacle that must have been,’ said Anna with a laugh when she heard about Mellberg, who had eventually thawed out enough to go back to the station with Patrik. She was peering with interest at Gunnar, whom Erica had described in detail over the phone. Anna had taken an instant liking to the man when he greeted them in the front hall and took the time to say hello to the children first. Adrian was now enthusiastically helping him to hang up a painting in the kitchen.

  ‘But how are they doing?’ she asked in a more serious tone of voice. ‘This whole situation with Lasse is so awful. Do the police know what might have happened?’

  ‘It was only a short time ago that they found him. Or rather, not him, but his car and what looks like a murder scene. The divers are on their way over here. But it’s doubtful they’ll be able to find his body. It might have been washed out to sea.’

  ‘I’ve seen Tyra occasionally when I’ve dropped off the girls at the stable. Such a sweet girl. Terese seems nice too. I’ve only said hello to her a few times. I feel so sorry for both of them.’

  Anna glanced at the plate of cinnamon buns that Kristina had set on the kitchen table, but she wasn’t tempted to have any.

  ‘Are you getting enough to eat?’ asked Erica, giving her a stern look. During their childhood she had been more of a mother than a big sister for Anna, and she still had a hard time relinquishing that role. But Anna had stopped fighting it. Without Erica’s care and concern she would never have made it through all the difficult times in her life. Her beloved older sister was always willing to help, whatever the situation. And lately it was only at Erica’s house that Anna was able to find a way to relax and forget her feelings of guilt.

  ‘You look pale,’ Erica went on, and Anna forced herself to smile.

  ‘I’m okay. I’ve been feeling a bit under the weather lately, that’s all. I know it’s probably psychosomatic, but I just don’t have much of an appetite.’

  Kristina was standing at the worktop, cleaning up even though Erica had told her several times to leave it be and sit down. Now she turned around to study Anna’s face.

  ‘Erica’s right. You do look pale. You need to eat and take better care of yourself. In times of crisis it’s especially important to eat and sleep well. Do you have any sleeping tablets? If not, I can give you some of mine. It goes without saying that if you don’t get enough sleep, you can’t do anything else properly.’

  ‘Thanks, I appreciate the offer, but I’m not having any trouble sleeping.’

  That was a lie. Most nights Anna tossed and turned in bed, staring at the ceiling and trying to push away the encroaching memories. But she didn’t want to get stuck in the quagmire of taking pills. She didn’t want to resort to chemical means to assuage the anxiety that she had brought upon herself. Maybe there was also a certain amount of masochism in this decision, a desire to atone for her sins.

  ‘I don’t know if I believe you, but I’m not going to nag,’ said Erica, even though Anna knew that was precisely what her sister would proceed to do. To placate her, she reached for a bun. Erica also took one.

  ‘Eat up. You need an extra layer of fat in the wintertime,’ said Anna.

  ‘Very funny,’ said Erica, pretending to throw the bun at her sister.

  ‘Good Lord, you two are hopeless.’ Kristina sighed and turned away, having decided to clean the fridge. Erica was about to stop her but then realized it was a battle she couldn’t win.

  ‘So how’s it going with your book?’ asked Anna, trying to swallow a bite of cinnamon bun that just seemed to swell the more she chewed.

  ‘I’m not sure. There are so many strange aspects, and I hardly know where to begin.’

  ‘Why don’t you tell me about it?’ replied Anna, taking a sip of coffee. Then she listened wide-eyed as Erica recounted what she’d learned over the past few days.

  ‘It seems like Laila’s story is somehow connected to the missing girls. Why else would she save all those newspaper clippings? And why did she decide to meet with me on the same day that the papers reported on Victoria’s disappearance?’

  ‘So you don’t think that was a coincidence?’ asked Anna, though she knew what the answer would be.

  ‘No. I’m convinced there’s some sort of connection. Laila knows something that she doesn’t want to tell anyone. Or maybe she does, but for some reason she can’t. That was probably why she agreed to see me, so she’d have someone to confide in. But so far I haven’t been able to make her feel comfortable enough to tell me what it’s about.’ Erica looked frustrated as she ran her hand through her hair.

  ‘Ugh. It’s a miracle that some of the things in here haven’t crawled out on their own,’ said Kristina with her head stuck inside the fridge. Erica gave Anna a look that said she refused to be provoked. She chose to ignore the ongoing efforts of her mother-in-law.

  ‘Maybe you need to find out more information,’ suggested Anna. She had given up eating any more of the cinnamon bun as she finished her coffee.

  ‘I know, but as long as Laila keeps silent, that’s almost impossible. Everyone else involved is gone now. Louise is dead, and so is Laila’s mother. Peter disappeared and is most likely dead too. Laila’s sister doesn’t seem to know anything. There’s really nobody left for me to talk to, since everything happened inside those four walls of their home.’

  ‘How did Louise die?’

  ‘She drowned. She and another girl were both living with the same foster family, and one day they went swimming and never came home. Their clothes were found on a rock, but their bodies were never found.’

  ‘Have you talked to the foster parents?’ asked Kristina from behind the fridge door. Erica gave a start.

  ‘No. I didn’t even think of that. They had nothing to do with what happened to the Kowalski family.’

  ‘But maybe Louise confided in them, or maybe she talked to the other foster children.’

  ‘Hmm …’ said Erica. She was feeling a little foolish because her mother-in-law had pointed out something that was so obvious.

  ‘I think Kristina’s suggestion is great,’ Anna said hastily. ‘Where does the family live?’

  ‘In Hamburgsund. I suppose I really ought to drive over there.’

  ‘Gunnar and I can stay with the children. Why don’t you go now?’ said Kristina.

  Anna added her support. ‘I’ll stick around here for a while too. The kids are having so much fun together, and there’s no reason why I have to rush home.’

  ‘Are you sure?’ said Erica, already on her feet. ‘But it’s probably best if I phone them first, to find out if it’s okay for me to drop by.’

  ‘Go on,’ said Anna, waving her hand. ‘I’m sure I’ll find something to keep me busy here. This place is such a mess.’

  Erica gave her the finger in response.

  Patrik stood in front of the whiteboard in the kitchen. There were far too many loose ends, and he felt compelled to make a list of everything that needed to be done. He wanted to be prepared when he arrived at the meeting in Göteborg tomorrow. And while he was away, his colleagues needed to continue investigating Lasse’s probable death. Feeling stressed, he reminded himself to relax his shoulders and take a few deep breaths. He’d had a health scare a couple of years back when his body rebelled and he fell apart. That had been a wake-up call for him. Sooner or later his energy might drain away even though he loved his job.

  ‘We’re now dealing with two investigations,’ he said. ‘Let’s start with Lasse.’ He wrote Lasse’s name in big letters on the board and drew a line underneath.

  ‘I’ve talked to Torbjörn, and he’s done the best he could,’ said Martin.

  ‘Right. Well, we’ll have to see what he’s able to find out.’ Patrik had a hard time restraining his anger when he thought about the way Mellberg had destroyed the crime scene. Thank goodness he’d
gone home now, so at least he wouldn’t be able to sabotage the investigation any further today.

  ‘We have Terese’s permission to take a blood sample from their older son. As soon as that’s done, it will be compared with the blood taken from the dock,’ Martin added.

  ‘Good. We can’t say for sure that it’s Lasse’s blood we found, but for now I suggest we assume that Lasse fought for his life out there on the dock.’

  ‘I agree,’ said Gösta.

  Patrik looked at his other colleagues and they nodded.

  ‘I asked Torbjörn to go over Lasse’s car as well,’ said Martin. ‘In case Lasse and the murderer arrived there together. The techs also secured a number of tyre tracks in the car park. We might need them to make a match if we’re able to prove that someone had driven over there.’

  ‘Good idea,’ said Patrik. ‘We haven’t yet got reports on Lasse’s mobile usage, but we’ve had more luck with the bank. Isn’t that right, Gösta?’

  Gösta cleared his throat.

  ‘Yes. Annika and I have gone over Lasse’s bank statements, and he was making regular deposits of five thousand Swedish kronor each time. When I went to see Terese, she told me that her daughter Tyra had found a secret hiding place where Lasse had stowed away five thousand kronor in cash on several occasions. My guess is that he kept the money hidden until he had a chance to go to the bank.’

  ‘Did Terese have any idea where the money came from?’ asked Martin.

  ‘No. And I believe her.’

  ‘She sensed that Lasse wasn’t telling her about something, so maybe that’s what it was,’ said Patrik. ‘We need to find out where the money came from and what the payments were for.’

  ‘Since the amount was always the same, could we be talking about blackmail?’ asked Paula from her position standing in the doorway. Annika had asked her to join them at the table, but she’d said she needed to be able to dash out and answer her mobile if Rita phoned about Lisa.

  ‘What are you thinking?’ said Gösta.