‘Hi!’
It’s Elsa, with her hands pushed deep in her pockets. She’s wearing a cap with earflaps that covers half her face.
‘Hi,’ Laura says, staring at her damaged car once more. Elsa joins her.
‘Fuck! Did you see who did it?’
‘No – I was in the shop, but I could tell there was something going on.’
Elsa nods.
‘It’s the fires. Everyone’s heard that you were taken in for questioning. There are all kinds of rumours flying around. Frightened people do stupid things.’
Laura looks at her.
‘How do you know that?’
‘I heard my dad say it on the phone.’
‘Who was he talking to?’
‘No idea.’
They stand in silence for a few seconds.
‘He likes you.’
‘Who?’ It’s a ridiculous question, but the word is out of her mouth before Laura can stop it.
‘My dad, of course.’
‘What makes you say that?’
‘His face kind of lights up when he talks about you.’
‘Does it?’
So Peter talks about her.
‘He was in love with you when you were young, wasn’t he?’
‘You’ll have to ask him that.’
Elsa shakes her head.
‘No point. Like I said, he never talks about the old days. I’ve asked him about the fire and Iben Jensen loads of times, but he always changes the subject.’
‘And Tomas Rask?’
‘Same there, but I’ve checked his phone. It’s not exactly difficult. He used to use Mum’s birthday as the code, but now he’s changed it to mine.’
Elsa pauses deliberately, well aware that Laura is keen to hear what she has to say.
Laura gives in. ‘And?’
‘Dad and Tomas have called each other at least ten times over the past few days. The last time was yesterday evening.’
Laura drives Elsa home. She and Peter live in a large, slightly ostentatious two-storey property with a view over the lake. Bright lights illuminate both house and garden. Combined with the tall wrought-iron fence, the place looks more like an ambassador’s residence than a family home.
‘Nice,’ Laura says.
‘It’s Mum’s really. Her father bought it for her when she and Dad got married. I think we ought to move, but Dad doesn’t want to. This is my mum’s style, not mine and Dad’s, if you know what I mean.’
Laura nods.
‘Do you want to come in?’
‘Another time, thanks.’
During the drive back to Gärdsnäset, Laura goes over what she’s just learned.
Peter didn’t tell Sandberg that he was in touch with Tomas. But why so many calls, and why now?
The answer comes to her as she turns off the main road. Tomas is in the area, and Peter knows where.
She sees a glint of metal up ahead, and as she approaches her usual parking spot, she is surprised to discover another vehicle there. A white pickup truck with the words JENSEN & SONS CONSTRUCTION LTD on one side.
She stays in the car with the engine running, headlights fixed on the pickup. The driver gets out and raises his hand in a friendly wave. Christian Jensen. To her relief he appears to be alone. She lowers the side window.
‘I was just about to leave when I saw your lights,’ he says. ‘Have you got time for a quick chat?’
He points to the house and Laura tries to remember if she turned Hedda’s noticeboard around before she left. She can’t let Christian see it.
‘The place looks like a bomb site,’ she says apologetically. ‘We can talk here.’
Christian seems surprised, but he walks around the car and gets into the passenger seat.
‘Terrible business with the fire,’ Laura says, mainly because he’s probably expecting her to comment.
‘Yes . . .’ He clears his throat. ‘Obviously we’re not accusing you of anything, Laura. I want you to know that.’
‘OK.’
The scratches on her car door suggest that someone else has a different view.
‘But that’s not why I’m here.’ Christian shuffles in his seat. ‘You remember what we talked about the other day? The debts, the risk that we could lose Källegården.’
She nods.
‘There was one thing I didn’t tell you.’
‘Oh?’
‘Dad has cancer. The prognosis isn’t good.’
‘I’m sorry to hear that.’
Christian nods slowly. ‘That’s another reason why we need the construction contract for Gärdsnäset. Dad’s dreamed of building a new sports facility for thirty years. We want to give him that opportunity, as a final victory. We might even name it after Iben.’
He pauses, clears his throat again. Laura doesn’t know what to say. Tomas’s words are echoing in her head.
‘Anyway,’ Christian goes on. ‘I heard you’d spoken to Kjell Green from the council. Their bid is four hundred thousand less than Vintersjöholm’s.’
He is stating a fact, not asking a question.
‘Hedda told us that back in the autumn,’ he adds when he sees Laura’s raised eyebrows. ‘So Fredrik and I made her an offer. We’ve tucked away a certain amount of money over the years – Christmas trees, wood, various bits and pieces. We can’t use it to pay off the loan – the bank would ask too many questions, plus it’s nowhere near enough. But . . . two hundred thousand in cash is the equivalent of over three hundred thousand through what you might call official channels. That makes the two bids almost the same. Maybe that will help you to decide?’
He smiles, but he still looks uncomfortable.
‘And that’s the offer you made Hedda?’
He nods.
‘What did she say?’
‘Hedda was no stranger to forest business.’
‘So what happened? Why didn’t she sign on the dotted line?’
‘I don’t know. Everybody thought the matter was settled, but suddenly Hedda started putting it off. And then . . .’
‘And then she died.’
Laura can’t help thinking about Tomas’s letter again. She has to try to broach the subject.
‘Your father . . .’ she begins. ‘He and Iben were very close.’
‘Very.’
Laura doesn’t quite know how to continue.
‘Too close?’ she says eventually.
Christian frowns. ‘What do you mean by that?’
‘I heard a rumour. There was an anonymous call . . .’
She expects anger, but Christian just looks weary.
‘That fucking phone call has haunted us for thirty years. We first heard about it a few days after the fire. The chief of police and my dad were good friends, so he promised to see that the information about the call never came out, but knowing it existed was enough, somehow. The thought that someone could make up something so terrible about our family.’ He sighs. ‘Dad could be very hard, and God knows he demanded a lot from us, but he did it with the best of intentions. He had the same attitude as a sports coach. That was why we won everything that was going. Do you know that Vedarp athletics club has had five competitors at national level because of him? Five – from a village with a population of four thousand. People came from all over north-western Skåne to train with Ulf Jensen.’
He pauses, shakes his head.
‘There were those who didn’t understand his methods, mainly parents whose kids couldn’t take the pressure. A lot of crap has been talked about my father over the years, but whoever made that anonymous call takes the biscuit.’
He turns to face her.
‘The four of us were a close family, maybe closer than a lot of others because we didn’t have a mother. The idea that my father would have done something to my sister is just ridiculous. And besides . . .’ He looks her in the eye. ‘You and Iben were best friends. Did she ever say anything to you? Did she ever even hint that things weren’t OK at home?’