‘But what are we going to do?’ Molly yanked on the chain. ‘We’re going to starve to death and then rot in here!’
‘Don’t be so dramatic. We’ll get help.’
‘How can you know that? We’re still here and nobody has come to help us.’
‘I’m convinced that things will work out. And I’m not a spoiled brat who’s used to having everything served to her on a platter,’ snapped Marta.
Molly started crying again. Even though she knew that Marta didn’t love her, it was hard to understand how she could be so unaffected in such a horrible situation.
‘Maybe that was a bit harsh,’ said Marta in a gentler tone of voice. ‘But there’s no point in screaming and crying. It’s better if we save our energy while we wait for someone to come and help us.’
Molly fell silent, feeling placated. That was as close to an apology as Marta was capable of.
For a while neither of them spoke, but then Molly gathered her courage. ‘Why have you never loved me?’ she asked quietly. She had wanted to ask that question for such a long time, but she’d never dared. Now, in the shelter of darkness, it suddenly didn’t seem as frightening to say the words.
‘I was never suited to be a mother.’
‘Then why did you have a child?’
‘Because that’s what your father wanted. He wanted to see himself in a child.’
‘So did he wish you’d had a boy instead?’ Molly was amazed at her own boldness. All these questions that she’d held inside like tiny, tightly wrapped packages were now being opened. And she spoke without feeling hurt, as if the answers had nothing to do with her. She just wanted to know.
‘I supposed he did before you arrived. But after you were born, he was just as happy to have a daughter.’
‘That’s great to hear,’ said Molly sarcastically, though she didn’t mean to complain.
‘I did the best I could, but I was never meant to have a child.’
It was strange that their first honest conversation was taking place when it might be too late. But there was no reason to keep anything hidden any longer, and maybe that was what was needed so they could stop pretending.
‘How can you be so sure that we’ll be rescued?’ Molly was freezing as she sat on the cold floor, and the wind was starting to seep inside. She was filled with panic at the thought that she might have to pee right where she was sitting.
‘I just am,’ said Marta. As if in reply to her confident words, they suddenly heard a door open.
Molly pressed her back against the wall. ‘What if it’s him? What if he’s coming to hurt us?’
‘Take it easy,’ said Marta. And for the first time since Molly woke up here in the dark, she felt Marta’s hand on her arm.
Martin and Gösta stood as if paralysed at one end of the room. They didn’t know how to deal with the incomprehensible evil staring them in the face.
‘My God,’ said Gösta. Martin had no idea how many times he’d said that, but he had to agree. My God.
Neither of them had really believed Patrik when he came out of Einar’s room and said there was something in the barn. But they’d helped him to search the place again, making a more thorough job of it this time. And when he found the trap door in the floor under one of the cars, all their objections vanished. Eager to find Molly and Marta, Patrik had yanked open the trap door and dashed down the narrow ladder into the dim light below. Patrik had a hard time seeing anything, but he was able to determine that no one was there. So they decided to call in Torbjörn and his team. In the meantime, they’d wait up above in the barn.
Now that the tech experts had arrived, spotlights lit up the entire space like a stage set. After the team had secured prints from the ladder and sections of the floor, Patrik went down, with Gösta and Martin following.
Martin heard Gösta gasp for breath when he entered the room, and he was still in shock at the sight before them. The cold walls and the hard-packed dirt floor, the filthy mattress covered with dark patches that were most likely dried blood. In the middle of the room a metal pole had been stuck in the ground and a couple of rough ropes were fastened to it, also spattered with blood. The air was heavy, making it hard to breathe, and the stench of something rotting filled the space.
Torbjörn’s voice roused him from his horrified thoughts.
‘Something stood over there. Mostly likely a camera tripod.’
‘Are you saying that somebody filmed what went on in here?’ Patrik craned his neck to see where Torbjörn was pointing.
‘I think so. Have you found any films or videos?’
‘No,’ said Patrik, shaking his head. ‘Maybe over there.’
He walked over to a dirty bookcase against the wall. Martin followed. The dust on one shelf had been cleared away in one spot, and next to it was an empty DVD case.
‘He must have come down here to get them so he could take them along,’ said Martin. ‘The question is, where did he go?’
‘Yes. And did he take Molly and Marta with him?’
Martin could feel the nauseating atmosphere taking a toll on his strength.
‘Where the hell could they be?’
‘I have no idea,’ said Patrik. ‘But we need to find him. And them.’
Martin saw Patrik’s jaw clench as he tried to control his anger.
‘Do you think that he…’ He couldn’t finish the sentence.
‘I don’t know. I don’t know anything any more.’
The resigned tone of Patrik’s voice almost made Martin lose hope, but he understood how he felt. They had made a real breakthrough in the investigation, but they hadn’t succeeded when it came to the most important task: to find Molly and Marta. And after what they’d found down here, they were probably in the hands of a very sick man.
‘Come and look at this!’ called Torbjörn from up in the barn.
‘We’re coming!’ Patrik called in reply.
All three of them climbed back up the ladder.
‘You were right,’ Torbjörn told Patrik as he hurriedly led the way to the far end of the barn where the horse transport van was parked. It was bigger and sturdier than many others Martin had seen on the roads. On closer inspection it seemed unnecessarily spacious for anyone, such as the Persson family, who needed to transport only one horse.
‘Look. The van was reconfigured. That side wasn’t used for a horse. Instead, the floor was raised to create an empty space underneath, big enough to hold a person if they weren’t too big. You’d think someone would have noticed, but there was hay on top, and maybe the mother and daughter had other things to think about.’
‘How the hell did…?’ said Gösta, looking at Patrik in surprise.
‘I was wondering how Jonas was able to bring the girls here. It would have been impossible in the car if Molly and Marta were with him. So the horse van was the only option.’
‘Of course.’ Martin felt stupid that he hadn’t thought of that, but everything had happened so fast and he’d hardly been able to take it all in. Now he was seeing the details, and a clearer picture began to emerge.
‘Secure all the evidence you can find to prove the girls were inside there,’ said Patrik. ‘We’re going to need to be on our toes. Jonas must be one clever bastard to have managed all this without anybody noticing.’
‘Yes, sir,’ said Torbjörn, but with no trace of a smile.
None of them felt like joking. In fact, Martin felt close to tears, thinking about all the evil people in the world. How could they live so close, and yet do such horrific things under cover of their seemingly normal behaviour?
He squatted down to look inside the space. It was dark outdoors, and the lights in the barn were dim, but the spotlights that Torbjörn had brought along made it possible for him to get a good look.
‘Imagine waking up inside there.’ He felt his chest tighten with claustrophobia.
‘He probably kept them sedated the whole time. Partly for practical reasons, and partly so Molly and Marta wouldn’t hear anything.’