'Is that a yes?' he said with a smile. She simply nodded.
'And I would never propose to anyone but the most beautiful woman in the world, you know that,' he said, hoping that she would hear the sincerity in his voice and not think that he was laying it on too thick.
'Oh, you…' she said, searching for the right epithet. 'You know, sometimes you know exactly what to say. Not always, but sometimes.' She leaned forward and gave him a long, warm kiss, but then leaned back and held her hand out to admire her new ring.
'It's fantastic. You couldn't have picked it out by yourself.'
For an instant he felt a bit insulted that she would mistrust his taste, and he felt like saying 'I did so'. Then he thought better of it and realized that she was actually right.
'Annika came along as my adviser. So, is it all right? Are you sure? You don't want to exchange it? I waited to have it engraved until you saw it, in case you didn't like it.'
'I love it,' said Erica with feeling, and he could hear that she meant it. She leaned forward and gave him another kiss, this time even longer and more intimate.
The shrill ring of the telephone interrupted them, and Patrik felt his irritation rising. Talk about bad timing! He got up and went to answer it, sounding a bit more curt than necessary.
'Yes, this is Patrik.'
Then he listened for a moment before turning slowly to look at Erica. She was still sitting there smiling, admiring her ring- bedecked hand. When she saw him looking at her she gave him a big smile, but it faded when she saw that he didn't reciprocate.
'Who is it?' she said, and an anxious tone had crept into her voice.
Patrik's expression was grave when he said, 'It's the Stockholm police. They want to talk to you.'
Slowly she got up and went to take the phone from his hand.
'Yes, this is Erica Falck.' A thousand misgivings were contained in that simple statement.
Patrik watched her tensely as she listened to what the man on the other end had to say. With an incredulous expression on her face she turned to Patrik and said, 'They say that Anna has killed Lucas.'
Then she dropped the phone. Patrik got there just in time to catch her before she hit the floor.
Camilla Läckberg
