Black Ice
BLACK
ICE
CARIN
GERHARDSEN
TRANSLATED FROM THE SWEDISH
BY IAN GILES
A lie is like a snowball:
the further you roll it the bigger it becomes.
—Martin Luther
Contents
January 2014
1. Jeanette
2. Sandra
3. Jan
4. Jeanette
5. Sandra
6. Jeanette
7. Sandra
8. Jeanette
May 2018
9. Sandra
10. Jeanette
11. Sandra
12. Jeanette
13. Sandra
14. Jeanette
15. Sandra
January–February 2014
16. Jan
17. Sandra
18. Jan
19. Sandra
20. Jan
21. Sandra
22. Jan
23. Sandra
May 2018
24. Sandra
25. Jeanette
26. Sandra
27. Jeanette
28. Sandra
January–February 2014
29. Karl-Erik
30. Jeanette
31. Kerstin
32. Jeanette
33. Jan
34. Jeanette
35. Jan
36. Jeanette
37. Kerstin
June 2018
38. Sandra
39. Jeanette
40. Sandra
41. Jeanette
42. Sandra
43. Jeanette
44. Sandra
45. Kerstin
46. Sandra
47. Kerstin
48. Sandra
49. Jan
50. Kerstin
51. Sandra
July 2018
52. Kerstin
53. Sandra
54. Jan
55. Sandra
56. Kerstin
57. Sandra
58. Jan
59. Kerstin
60. Jeanette
61. Kerstin
62. Jan
63. Jeanette
64. Kerstin
65. Sandra
66. Kerstin
67. Sandra
68. Kerstin
69. Sandra
70. Kerstin
71. Jan
72. Sandra
73. Kerstin
74. Jan
75. Sandra
76. Jan
77. Sandra
78. Kerstin
Acknowledgements
41-YEAR-OLD MAN MISSING WITHOUT TRACE
The alarm was raised when police were contacted by a relative on Tuesday evening. The man reportedly drove his car to work in Visby at around eight o’clock in the morning. After remaining at his place of work for the duration of the morning, he left around lunchtime. When he failed to attend a meeting scheduled for the afternoon, his employer contacted his wife, and she later reported him missing.
The police have worked together with his family and colleagues to identify places that he may have gone to. They have also searched the surrounding area but say that it is not possible to carry out a more extensive search as they currently have nothing to go on. The man’s mobile phone was last active in the vicinity of his workplace.
When he was last seen, the 41-year-old was wearing a black jacket, light shirt, and a pair of dark trousers. He is described as being of normal build, 5ft10, with short dark hair and brown eyes.
The police have encouraged the public to get in touch if they know anything about the disappearance.
GOTLANDS ALLEHANDA
JANUARY
2014
1
Jeanette
IT WAS ONLY once they left the busy roads around Visby and got out into the countryside that she was able to relax. There was always the same stress, the same fear that someone would recognise her sitting in the wrong car beside the wrong person. The lies at work: an errand to run, a dentist’s appointment, late lunch with a girlfriend.
You had to be inventive when pursuing forbidden love, and a good actor to boot.
Jeanette did not consider herself to possess either of these qualities. Yet here she was, her heart thumping and her cheeks crimson, using every ounce of calm she had.