Of her past life of crime and her lover the bank robber who had been caught. About the departure from the destructive setting in Stockholm and the move to the countryside in Gotland, about the release and the laundered cash. Kerstin skipped the details about the crash, but described the days she spent waiting for her husband who never turned up and the time after she found out about the death: the grief, the loneliness, and how she was received when she moved to Visby. She explained how hard it had been to find a job, to find meaning in life, how she had come down in the world and eventually ended up with the social outcasts by the East Gate. Just to get out, to satisfy her need for people around her. How her name and personality had resulted in her nickname: Barbamama. She had chosen not to see it as a taunt, but thought it was meant with affection. Before long, it had been shortened to Nanna—as everyone in her surroundings now called her. A shoulder to cry on and an ear to listen.

Kerstin painted the picture of the whole thing with tenderness and unobtrusive suffering. Sandra couldn’t hold back her tears. But it wasn’t over yet, because what Sandra had heard thus far was merely the framework for a story that was far more important to Kerstin. That much Sandra grasped, but she also knew that Kerstin didn’t yet know how important the story about the fatal accident was to Sandra too.

“I’m sorry,” said Sandra, when Kerstin paused to light a cigarette. “I’m very sorry for everything you’ve had to go through. But I’m glad you’ve got friends.”

“Jeanette,” Kerstin said, resuming the conversation. “One of the girls on the bench. She tried to commit suicide on Midsummer’s Eve. They found a body down in Garde a while ago, but it was only on Friday that the papers reported who it was.”

“Peter Norling?” said Sandra, who realised they were approaching something important—something she might have missed.

“Yes,” Kerstin confirmed. “I knew that Jeanette wouldn’t take it very well. You see, Peter Norling was her lover.”

“At the time of the disappearance?”

“At the time of the disappearance.”

Sandra still wasn’t entirely clear what significance this held, but she had a strong feeling that it was important.

“His car was at the scene of the accident,” she felt compelled to say.

Now it was Kerstin’s turn to be surprised.

“How can you know that?” she asked.

“I passed the ravine just before it happened,” said Sandra. “I’ve realised that with your help. And when I read about the body being found, when I saw the picture of Norling’s car, I remembered that I happened to see that very car in the trees that afternoon. It might have been him who caused the accident. And took the photos.”