Guilty or innocent? Kerstin still hadn’t the foggiest, but sooner or later she was likely to beat her to a pulp if the chance arose and the stars aligned. But no matter how strange it seemed, the memory of Karl-Erik and what had happened to him had become more distant as she had got closer to the truth of the disaster. Perhaps talking about it was healing in itself—the constant presence of such terrible, life-changing events made them less devastating. The conversation had the effect of taking the edge off. Just like alcohol, but its impact was less pernicious.

They had, however, learned a few things during the course of the day. In particular, that Jeanette—with her unspoilt exterior—found it easier to make contact with people. Kerstin, with her deeply furrowed face, hoarse voice, and tattoos, scared people away. Jeanette had to handle the chat, while Kerstin hovered in the background and pretended she didn’t speak Swedish. If they were going to make any more outings, then Kerstin needed to make sure she wore sunglasses and long sleeves. A toolkit wouldn’t do any harm either, and a towel so that they could jump in the sea afterwards.

51. Sandra

51

Sandra

IT WAS FRIDAY and she had almost reached the deadline that she had mentally set for Hallin to start paying the bloody support. It had been on Midsummer’s Day that he had unexpectedly given in when she had called him, but just as she had suspected, this had simply been a delaying tactic. He had needed time to prepare the next phase of his vendetta: sabotaging her car. That had clearly shown her who she was up against. The only thing she had been able to do was plead with his wife to ask him to stop his persecution, and perhaps it had worked. Four days had passed without any threats, and Sandra could only hope that it was over.

Personally, she had absolutely no intention of taking the matter any further—not in light of what she now considered to be a death threat hanging over her. Sandra had explained clearly to his wife that she didn’t care about the money—all she wanted was to get out of this with her health intact. If they communicated with each other at all, then the news had surely reached Hallin.

That was why she was hopeful, but she also regretted not being warier back when the bunch of flowers had turned up on her porch. Then she would have avoided the fear, as well as the logistical hassle involved in having her life in one place and living in another.

Despite all the negativity, the thought of the bollocking that Hallin must have got from his wife after Sandra’s visit was very entertaining. Even if the intention at the time hadn’t been to cause trouble for Hallin, she had still given him a real kick in the balls, metaphorically.