That quickly changed with the arrival of the police. They had their routine down pat and knew who was upstanding and who wasn’t—perhaps they actually recognised the two women from less flattering circumstances. Kerstin in particular—but also Jeanette to some extent—was met with nothing but suspicious looks.

Their statements were questioned, as were their motives for being at the scene at all. Which was entirely justified, it had to be added, given that their original purpose for visiting was decidedly dubious. But they stood their ground and told the story about the mysterious visitor several times without once getting the impression that what they had to say was being noted.

How had they got into the cabin? They had found the key on the ledge above the door. Just like that? Yes, the law of necessity—the break-in itself was surely excusable given that they had saved the life of a child. Someone had clearly locked the kid into the root cellar and had then come out here just to undo the bolt? Yes, that was how it seemed. And this someone was driving a car? Yes, a blue car—an Audi at a guess. What about the driver—man or woman? Impossible to say; they had both been squirreled away in their hiding places and had seen almost nothing. Why had they hidden if they had nothing to hide? Well, they did have something to hide since they had trespassed on someone else’s property and didn’t want to be discovered.

Not even the fuzzy picture that Kerstin had managed to take of what she wanted to believe was a blue Audi and its driver was taken seriously by the police. Pulling the wool over their eyes, they said—and why on earth had she even taken the picture? Had she already had a feeling that something wasn’t right before everything else happened? And wasn’t it actually the case that they themselves had held the boy captive, and had now at long last decided to release him? No, no, and no again. Then they would hardly have done what they had done, and they would definitely have abandoned the scene before the ambulance arrived.

No one wanted to hear that angle. Kerstin did what she could to defend her own and Jeanette’s behaviour. Everything they said was received with scepticism, but then they were navigating through a thicket of half-truths and lies. And their own appearance counted against them. Kerstin was marked forever by the life she had led, Jeanette not so much—but the glassy-eyed uncertainty in her appearance and the fact that she was in the company of Kerstin told its own, clear story. Neither of them could be taken seriously, no matter how great a role they had played in the recovery and rescue of the boy.