Self-determined solitude had its downsides, but Friends-on-call offset them, even if it didn’t fulfil all her social needs. She glanced at the time and noted that it was time to head inside and prepare for the evening’s calls. She was hoping to hear from Kerstin, but it had been almost a week since they had spoken, and Sandra had more or less given up hope that she would call again.

Just as she had feared, she had scared Kerstin off with all her curious questions and her eagerness to understand the ins and outs of the terrible fatal accident. The questions would remain unanswered, so Sandra tried to fill in the gaps herself for her own peace of mind. But no matter which angle she looked at it from, she couldn’t come up with a plausible explanation for why Kerstin had chosen not to show the incriminating pictures to the police so they could arrest the hit-and-run driver.

Did she have something to hide? Did her husband? Surely that would have come out when the body was found—so what did it matter?

Could it have been a police officer who had forced Kerstin’s husband off the road? And if so, did it make any difference? One police officer could hardly hide all the evidence in order to get an investigation closed, and it seemed even less likely he would have the force behind him if he did so.

The so-called photo evidence also demanded an explanation. If there was a speed camera adjacent to the crime scene—for it surely was a crime if the other driver had left the scene—then the police must have examined the images from it, even if there was no suspicion that a crime had taken place. But why would there have been a camera just there? You didn’t generally catch people speeding on sharp bends.

It followed that someone else must have taken the photos at the scene of the accident and sent them to Kerstin. The clichéd dog walker, who seemingly didn’t have a mobile phone or any other form of contact with the outside world, since they hadn’t called the police or ambulance when the accident happened or later? The perpetrator themselves, after being struck down by a guilty conscience? A passing motorist who had initially misunderstood the situation and continued on their way?

Nevertheless, all these theories about this photographic evidence pointed to the same conclusion: Kerstin had chosen not to inform the police of its existence.

The thought crossed her mind that Kerstin might have been there herself taking the photos. A completely implausible theory since she would have been able to call the ambulance herself, if the police, for some reason, struck terror into her. That hypothesis was rapidly brushed aside by Sandra, just like the others. The whole thing was and would remain a mystery.

She noted that the grass already needed cutting, but it would have to keep for tomorrow. Erik was asleep, and she didn’t want to disturb the peace. It felt like only yesterday that it had been dark when she was collecting him from preschool, but now he was going to bed while it was still practically daylight.