“I don’t think that’s a very good idea,” the policeman said. “They’re very distressing photos.”

“I understand that,” Kerstin said. “But I really need to see them—no matter how painful they may be. It’s a way for me to feel closure.”

Reluctantly, he allowed himself to be persuaded into taking her to his office to show her the terrible photos from the scene of the accident, guiding her through the event that had turned her life upside down.

It was then she found out that it hadn’t been a case of seconds but hours. The smashed face and the wound on the forehead were upsetting enough, but the shard of glass in his throat and its excruciating consequences were probably what hit her hardest. According to the doctor who had examined the body, it had probably been the direct cause of death. No autopsy had been carried out—and wouldn’t be—given there was really nothing to prove. Karl-Erik was dead. Sentenced to death from the very beginning since the accident was self-inflicted, since it had been dark and the snow had fallen so heavily that before long the car had been blanketed. The examination of the scene had uncovered that the accident had taken place just before or during the onset of the heavy snowfall, which had coincided with the fall of darkness. It had lasted all night—but no longer than that.

In a few of the photos, the little suitcase was visible in the boot, covered in a thick layer of snow like the ground around it and the roof of the car. There was no sign of the holdalls, which must have been spirited away before the snowfall on Thursday night, rather than upon the discovery of the wreck on Monday.

This was Kerstin’s own analysis, and it was not one that she sought to share with the accommodating policeman. The gist of it was, however, that someone had been close to Karl-Erik just before the snow began to fall—which meant immediately after the accident. Someone who had clearly grabbed the cash and left the scene without doing anything to save his life or shorten his protracted suffering.

Was this crash involving no other cars actually a hit-and-run? It was difficult to condemn the theft itself, given the money had been stolen in the first place, but the cynicism and emotional coolness of robbing someone of six million kronor without being kind enough to call emergency services were indefensible.

But what could Kerstin do about it?

Nothing, as there was no physical evidence of anything except a single-vehicle incident. The theft of stolen goods couldn’t be reported without a long shadow falling on her, since she clearly was aware of and had likely intended to use the stolen money. That was likely to be a crime in itself—something that might put her behind bars, which was an inconceivable future prospect.

So Kerstin remained silent.

32. Jeanette

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