Norling’s disappearance had given rise to several articles and items on the news—not just locally but in the national media. According to sources, the police were taking the case very seriously, but despite that, they were said not to have a clue about where he might have gone, how he might have left or why. The whole thing was an enigma to almost everyone—but there was always someone who knew the truth. That was the one thing you could always be sure of, Jan thought smiling to himself before draining his whisky glass in one go.

“Another?” said the bartender attentively.

Jan nodded. The car would have to stay where it was overnight—nowadays he had stopped getting behind the wheel if he had had so much as a beer.

“Weird story, that thing with Peter Norling . . .” said the bartender while pouring the whisky into a fresh glass. “Disappearing into thin air like that.”

Out of everyone, he seemed to be talking to Jan in particular—as if he had read his thoughts. The surprise must have been visible on Jan’s face, because the bartender clearly felt encouraged to explain his statement.

“I seem to remember you were in the same hunting club?”

“Yes, that’s right,” Jan confirmed with relief. “Absolutely. Yes, the whole thing is bloody messed up.”

“Tragic,” said the bartender, placing the glass in front of him. “Especially for the family, regardless of what’s happened.”

Jan nodded. Naturally, he personally felt neither sorrow nor consternation. Instead, he revelled in the fact that the deeply unpleasant blackmail story was history.

It was theoretically possible that Jan had got the wrong end of the stick, and that the company car that Norling pootled about in had left the scene before the accident. Jan really had no idea, given that he had approached from the wrong direction on his way back, and hadn’t been able to see up that forest track. And in that case he had been wrong when he had aimed his suspicions at Norling, and should have followed a different line of inquiry. Which was not doable since he hadn’t seen a soul out there in the woods by the ravine, and he could hardly start guessing which one of the fifty-seven thousand inhabitants on this island had silently witnessed the fatal accident and then documented it.

But competent people were lucky, he affirmed to himself with a humour he hadn’t felt for a month. The accident and its tragic consequences had fallen into oblivion in Jan’s consciousness. Lately, the photographs from the scene of the accident had cast their shadow over his existence. But now Norling was gone, and since then the blackmail threat had not been renewed or executed. The problem was gone from the world, and Jan could look ahead with confidence.