‘Well, I ran into him occasionally. Chatted about the weather and so on, but that was all. He tended to keep himself to himself up here; he really only spent time with Elisabet and Klein. Especially after they lost the boy . . .’ He grimaces, reaches for another tart. ‘A terrible tragedy – for all concerned.’ He falls silent, takes a bite.

Anna pictures the five young friends in the group photograph, shouting for joy. Friends forever. She recalls the feeling she had up in the quarry earlier.

‘Simon was a good kid,’ Göran continues. ‘He played and sang in the church at my mother’s funeral. Even I was moved to tears.’ He smiles again, this time more sympathetically. ‘I actually helped him collect egg boxes. My brother-in-law works at the chicken factory . . . Could I have a top-up?’

She refills his coffee cup and sneaks in another question to keep him talking.

‘Egg boxes?’

He nods. ‘To improve the acoustics. Simon had kitted out the room above the garage at Änglaberga as a music room. Or studio, I suppose. I delivered two hundred egg boxes only a couple of months before the accident. It looked great – he had tape decks, microphones, all kinds of stuff he’d saved up for. Thousands of kronor, and it all went up in smoke.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘The whole lot was destroyed in the fire.’

She raises her eyebrows.

‘The garage at Änglaberga burned down to the ground,’ he clarifies. ‘The night after Simon died. He’d set up amplifiers and a whole load of other equipment, which overloaded the electrical system. At least that’s what the fire chief said.’ He shakes his head almost imperceptibly, but Anna’s trained eye immediately picks up the movement.

‘You don’t believe that’s what happened?’

He looks surprised, as if she’s read his mind, when in fact she’s merely interpreted his body language.

‘God knows,’ he mumbles, munching on another raspberry tart. ‘But there are those who say that the fire was a way of shutting Elisabet up.’

Anna is curious now. This is completely new information, and it’s probably important, but she is experienced enough not to let her interest show.

‘Are there many people who don’t agree with the conclusions of the police investigation – that Simon’s death was an accident?’

He shrugs. ‘Most people just don’t talk about it. Almost everyone knows someone who was involved. Alex, Bruno and Marie still live around here, and both Henry Morell and Bengt Andersson are pretty powerful men.’

‘But you’re not afraid of them?’