‘I was woken by Marie screaming,’ he says grimly. ‘It took me and Alex a minute or so to put on our shoes and get out of the tent. Carina was still half-asleep and confused, and by the time we’d worked out who was yelling and made our way down to the water, Marie was shaking with cold and had had to let go of Simon. We all helped her out. It was freezing cold; you can’t stay in the water for more than three or four minutes even in the middle of summer, and Marie had been in longer than that.’ He pauses for a moment. ‘Besides . . . it was obvious that Simon was dead, and had been for a while. I can’t explain it, but it was as if all the strength went out of us. Of course, we should have jumped in and got the body out, but we just couldn’t do it. We were nineteen years old, and our friend was dead.’

*

‘So, what do you think?’ Jens asks as they walk towards the car. ‘Are they telling the truth?’

Before Anna can answer she spots a familiar figure in the doorway of the workmen’s hut. Alex Morell.

She wasn’t intending to question him yet, but as the opportunity has presented itself . . .

‘Alex.’

He turns and looks surprised, but his expression quickly switches to embarrassment.

‘Anna – hi. I meant to call you last week, but . . .’ He stares down at his muddy boots.

She waits.

‘What happened at the dance . . . to be honest, I don’t really know what happened. Everything kind of went black. I’m sorry I . . . I’m sorry you . . .’ His torment is unmistakable. ‘I was totally out of order.’

Anna nods and gestures discreetly to Jens to stay in the background. He understands immediately – another point in his favour.

‘I assume your father called you,’ she says. ‘Told you about Rylander?’

Alex takes a deep breath, then sighs heavily. ‘Yes. What a fucking mess. I haven’t given Joe a thought in years.’

‘What do you remember about him from that evening at the quarry?’

‘Not much. He gave us weed and drank our beer. He was a few years older than us, and at first, we thought he was cool, with his motorbike and so on. Plus, he was from Klippan. Back then it was only the tough guys who came from Klippan.’ He manages a little smile.

‘And the girl who was with him?’

‘I only remember that she looked like a girl from a Whitesnake video.’

‘Is that a good thing?’

He nods slowly. ‘Well, it was in those days.’ He smiles again, and she has to make an effort not to smile back. In spite of the outburst of rage and the scuffle at the dance, she realises that she still likes Alex Morell.

‘Simon Vidje?’ She raises her eyebrows and lets him fill in the rest of the question. His expression darkens.