‘Marie invited me. Besides . . .’ she pauses, weighing the phone in her hand, ‘it’s nice to drop by occasionally.’ She laughs, showing dazzling white, perfect veneers. ‘No doubt you think this is all down to Martin – the grounds, the house, the cars. But the fact is, I earn a lot more than he does. You might have heard that my first husband left me a lot of money? Well, that’s not true. He was up to his ears in debt. I’ve built up everything you can see. Little Carina Pedersen from Nedanås, the girl people looked down on. I’ve worked hard, and sacrificed more than most in order to succeed. And sometimes . . .’ She stops, gives a wry, joyless smile. ‘Sometimes little Carina just wants to come home to Nedanås and shove her success in their faces. Henry Morell, who thought I wasn’t good enough for his precious Alexander. Bengt Andersson, who thought my family gave the place a bad name. Nowadays they all line up smiling whenever I show up. They’re so proud when I grace their pathetic little events with my presence.’

She holds up her phone so they can see all the notifications and messages received on the screen.

‘If there’s nothing else I need to—’

‘Alex Morell,’ Anna says. ‘How’s your relationship with him now?’

Caia lowers her phone.

‘Alex and I were together in junior school and high school, but that’s a long time ago. We split up in the autumn after Simon died.’

She pulls a sad face.

‘Was it because of his temper?’

Caia gives her a searching look, as if she’s trying to work out where Anna is going with this question. ‘You were the one who fought with him on the stage, weren’t you? The one who kneed him in the crotch?’

Anna nods. Caia looks moderately impressed.

‘Alex had a terrible temper. He still has, as you’ve seen. But that’s not why we broke up, nor was it because his parents thought I was trailer trash. The thing is, poor Alex turned out to be one of those kids who peak in high school.’

‘What do you mean?’ Jens wonders.