‘Who was fighting?’ This time it’s Anna’s turn.

‘Alex and Simon, but Simon didn’t stand a chance. Alex was too big and strong. I didn’t like it, so I sneaked back to where I’d hidden my moped. It was pouring with rain, and I skidded and came off on the way home.’

‘What was the last thing you saw before you left?’

Mats pulls a face, as if the memory is painful. ‘Alex threw Simon to the ground in a wrestling hold. He landed badly. The others were yelling at him.’

‘At Alex?’

Mats shakes his head. ‘At Simon. They were yelling horrible words, calling him terrible names, so I left. I should have said something, shouldn’t I? I should have told Alex to leave Simon alone. Told the others to stop yelling.’

He falls silent, glances at the painting, rubs his chin and mouth. His eyes shine with unshed tears.

‘Do you remember anything else?’ Anna says after what seems like an eternity.

‘No,’ he mumbles, without taking his eyes off the image of Simon Vidje’s body floating in the dark water. ‘Just that I came off my moped on the way home.’

*

Anna leaves Mats and Agnes in the chapel. She goes downstairs and out into the yard. Her heart is pounding with excitement, so she forces herself to take several deep breaths before she calls Jens Friberg.

‘I want you to bring Alexander Morell in for questioning first thing tomorrow morning,’ she says as soon as he answers. ‘Pull him over between his home and Kotorp, in a place where no one can see you. It’s essential that only you and I know he’s been brought in, OK?’

Silence.

‘Are you really sure about this, Anna?’ Jens sounds just the way he did when they first met – wary, sceptical, bordering on hostile. Disappointment forms a hard lump in her chest; has she acted too hastily? ‘Henry’s going to—’ he continues, but she interrupts him.

‘Just do as I say, Jens,’ she snaps and ends the call.

Chapter 49

49

Autumn 2017