There was a brief silence; the only sound was the rain hammering down. Simon got on all fours in the middle of the circle, then slowly stood up. He glared at them one by one as he wiped the tears from his cheeks. Marie took a step back, looking as if she wished she hadn’t joined in. Simon made use of the gap. He walked slowly past his cousin and continued towards the forest.

‘Friends forever,’ he yelled over his shoulder, and something in his voice made Alex’s heart turn over.

Chapter 51

51

Autumn 2017

‘Everything got out of hand,’ Alex says quietly. ‘We were high, drunk and angry. Things came to a head and turned nasty, and it was all aimed at Simon.’ He shakes his head sadly. ‘A total group psychosis – I can’t come up with a better explanation.’

‘What happened next?’ Anna asks. ‘After Simon managed to get up and headed for the forest?’

Alex lets out a long sigh. His expression is troubled.

‘After a few minutes the rain kind of sobered us up, made us realise what we’d done. The girls started calling Simon’s name, they even went into the forest behind the quarry to look for him.’

‘What about you and Bruno?’ Jens says.

Alex lowers his head. ‘We stayed by the tents, tried to get the fire going again, but it was impossible. Then the girls came back. Simon wasn’t answering, and it was too dark and wet to carry on searching. We assumed he’d gone around the side of the pool and made his way down to the turning area via the path at the back, and cycled home to Änglaberga. We decided we’d go and see him in the morning, apologise.’

‘You didn’t think of checking if his bike was gone? Or even going after him?’ Jens again, but Anna doesn’t stop him. He’s doing well. Simon’s bike? she jots down on her pad, without really thinking about why.

Alex spreads his hands. ‘By that stage we were all tired, soaking wet and ashamed of ourselves. None of us was in a fit state to drive, certainly not in the dark and the rain. So, we went to bed.’ His voice almost breaks at the end.

‘And you didn’t hear anything else? No noises, no one else who was up and about?’

Alex shakes his head. ‘No. As far as I remember, it was raining so hard that you could barely hear yourself think inside the tent, and yet I fell asleep right away. I didn’t wake up until the morning, when Marie started screaming.’

He stares at his hands, slowly turns them over and separates his fingers, as if he is searching for something on his callused skin.

Suddenly, the door flies open and Henry Morell comes storming in. His face is chalk-white, his eyes black. Jens immediately stands up and places himself directly in front of Morell.