They pass Änglaberga, and she catches a glimpse of Klein’s lodge. Thinks once again about how curiously impersonal it is, devoid of anything to suggest that it is someone’s home. But presumably that’s how Klein wants it. Maybe he prefers to live his life like a monk, with a single book on his bedside table. A book he has kept for over forty years. However, Dante’s Divine Comedy isn’t exactly suitable for a novice reader, and the way he speaks and conducts himself suggests an educated person. He is someone who reads, and yet there are no bookshelves. Unless of course her suspicions are well-founded: the lodge is nothing more than a façade, and Klein actually lives at Änglaberga.

She reaches for her phone, finds Simon’s song and presses play. His soft voice fills the speakers as the road curves to the right and begins to wind its way down the hill.

‘That’s lovely,’ Lisa says, and Anna is about to explain who’s singing when she realises that something is wrong. The brake pedal, which worked perfectly on the first hairpin bend, feels spongy. She presses down hard, but it doesn’t reduce her speed by as much as she would have expected. The next bend is fast approaching, and she keeps her foot down.

Suddenly, there is a metallic bang and the brake pedal hits the floor. Anna is so shocked that she yanks at the wheel, and the car veers across the carriageway. The instrument panel lights up like a Christmas tree, and a warning signal starts beeping.

‘Mum!’ Agnes says anxiously, but Anna hasn’t time to answer; she has her hands full trying to keep the car on the road.

She regains control just before the nearside wheels go over the edge. She hears Lisa gasp beside her. The brake pedal is on the floor, and has no effect whatsoever. She slams the car into a lower gear; the engine roars angrily, almost drowning out the warning beep. At the same time she fumbles for the handbrake, but can’t find it. Her speed increases, she is getting closer and closer to the next hairpin bend, and she keeps trying to pull on a handbrake that doesn’t exist.

‘Mum!’ Agnes says again. She sounds very frightened, and at that moment Anna remembers that the car has an electronic brake, a button you press, it’s . . . it’s . . . Where the fuck is the brake button?

She takes her left hand off the wheel and gropes along the underside of the instrument panel. The roar of the engine is deafening now, the car is moving faster and faster, the sharp bend is almost upon them. She looks up, meets Lisa’s terrified gaze.

‘Mum!’ Agnes yells. ‘Brake, Mum!’