Like most men over seventy, Klein drives a little too slowly. Neither he nor Elisabet say anything, and even though Anna usually has nothing against silence, eventually she feels compelled to break it.

‘I met some of the Poles outside the emergency department at the hospital yesterday. Apparently, one of them had had an accident in the forest.’

Klein and Elisabet exchange a glance, and at first, he seems unwilling to comment.

‘It wasn’t an accident,’ he says after quite a while. ‘Pawel trod on one of Mats’s traps. Mats knows he’s not allowed to set gin traps, but he’s got it into his head that he’s going to catch a wolf. He won’t listen to—’

Elisabet gently taps his leg, which makes him shut up. The gesture is so intimate that Anna can’t help raising her eyebrows.

‘We’re here,’ Elisabet says. ‘You can park over there.’

*

The nursing home is surrounded by tall trees and green lawns. A nurse shows them into a visitors’ room, her voice softening when she talks about Karl-Johan. Huge picture windows look out over the park, where two gardeners in yellow jackets are raking up leaves. Progress is slow; the park is so big and there are so many leaves that the task seems overwhelming.

Karl-Johan Vidje is sitting in an armchair with a blanket over his knees, facing the two men. Anna and Klein hang back while Elisabet goes over and kisses him on the cheek. He gives a start, then takes her arm as if he’s glad to see her. Elisabet exchanges a few words with him, then beckons Anna to join them.

‘This is Anna Vesper – I told you about her. She and her daughter have moved into Tabor. Anna has been a great help to us.’

Karl-Johan is well over seventy, but his hair is still blond rather than white, and he has surprisingly few wrinkles. His expression is kind, his smile warm. He is wearing a pair of close-fitting dark glasses.

‘Anna,’ he says, shaking her hand in a way that makes Anna think he’s repeating her name silently to himself.

‘We had one of your lithographs at home when I was growing up,’ she says. ‘I liked it very much.’