Rylander’s mail consists mainly of bills, reminders from the probation service, and a couple of notifications from the police, along with direct advertising from credit card companies who don’t seem too fussy about who they offer their money to. One envelope catches her attention. It’s from a company in the USA called Regeneration. Inside there is a form made up of various boxes, plus a letter which she quickly skims through. It is written in English.

Dear Mr Rylander.

The samples you supplied indicate with a 99.99% degree of certainty that the two individuals concerned are not related to each other.

Anna tries to make sense of what she’s just read. It seems that Joe Rylander sent material to the USA for DNA comparison. And there was no match.

She looks for the date on the form. Finds a box marked ‘Sample Date’, and an idea begins to take shape.

‘Lisa!’ she calls out. ‘Do you remember when your father came to see you?’

‘Twentieth of September, I think. Why?’

Anna looks at the box. The sample was received on 25 September. Her heart begins to beat faster.

‘You don’t remember if anything was missing after his visit?’

‘No.’

‘Something you couldn’t find later on? Something that struck you as a bit odd?’

‘Nooo,’ Lisa says again, sounding a little more hesitant this time. ‘Actually . . . now you come to mention it, there was something I never found an explanation for.’

‘Go on.’

‘My toothbrush went missing.’

The penny drops inside Anna’s head.

‘When were you born, Lisa?’

‘Twenty-fourth of April 1991 – why?’

Anna does a quick calculation on her fingers. Less than eight months after the incident in the quarry. Eight months – that’s why no one made the connection. Not until twenty-seven years later, when Joe Rylander receives a letter from Elisabet Vidje and puts two and two together. At last, she understands what actually happened that night.

‘You were premature, weren’t you?’ she says.

There is a brief silence, then Lisa appears in the doorway. Lisa, whose name is not a coincidence. Lisa, which is short for Elisabet.

‘How did you know that?’ Lisa asks, frowning. ‘How did you know I was premature?’

‘Because Joe Rylander isn’t your father,’ Anna says slowly. ‘It’s Simon Vidje.’

Chapter 59

59

Autumn 2017

Anna doesn’t know why she didn’t see the connection earlier. Lisa is blonde like Simon, and works with music. Plus, she has an aura that makes people take to her right away, just like Karl-Johan. Then there’s Simon’s cassette tape, which Tanya kept for all those years.

Both Caia Bianca and Elisabet said they thought Lisa looked familiar, and still Anna didn’t react, which really annoys her.

Lisa hasn’t said anything for several minutes. Her face is ashen, and Anna can almost see her thought process. She fetches a glass of water, and Lisa drinks it straight down. The colour slowly returns to her cheeks.