‘Two days later I received a letter from Elisabet’s solicitor. The hunting rights were withdrawn with immediate effect. Since then, Elisabet Vidje and I have never got along, and I’m afraid she’s carried the feud on to the next generation.’ He gestures towards Alex, who is focusing on the window once more. ‘Have you met her, by the way?’

The question is couched as an afterthought, but Anna is convinced that this was the point of the whole story.

‘No, only her family solicitor, and Klein.’

‘Ah.’ Morell nods; he seems relieved. ‘There’s nothing wrong with Bror Klein. It’s thanks to him that Änglaberga is still standing. He took over when Karl-Johan had run the estate into the ground.’

He falls silent, seems to be thinking. He glances at Alex.

‘Elisabet Vidje is bound to contact you, Anna,’ he says quietly. ‘She’s going to want to drag up an old story. A tragedy. Her son, Simon . . .’

Before Morell can say any more, the window slams shut. Anna gives a start.

‘There you go.’ Alex slips the screwdriver into his belt, then closes and opens the blind to show that it’s working perfectly. He turns to his father. ‘So, what else needs fixing?’

Anna watches father and son as they head along the corridor. Their build and gait are almost identical, seen from behind. Just before they set off down the stairs, Alex looks back at her with a wry smile that immediately makes her feel better. You like him, Håkan says without sounding remotely jealous. She tells him to shut up, and goes back to her reports. However, after a while that feeling from yesterday’s lunch starts niggling away at her again.

The feeling that something is going on around her, something she still doesn’t understand.

Chapter 10

10

28 August 1990

Carina took a long, deep drag on the joint just as Joe had taught her. She could feel his eyes on her, noticed that he had moved closer and closer until their bodies were touching. She tried to decide whether she had any objections. Joe was good-looking, there was no denying that. Plus, he was older and a lot more mature than Alex. Smarter too. Alex didn’t have a clue that Joe was teasing him, that the ‘alpha male’ comment was ironic rather than a cool nickname.

To be honest, she would have preferred to skip this whole camping trip – arguing with Alex, sleeping in a damp tent, hearing about how everyone had exciting plans, except for her and poor Bruno. Alex might be openly drooling over Joe’s slutty sister, but at least the two newcomers had made the evening a lot more interesting.

They were on their second round of weed by now, and the atmosphere by the fire was much livelier. Marie, who was clearly both drunk and stoned, was singing loudly and distinctly off-key, informing everybody that it was a wild world. Baby, baby.