Anna does find some new information. There were two other people at the quarry earlier in the evening: a man called Joe and a woman called Tanya, both a few years older than the five friends, and not local. They joined in the party for a couple of hours, but according to all the witness statements they left on their motorbike at about eleven thirty, when the rain started. Their full names and identity numbers are given on a separate sheet of paper at the back of the file. There is also a note stating that shortly after one, Joe was involved in an altercation at a petrol station in Reftinge, thirty miles away, which resulted in him spending the rest of the night in police custody. This means he couldn’t possibly have been at the quarry at the time of Simon’s death. The four witness statements are very short, and virtually identical. It started raining, Joe and Tanya left, the others went to bed at about half past midnight. They all claim to have slept deeply, and neither heard nor seen anything during the night.

Marie Andersson was the one who found the body at about five o’clock, and she immediately shouted to the others. They tried to get Simon out of the water, but without success. Bruno drove Marie’s car to the grocery store in Mörkaby and used Gunnel’s phone to call for help. The first police car arrived at 05.54, followed shortly afterwards by the fire service and an ambulance.

She closes the file and leans back in her chair. Exactly as Henry Morell said; there doesn’t seem to be anything suspicious here. Rain, darkness and treacherous rocks, perhaps combined with too much alcohol – a perfectly natural, if tragic, explanation for Simon Vidje’s death.

For some reason, this conclusion leaves her feeling a little disappointed.

Chapter 18

18

28 August 1990

Bubbles. All around him. Tiny silver spheres surging out of his clothes, hair, nose and mouth before disappearing into the darkness. The sound of his body entering the water is still ringing in Simon’s ears, vibrating through every fibre of his being. The cold pressed against his skin made his blood vessels and lungs contract and his heart pound. And yet he didn’t move, he simply hung there, still and weightless. Closed his eyes and allowed himself to be embraced by the darkness.

Is his how it feels to die? he thought as he gradually began to see patches of white behind his eyelids.

Then he opened his eyes, kicked out with his legs. Once, twice, three times, began to use his arms. Shot up towards the faint light above until his head broke the surface of the water. He’d done it!

Simon gasped for air, then let out a yell of pure joy. Tanya immediately responded, followed less enthusiastically by the others.