Fragments of us, Håkan whispers as she stands in the doorway inhaling the fresh air. Milo has raced over to the nearest tree. He is so desperate for a pee that he hobbles along on three legs for the last couple of metres, and Anna can’t help laughing. Milo seems to notice; he gives her a dirty look as he trots back across the yard and slips indoors past her legs. Anna remains outside for a little while longer. Watches a skein of geese flying across the sky in a V-shaped formation. No more disembowelled rabbits have appeared on the step, thank goodness. Agnes seems to find the mystery intriguing rather than horrible, which is something of a relief. Anna takes another deep breath, appreciates the smells, the beauty, the vivid colours, the faint cries of the geese, high above. Tries not to hate everything, but it’s hard.

I loved you more than anything in the world, Håkan whispers. And you felt the same way about me, didn’t you?

She didn’t dream last night, at least not that she remembers. And yet there is something niggling away in the back of her mind, a lingering thought or feeling that she can’t quite pin down. Something to do with the mural and Simon Vidje’s tragic fate. She ought to think about something else; she definitely ought to call her solicitor. He’d promised to get in touch as soon as the preliminary investigation was over, but more than a week has passed since they last spoke. Monday, she tells herself. If I haven’t heard anything, I’ll contact him on Monday.

*

After breakfast she helps Agnes to load her photographic equipment into the car. Agnes is very keen, and keeps showing her mother the satellite image on her phone.

‘There, look. The little black pool in the middle of the forest – that’s the old quarry. You can even see the rocks if you zoom in.’

They get in the car; Milo settles down on Agnes’s knee as usual, and looks deeply hurt when Agnes shoos him down onto the floor. He glares at Anna as if she is somehow to blame for this terrible rejection.

‘You have to drive a couple of miles before you reach the turning.’

Anna does as she is told. She is so pleased that she and Agnes are talking to each other and doing something together. The strange landscape of the ridge whizzes by on both sides – deciduous trees, small enclosed fields and low stone walls. A little sawmill right by the roadside, before the vista opens up.

‘Look!’ Agnes is pointing to a herd of deer over by the edge of the forest.