‘Agitated. Stressed. Just like he usually does when he hasn’t taken his medication in a while and is about to have a breakdown.’

‘Did he say where he was?’

‘No, I didn’t ask. I just told him to go to the nearest hospital, but that pissed him off and he hung up.’

Lilja nodded and opened her notepad to an empty page. ‘Would you mind writing down his number here.’

Igor Skanås gave her a look.

‘Yes, I know he’s in the phone book. But I would still like you to humour me. Then you can leave.’

‘So we’re done?’

‘For the moment. But I want you to call me if you think of anything else.’

Igor Skanås scribbled down the number, stood up and walked towards the door. But before he reached it, he turned back to her. ‘There’s one thing I’ve been wondering.’

‘Yes?’

‘You have Jewish blood in you, right? You do, don’t you?’

35

It took Molly Wessman a moment after she regained consciousness to realize she must have passed out. She had no idea what time it was, if it was early in the morning or the middle of the night. She didn’t even know where she was, other than that she was lying on something hard and cold.

The hours before she had drifted off had been pure torture. She actually felt a little better now; maybe whatever was wrong with her was passing.

Her body still ached, though, especially her stomach and innards. Or was it her kidneys? Apparently, kidney stones could be fiendishly painful. But she wasn’t that old, and fatty foods had never been her thing. No, a stomach ulcer was more likely. Given how stressed she’d been lately, it was actually remarkable she hadn’t developed one sooner.

The shower curtain with the red dots. She recognized it now. It was her own. At least she was in her own bathroom.

She tried to get up, but the pain in her stomach returned with such force it felt like someone was grating her innards. Everything went dark and she didn’t even dare to scream for fear that would make it worse.

As the pain subsided, she decided she would need to have another go at shoving her fingers down her throat. It was her only option if she wanted to survive. At this rate, she was going to pass out again before long and this time she might never wake up again.

That said, she always felt that way when she was ill. She’d never been good at being sick. The slightest temperature and she started preparing for the end. Especially when she had food poisoning or a stomach flu. There was nothing worse than feeling nauseous, and now she was both sick and in a hellish amount of pain.