She looked at him but soon realised no answer was forth-coming on that subject. The strange thing was that he was kind of grinning at her, with his glasses perched on the tip of his nose.

‘It’s going to be big news, this,’ he said. ‘When it’s discovered. And they’re going to investigate it, from every angle. And do you know where that will lead them? It will lead them to Susso Myrén and it will lead them to Diana Sillfors.’

‘Why?’

‘Because the police were there last week. And why were they there? Who tipped them off? Your dad. What did he tell them exactly, do you know?’

She shook her head.

‘He talked to Denny. He’s an inspector, I think. Denny Långström. They know each other. And I think he told him Lennart Brösth might be there. And Susso, likely as not. But I don’t actually know.’

‘Rumajärvi’s not exactly a metropolis, so they can easily check which mobile phones have connected to the masts out there recently. I assume you brought your phone when you went up there. They’re going to want to know what you were doing in Rumajärvi. You have to be prepared for that. And by prepared, I mean you have to know what to say. Rambling won’t do, and I don’t think you’d better get trolls involved in your story.’

‘Then what do you want me to say?’

‘What did you tell them at the hospital when you brought Susso in?’

‘I can’t remember.’

‘Maybe she had a boyfriend in Rumajärvi? A really scary junkie type. That you wanted to get her away from.’

‘Yes, now that you mention it, that’s how it was.’

‘And for the rest, you keep your mouth shut.’

She nodded.

‘Do you know what I mean by the three-S treatment?’

‘Colloquially?’

‘Colloquially.’

‘Yes, I do.’

‘All right then.’

Näcken slowed down and stopped…

Näcken slowed down and stopped by the boom barrier. Stava climbed out and opened it. Anders was in the back seat like a kid, staring out the window, and he didn’t like her leaving the car. He couldn’t remember where they’d been, but the lake he glimpsed between the trees awoke a memory in him and that made him afraid, so he placed a hand on his shirt and the little ones hiding underneath it.

‘What are we doing here?’ he said.

Näcken grinned at him.

‘We’re going to the circus,’ he said.

‘Cut it out,’ Stava said.

‘What circus?’

‘We’re not going to the circus.’

*

Erasmus was standing down by the lake, gazing out across the water, or maybe at the forest climbing the mountain on the other side. His feet were placed close together, his hands were folded behind his back, he wore no hat and from afar he looked like an old juniper bush.