It can’t have been that easy, Karen thinks. And after a look at her sceptical face, William Tryste continues, ‘The fact that he felt guilty helped, I’m sure. After all, Gabriel was the one who sent the threatening email to Björn from Fredrik’s computer and a few days later the old man was dead. It was relatively easy to convince him Björn must have killed Fredrik. He was more than happy to believe it, put it that way. Just like you. Laura called a while ago and told me you’d finally arrested Björn Groth. She was in tears, poor thing.’

Karen shuts her eyes as a wave of shame mingles with her rage. William Tryste has been controlling them like puppets, pulling their strings and watching them obey, methodically working to incriminate the Groth family, while playing the role of the dedicated employee, unsuccessfully pressuring Fredrik Stuub to publish his incomplete research, making Gabriel send threatening emails in Fredrik’s name, bringing him on board with his plan to destroy the Groths and, in the end, making him believe Björn Groth killed his grandfather.

Replaying her own conversations with William Tryste now, the patterns are even more obvious. He had put in a very convincing performance as a dedicated whiskey connoisseur who had everything to gain from the continued success of the Groth family but, in reality, he had been working to undermine them all along. The way he had dismissed all questions about threats against the Groths and their expansion plans, the contrite expression on his face when he’d ‘let slip’ about the expansive cement he’d found in the storage room. Karen doesn’t doubt for a second Tryste was the one responsible for both the drill holes and the planting of the cement. An ingenious plan, she admits. He had turned Fredrik’s house upside down to make sure it would look like the killer had searched it and used the police investigation to make Fredrik’s research public. Then he had calmly watched as the noose tightened.

How could I have missed it? she berates herself again.

‘But why did you kill Gabriel? He was doing your dirty work for you.’

‘Yes, that was my only mistake,’ Tryste says with a small sigh. ‘My plan was to lie low and let the police investigation run its course. As soon as you found the research it would become public knowledge and Björn Groth would never be able to clear his name, even if he did manage to avoid conviction. Rumours about the threatening email and the drill holes would do the rest; the Groth’s brand would be destroyed and I would buy the whole company for a song and a dance and rebuild it under my own name. And Gabriel actually believed I would make him a co-owner. It’s almost sad, isn’t it?’

‘But why did you kill him?’ Karen asks again.