The Circle (Hammer) - By Elfgren, Sara B.,Strandberg, Mats Page 0,142
shakes her head firmly and takes a few extra sips for good measure.
‘I’ve only just opened it,’ he says thoughtfully. Then he shrugs his shoulders. ‘I hope I’m not coming down with flu. Everything tastes strange when I’m getting ill.’ And with that he knocks back the whole glass.
Holy shit! Minoo almost blurts. It’s as if she’s paralysed, expecting Gustaf to fall off his chair, clawing at his throat. ‘I feel a bit dizzy,’ he says.
Minoo swallows. ‘Maybe we should go to your room,’ she suggests.
Gustaf looks confused. ‘So you can lie down for a bit,’ she says.
‘Maybe you’re right.’
His voice is toneless, but he gets up.
My God, Minoo thinks. Ida didn’t react like that. What if we’ve given him too much?
She hears footsteps coming up the basement steps, heavy and quick. Minoo’s thoughts run wild. Where does Gustaf keep his doppelganger hidden all day –and what better place to put a doppelganger than in your basement? Maybe his dad is in on it, or maybe he’s even masterminded the whole thing –or else it’s just a big mistake and both Gustaf and his father are innocent but Minoo has given Gustaf a fatal dose of a magic potion.
Minoo flies out of her chair and puts her arm around Gustaf, who looks as if he’s about to faint.
The basement door opens and Gustaf’s father steps out.
‘I was going to ask if you’d made enough food for me …’ Lage starts, but then he catches sight of Gustaf. ‘Are you all right, Gurra? You look pale.’
‘I felt dizzy but now I’m fine.’
Lage walks over and lays a hand on Gustaf’s forehead. ‘You’re not warm anyway.’
‘Minoo thinks I should lie down for a bit,’ Gustaf says.
‘Maybe he overdid it at practice.’ Minoo turns to Gustaf. ‘Come on, let’s go up to your room.’
Lage looks at Gustaf with concern. ‘Come and fetch me if he gets any worse. I’ll be down here.’
‘Yes, you will,’ Gustaf says.
‘My mother’s a doctor,’ Minoo jabbers. ‘The flu going around is pretty nasty. It hits you out of nowhere and you’re as sick as dog.’ Minoo takes Gustaf’s arm and lets him show her the way to his room on the second floor.
‘Can you turn on the light?’ she asks, as they enter the darkened room.
‘Yes,’ he answers, and collapses on to his bed with a heavy thud.
It takes Minoo a second to pick up on it – it’s like when little kids are trying to be funny and answer exactly what you ask them, no more.
‘Where’s the switch?’ Minoo asks.
‘To the right of the door.’
She turns on the ceiling light. The bed that Gustaf is lying on is unmade. Otherwise the room is tidy.
On the wall beside the bed there’s a photo of Rebecka and Gustaf. Their faces fill the frame so it’s impossible to determine where it was taken. You can only tell from the light that it was shot outside. They look happy. At that particular hundredth of a second that the camera captured, they had no idea of what was in store for them.
Gustaf may have known, she reminds herself. Far from depicting a happy couple, it may be of a murderer and his victim.
She feels a gentle shove. It’s not hard to interpret. Vanessa thinks Minoo should get a move on – and she’s right. Who knows how long the serum will last. A drop lasted about a minute with Ida. Minoo has worked out that they ought to have at least ten minutes but they’ve already lost some time. And Gustaf is bigger than Ida.
Minoo sits on the edge of the bed. The list of questions she’s prepared is in her jeans pocket. She leaves it there. ‘Did you love Rebecka?’
‘Yes,’ Gustaf answers, without hesitation. ‘More than anything else in the world.’
‘When you were at her grave, you asked for her forgiveness.’
Gustaf nods and a tear trickles from the corner of his eye, continues along his temple and disappears into his blond hair. He’s lying completely still, looking at Minoo with a frightened expression.
‘Did you have anything to do with her death?’
‘Yes,’ he answers.
Minoo’s blood runs cold. ‘Tell me about it,’ she forces herself to say.
‘It was my fault. Everyone said Rebecka had an eating disorder, but I was too much of a coward to ask her straight out. I didn’t want to upset her, and I didn’t want her to think I was hassling her. I never realised how serious it was. I should have spoken to her about it.’