her go.
God, I was so angry, thought Rebecka. And it wasn’t even my own anger. It was Sanna who should have been angry. But she just couldn’t do it. And we changed the locks, but two weeks later she’d given her parents a spare key.
Sanna grabbed hold of her arm to bring her back to the present.
“They’re going to want to have the girls while I’m in here,” she said.
“Don’t worry,” said Rebecka absently. “I’ll speak to the school.”
"How long do I have to stay here?"
Rebecka shrugged her shoulders.
“They can’t hold you for questioning for longer than three days. Then the prosecutor has to make an application for your arrest. And that has to be heard no more than four days after you were taken in for questioning. So that’s Saturday at the latest.”
“Will I be arrested then?”
“I don’t know,” said Rebecka uncomfortably. “It doesn’t look good, finding Viktor’s Bible and that knife in your kitchen.”
“But anybody could have put them there when I went to church,” exclaimed Sanna. “You know I never lock the door.”
She fell silent, fingering the red jumper.
“What if it was me?” she said suddenly.
Rebecka found it hard to breathe. It was as if they’d run out of air in the tiny room.
“What do you mean?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” whimpered Sanna, pressing her hands against her eyes. “I was asleep, I don’t know what happened. What if it was me? You’ve got to find out.”
“I don’t know what you mean,” said Rebecka. “If you were asleep…”
“But you know what I’m like! I forget things. Like when I fell pregnant with Sara. I didn’t even remember that Ronny and I had slept together. He had to tell me. And how good it was. I still can’t remember. But I got pregnant, so it must have happened.”
“Okay,” said Rebecka slowly. “But I don’t believe it was you. Blank spots in your memory don’t mean you can kill somebody. But you need to think.”
Sanna looked at her questioningly.
“If it wasn’t you,” said Rebecka deliberately, “then somebody planted the Bible and the knife there. Somebody wanted to put the blame on you. Somebody who knows you never lock the door. Do you understand what I’m saying? Not some oddball who’s wandered in off the street.”
“You’ve got to find out what happened,” said Sanna.
Rebecka shook her head. “That’s up to the police.”
Both of them stopped talking and looked up as the door opened and a guard poked his head in. It wasn’t the same one who had shown them to the visitors’ room. This one was tall and broad-shouldered, with a cropped, military haircut. Rebecka still thought he looked like a lost boy as he stood in the doorway. He gave Rebecka an embarrassed smile and handed Sanna a small paper bag.
“Sorry to disturb you,” he said. “But I’m off duty soon and I… I just thought you might like something to read. And I bought you some sweets.”
Sanna smiled at him. An open smile, eyes sparkling. Then she quickly lowered her eyes, as if she was embarrassed. Her eyelashes brushed her cheeks.
“Thank you so much,” she said. “You’re really kind.”
“It’s nothing,” said the guard, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. “I just thought you might get a bit bored in here.”
He was quiet for a moment, but when neither of the young women spoke, he went on.
“Yes, well, I’d better be off, then.”
When he’d gone Sanna looked in the bag he’d given her.
“You bought much better sweets,” she said.
Rebecka gave a resigned sigh.
“You don’t have to think my sweets are better,” she said.
“But I do, though.”
After visiting Sanna, Rebecka went to find Anna-Maria Mella. Anna-Maria was sitting in a conference room in the police station and eating a banana as if somebody were about to take it off her. In front of her on the table lay three apple cores. In the far corner of the room stood a television showing a video of an evening service at the Crystal Church. As Rebecka came into the room, Anna-Maria greeted her cheerfully. As if they were old friends.
“Would you like some coffee?” she asked. “I went to get some, but I don’t know why. Can’t face it at the moment…”
She finished the sentence by pointing to her stomach.
Rebecka remained standing by the door. The past was coming to life inside her. Set in motion by the faces on the flickering screen. She clung to the door frame. Anna-Maria’s voice reached her from far away.
“Are you all right?