Fire (56 page)

‘I’m so sorry,’ Minoo says. ‘I forgot to mention that I don’t eat meat.’

Dad stares at her, clearly stressed. Then he turns to Ida.

‘Come on, Minoo, why didn’t you say?’

‘Sorry, I forgot.’

‘It’s not a problem,’ Minoo says. ‘I’ll be happy with potatoes, gravy and salad.’

‘Probably you can’t have the gravy either,’ Linnéa says quickly. ‘Not if it’s made with meat stock.’

‘Oh no, that’s true,’ Minoo says and glances at Dad. ‘But there’s always bread and cheese.’

Dad clears his throat. Gestures at the food to show that everyone is to help herself. Anna-Karin dishes up a large portion for herself and Ida glances crossly at her.

‘Well, now,’ Dad says. ‘How come you decided to go vegetarian?’

‘Where would you like her to start?’ Linnéa says. ‘The evils of the meat production industry or the moral position in general?’

Involuntarily, Minoo makes a face. But Dad only smiles.

‘That’s straight talking,’ he says. ‘Good. It’s important for you to form your own opinions and stand up for them.’

‘Yes, indeed,’ Ida says emphatically.

Dad looks quizzically at her. For quite a while, no one can think of anything to say. Linnéa shuffles a piece of meat around in the gravy and then tries to hide most of it behind some potatoes.

‘This is really good,’ Ida says.

Everyone agrees warmly.

‘Thank you, that’s nice. I enjoyed cooking something from scratch,’ Dad says. ‘It’s been a while.’

‘It’s fantastic!’ Ida says brightly. ‘Have you all got what you want or can I fetch anything?’

Ida is far too ingratiating. Hopefully, Dad will just think that Minoo is nervous and that’s why she acts like an overanxious hostess.

‘Anna-Karin, would you like some more water?’ Ida asks.

Vanessa smiles stiffly and allows Ida to top up her glass.

‘Has anything interesting happened at work today?’ Ida asks and puts the jug down.

‘Actually, I have a sad piece of news for you,’ Dad says. ‘Your old headmaster, Ingmar Svensson … Surely you all knew him?’

Minoo remembers a grey man who probably would have
preferred to be left alone with his office work than to have anything to do with people. Especially not fourteen- and fifteen-year-olds.

‘He’s died,’ Dad says.

Vanessa spills water on her plate.

‘Oh no, I’m sorry,’ she says, trying to mop up with her napkin and getting gravy all over it. ‘How did he die?’

‘Some kind of electric shock,’ Dad says. ‘They don’t know exactly how it happened, but think there was something wrong with the cables in his office. A most tragic business. It might be related to the constant problems with the town supply recently. The electricity company has started to investigate if the risk of accidents is greater than usual. After all, Svensson is not the first casualty.’

‘What do you mean?’ Minoo says.

‘I’m thinking of Leila Barsotti. One of Minoo’s former primary school teachers.’

‘Did she die from an electric shock too?’ Minoo asks.

‘Yes, she did, though the paper didn’t report it.’

Vanessa turns to Ida.

‘Minoo, later on, you really must show me that gadget … in your room,’ she says.

Ida looks blankly at her.

‘Of course,’ Minoo says and meets Ida’s gaze. ‘We might go and check it out after the main course. Before dessert. Would that be all right … Erik?’

She almost said ‘Dad’ but stopped herself at the last moment.

He nods and has a second helping of the roast.

‘Sure, go ahead,’ he says. ‘I won’t try to interfere with your secret plans.’

The rest of the meal flows nicely and even grows quite enjoyable, but Minoo can’t wait for it to end.

Vanessa knows something and Minoo simply has to find out what it is.

Minoo’s room is decorated in warmer colours than the rest of the house and Linnéa really likes it. She sits back on the soft bed, with Ida and Anna-Karin on either side. Vanessa stands by the desk, beautiful in the low lamplight. Linnéa felt so proud of her when she saw her speak from the witness chair today. She was so obviously
Vanessa
that Linnéa couldn’t think how Alexander could possibly fail to see it.

‘Listen to this, it’s so awful,’ Vanessa says. ‘The other day, Mona told Svensson’s future and she saw that he would die soon. And now, when Minoo’s father started to speak about electric shocks, something else occurred to me. Last autumn, Nicke was on about a psychologist who had died from an electric shock. And no one could work out how it had happened.’

Linnéa goes rigid. A psychologist. Who had died.

‘Svensson, Minoo’s old teacher and a psychologist,’ Vanessa continues. ‘Three people, all killed by mysterious electrical shocks. True, the town supply has been fucked up for ages but so what? This is Engelsfors. The deaths just can’t be coincidences.’

Minoo nods eagerly.

‘Remember, Matilda says that the demons’ Blessed One had many more crimes on his or her conscience and that we would soon realise this. It must be the Blessed One who’s behind the deaths. And if it’s electricity that’s killed them …’

She turns to Ida.

‘Diana’s amulet bore the sign of metal,’ she continues. ‘Electricity and metal magic belong together, right?’

‘Thanks for the info,’ Ida says sarcastically.

‘So it seems reasonable to assume that the demons’ Blessed One is a metal witch who has been controlling Diana and has
brought about the deaths of at least three people during the last year. Question – why those particular three?’

Linnéa finds it hard to take in what Minoo is saying.

A psychologist.

She thinks about Jakob and how depressed he has seemed all autumn. And recalls what went on in his mind the day she read it …

… she is dead … she truly is dead …

‘You know CAMH? The Child and Adolescent Mental Health clinic?’ she asks. ‘My psychologist there was totally heartbroken last autumn. His colleague had died, you see …’

She suspects that she knows what the three dead people have in common. But doesn’t want to say anything before she is certain.

‘If it’s her, the one Nicke was talking about, her name began with an R. Regina, I think.’

Minoo switches her computer on and opens up a website page.

‘Look, you can search the classified death ads here, all of which have been published in the papers anywhere in the country.’

‘So that’s the kind of thing you home in on when you’re surfing?’ Ida says.

‘Regina is quite unusual,’ Minoo says. ‘Vanessa, can you remember roughly when Nicke mentioned that death?’

‘We had dug up that grave the same evening.’

‘August, then,’ Minoo says. ‘Here. I’ve found her. The date fits. And the ad was published in the
Engelsfors Herald
. She was only thirty years old. Could it be her?’

Linnéa swallows. It is so absolutely incredible. And yet so logical.

‘It’s her. And I know what links the three dead people,’ she says. ‘Elias.’

She looks at Ida.

‘You started bullying him in primary school,’ Linnéa says.

Ida blinks. But she does not object.

‘Helena and Krister clearly didn’t want to admit that their son was hounded by their friends’ children. But they couldn’t get away from the fact that Elias had a hard time in school. Instead, they blamed the teacher. Leila. I know that they even tried to have her sacked. Later on, his problems grew really bad. By then, there was no point in trying to have all the teachers sacked, so they targeted Svensson instead. Elias told me about all this.’

‘How does the psychologist fit in?’ Vanessa asks.

‘Elias used to see her. He liked her. She helped him … But Helena hated his going to see her. She hates all psychologists and thinks it’s somehow damaging to “root around in all these negative things”. Besides, I think she was afraid that Regina would turn Elias against her. Despite her being such a fantastic, perfect mum.’

Fury makes her eyes fill with burning tears and she falls silent. Another word and she will start crying. She doesn’t want the others to see that.

‘The demons’ Blessed One must be Helena,’ Ida says. ‘All the pieces are slotting into place. We were right all along.’

‘She wants to revenge herself on everyone who, in her mind, has hurt Elias,’ Vanessa says to Linnéa. ‘Do you think it was her plan for Erik and Robin to kill you as well? Did she control them the same way that she did with Diana?’

‘Have you ever seen Erik wear a necklace?’ Minoo asks Ida.

‘No, I haven’t. And he’d never accept one,’ Ida says. ‘He thinks jewellery on men is strictly for queers.’

Ida glances at Linnéa, who realises that they are both thinking about the same events.

Like all the times when Erik shouted ‘Fairy’ at Elias. When he ripped off Elias’s necklaces and bracelets. The time he tore off an earring.

And Ida would always be around somewhere, laughing or just letting it happen.

But Linnéa can’t muster any hatred now. That time has passed, though she will never forget it.

‘I don’t believe that they were meant to kill me,’ she says. ‘They must have been sent out by Helena to make sure I was thrown out of the flat. Erik and Robin went as far as they did on their own initiative. Though Helena clearly had no problems with lying and providing alibis for them when the police asked questions.’

‘Perhaps she doesn’t dare attack you directly,’ Minoo suggests. ‘If she’s communicating with the demons they will surely have told her who we are. The same goes for Adriana. The demons must know that she’s a witch too and they must also be aware that the Council exists. Perhaps they don’t want Helena to attract attention from other witches.’

‘Ruining our lives has to be satisfaction enough,’ Linnéa says.

‘But it doesn’t have to be Helena, does it?’ Anna-Karin points out. ‘Couldn’t it be Krister?’

‘Regardless of which one of them it is, they work together in any case,’ Linnéa says.

‘But we’ve never noticed either of them using magic,’ Anna-Karin says.

‘That’s not so strange, though. The demons are bound to have told them to be cautious,’ Vanessa says. ‘And remember, Ida sensed the magic in the centre.’

Anna-Karin nods slowly.

Minoo’s father calls to them to say that dessert is waiting.

‘We’ll be down soon!’ Ida shouts back.

‘We’ll talk more about all these things after the trial,’ Minoo says. ‘We’d better stay well away from Helena and Krister now that we have no powers.’

They get up and everyone leaves the room. All except Vanessa who lingers. She has turned towards the window and seems to be staring out into the night.

‘What’s the matter?’ Linnéa asks.

‘I’m just thinking about Svensson. Mona said it was inevitable. But if only we had worked all this out a little earlier …’

‘If Svensson hadn’t died we wouldn’t have figured it out at all,’ Linnéa says and hears how cold she sounds. ‘I didn’t mean it like that.’

‘I know,’ Vanessa says.

She looks wonderingly at Linnéa.

‘What’s the matter?’ Linnéa asks once more.

‘It’s so strange to see my own face like this.’

It’s even stranger to see Anna-Karin’s face and still be this much in love, Linnéa thinks.

‘I want to know what it’s like to touch me,’ Vanessa says.

She holds out her hand. Linnéa shuts her eyes and feels Vanessa’s hand gently stroke her cheek.

She doesn’t dare to say anything.

When Vanessa’s hand leaves her Linnéa reluctantly opens her eyes.

‘Strange …’ Vanessa says.

They look at each other.

So close together.

But Wille stands between them.

Can’t stop remembering that kiss. I want more.

‘We’d better join the others, I guess,’ Linnéa says and walks away.

It is a chilly, misty Sunday morning, but when Anna-Karin cycles through Engelsfors she senses something new in the air. A promise of spring.

She skids on the gravel, puts Ida’s bicycle on its stand and hurries into the dully lit manor house.

She pushes past all the people standing around in the lobby and enters the library. The other Chosen Ones are standing together by one of the windows. Adriana has joined them but otherwise they are alone in the room.

‘Hello, Ida,’ she says when she catches sight of Anna-Karin. ‘The judges are deliberating. They’ll call us in when they are ready.’

‘How long will it take?’

‘Impossible to say. Anything from a few minutes to several hours.’

Anna-Karin can’t think how she can bear waiting. She looks at the armchairs, but doesn’t feel like settling down in one of them. They remind her too strongly of the interrogation. Presumably, the others feel the same, since they are both unoccupied.

She has hardly slept a wink all night. She doesn’t dare believe that they’ve got away with it. The verdict has not yet been announced. And then there is all this about Helena and Krister Malmgren, and the murders …

‘What
are
they doing in there?’ Ida says.

‘You mustn’t worry,’ Adriana says gently. ‘The proceedings are as per usual.’

Ida sighs loudly. Anna-Karin watches her.

In the early hours of the morning, just when Anna-Karin had managed to fall asleep, Ida’s mobile had woken her. Julia was on the line. Drunk. Blurred speech. But sounding happy. Wanted Ida to guess who she had just been snogging. And then Julia handed the phone over to Erik.

‘We wanted you to know that we’re having a fucking great time without you. That’s all,’ he said. ‘Like,
fucking
great.’

Julia was giggling in the background. Anna-Karin cut the call. Turned the mobile off.

‘They’re probably just trying to wind us up,’ Linnéa says and tips her head towards the closed door of the courtroom.

‘In that case they’re doing fine,’ Ida says.

An hour passes. Then two. For Minoo, time is crawling.

Every minute ticking past is valuable time lost. They must stop Helena and Krister. Prevent them from killing anyone else. Prevent them from setting off the apocalypse.

But for as long as they are sitting around here, they can do nothing. Not even talk freely with each other.