The Key (68 page)

When Adriana straightens up, her eyes are red-rimmed.

‘What has happened, truly?’ she asks.

Minoo sits down next to her.

If she can free Adriana from her magic chains, she won’t have to live under the tyranny of the Council; she will have a genuine chance of escape and, if she does, her memories will no longer be a danger to her. She can have them all back.

As a bonus, Minoo will have the box. Everyone will believe that Adriana took it with her when she escaped.

‘I can’t explain what happened,’ Minoo says. ‘But I can return your memories to you. And I will try to remove your bond.’

‘I don’t know how to thank you,’ Adriana says.

‘I can’t promise anything.’

Adriana only nods and sits back on the sofa.

‘What would you like me to do?’ she asks.

‘Nothing at all,’ Minoo says and releases the black smoke.

Vanessa returns to the courtroom and sits down in her old place. Her eyes are still brimming with tears. She knows she should be strong for Linnéa’s sake, but she can’t stop crying.

After listening to the cross-examination of Linnéa, the judge announced that it was time for a lunch break.

Lunch.

As if the whole trial is nothing more than a normal day’s work and now it’s time to pop round the corner for pie and chips.

Vanessa felt like screaming.

She thought her view of the judicial system was cynical, but now she sees that she has been utterly naïve. She had never dreamed that anyone would be allowed to do what Erik’s solicitor has just done to Linnéa in a court of law. He systematically scrutinised her life, took it apart, twisted and distorted what he found and used it to make
her
seem like the guilty one.

Compared to Erik’s top-class solicitor, the performances of Robin and Kevin’s representatives were neither as polished nor as aggressive, but by then it didn’t matter. Linnéa was already in so much pain, so every question they asked was like probing raw wounds.

Vanessa felt her pain. Literally, for the bond between them hasn’t disappeared even though they are no longer a couple.

Once the questioning had finished, Linnéa was escorted from the courtroom by Ludvig. She didn’t reply when Vanessa tried to send thoughts to her. Now, as she is brought back into court, her face is as blank as before.

Evelina takes Vanessa’s hand and squeezes it.

It is time for Erik’s cross-examination.

Vanessa watches him as he sits down. From her position she can see his profile. During the questioning he kept looking at Linnéa gravely, sometimes a little pityingly.

Vanessa is in no mood to listen to his lies but, above all, she doesn’t want Linnéa to hear.
I’m here
, she thinks to Linnéa.
I’m here all the time
. Vanessa hopes that she hears her.

* * *

Linnéa hears Vanessa’s thoughts, but it’s as if they come from a very great distance. She looks down at her hands. They lie on the table in front of her, balled into fists. She feels that they don’t belong to her.

When Robin’s solicitor started asking her questions, she had been hurting so much she simply shut off. Answered as if on autopilot. Linnéa doesn’t know what she said. It could’ve been anything. It doesn’t matter. They will go free, all three of them. All Engelsfors will regard them as innocent victims and Linnéa will be the crazed liar.

And she knows what Erik is thinking. How certain he is that he’ll get away with it next time. He has been fantasising around several different scenarios, but with the same end point. Linnéa dead. It will look like suicide.

I’m not alone, Linnéa tells herself. I have powers. I’m a witch. One of the Chosen Ones.

But the gut-wrenching fear is all that is real to her now. And the look in Erik’s eyes.

Just wait, you fucking whore. Just wait
.

Ramström clears his throat. The court will now listen to Erik’s statements.

* * *

Anna-Karin has been in Västerås many times. But she has never driven a car and, as for the court, she only has a vague memory of Gustaf saying that it is near the railway station. And Alexander still has her mobile.

She parks the car near the station, wondering how she managed to drive it all the way here. She gets out, feeling as if she is still holding the wheel in a frantic grip.

Anna-Karin looks around. She sees a bearded man in a leather waistcoat coming out from the station.

‘Excuse me!’ she says. ‘Can I ask you something?’

The man glances nervously at her and walks on. Anna-Karin realises that with her torn, filthy clothes and wild hair, she must look deranged.

Tell me where the district court building is
, she commands.

‘On the other side of the tracks,’ he replies tonelessly, and points to a covered footbridge.

Anna-Karin runs into the station, past the newsagent’s. She pushes people aside on the narrow escalator, speeds across the footbridge, almost slips on the terracotta tiles as she runs straight through a group of girls wearing identical tracksuits and carrying large sports bags. On the other side, she takes the stairs two steps at a time.

She enters a parking lot. Spots a large building with a sign in front.

VÄSTMANLAND DISTRICT COURT
.

Maybe she’ll get there in time. She must.

She runs inside and gives the guards at the security gate a straightforward order.

Let me in
.

* * *

Ramström leafs through some of his documents. Linnéa wonders if he believes he has any hope of winning. She can’t read his mind. Earlier, she couldn’t keep other people’s thoughts out of her head. Now her power seems to have jammed.

‘Could you tell us in your own words and with as many details as possible, what you did and where you were during the evening when the alleged crime was committed?’ Ramström says. He looks up at Erik.

Linnéa tries to detach herself completely but it’s not working.

‘I had supper with my family and my girlfriend, Ida,’ Erik says. ‘She … passed away last winter.’

He pauses. Linnéa doesn’t need to look at him to know how well he does ‘grieving boyfriend’. She has seen it before. His big thing is bravely fighting back tears.

‘Then we went to the Positive Engelsfors Centre,’ he finally continues. ‘Helena Malmgren had asked us to help set things up for their special spring equinox party. She and her husband, Krister.’

Two more dead people, another reverential pause. A long one. Linnéa counts to five seconds. Then to ten.

‘And what happened afterwards?’ Ramström says.

Erik still doesn’t reply. The silence is growing unbearable. Linnéa has to have a look. Erik is staring at the table in front of him.

‘Erik?’ Ramström says.

‘Sorry,’ Erik says. He looks at the prosecutor. ‘I don’t know what I’m doing.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘I don’t know why I’m lying about everything. I take responsibility for what I did. One hundred per cent.’

Linnéa is confused. And it looks as if Erik’s star solicitor feels just as lost. Robin and Kevin look uneasily at each other. But Erik seems confident as he faces Ramström.

‘Helena and I had talked about it for a long time. We felt that it was time that someone put Linnéa in her place.’

Is she hearing this? Or is she out of her mind and hallucinating? Maybe this is the psychosis Erik’s lawyer was on about?

‘Could you explain what was meant by “put her in her place”?’ Ramström asks. He seems to be the only one who has the new situation under control.

‘Helena wanted us to wait until we knew Linnéa wasn’t at home. Then we’d go there and wreck her flat.’

* * *

Vanessa hears Julia and Felicia moan. The reporters are scribbling frenetically.

‘What the fuck are you doing?’ Erik’s older brother shouts, and tries to stand up, but his father pulls him down onto his seat again.

The judge demands silence. ‘This is no way to behave in a court of law,’ he says.

Vanessa senses her energy and turns her head. Anna-Karin is pushing her way through the aisle. Eventually she manages to squeeze herself in to sit next to Vanessa. She is very dirty and her clothes are in tatters. Her breathing is forced, as if she has been running.

And her eyes burn with a dangerous glow. They are fixed on Erik.

The judge is still talking.

‘I am aware that cases of this type arouse strong emotions, but you must show some respect.’

Anna-Karin holds out her hand and Vanessa takes it. She gives Anna-Karin all her strength, doubles Anna-Karin’s capacity, hoping that the Council’s spies also feel the magic that radiates from them; that they realise they don’t stand a chance against the Chosen Ones.

* * *

‘Can you tell me what happened when you got into Linnéa’s flat?’ Ramström asks.

‘Sure,’ Erik says.

Linnéa stares at him. He looks perfectly content. Relaxed.

And suddenly she becomes aware of her energy. Linnéa turns around and sees Anna-Karin in the front row. She looks like the angel of wrath. Vanessa is at her side, boosting her power.

And Alexander is nowhere in sight.

Linnéa can breathe again.

‘Helena had given us a key so we just walked straight in,’ Erik continues. ‘We brought liquor and beer cans. The idea was to make it look as if Linnéa had thrown a party that got out of hand. Helena said that social services would kick her out of the flat and lock her up somewhere.’

‘That’s quite enough, Erik,’ his solicitor says in an authoritative voice, and then turns to the judge. ‘I request a break at this point.’

‘I don’t want a fucking break,’ Erik snaps.

‘Neither do I,’ the judge says. ‘This defendant clearly has a tale to tell, and I for one want to hear him out.’

‘Thank you, sir,’ Erik says. He settles back in his chair. ‘Anyway. The slag came home earlier than we expected.’

‘Erik!’ his lawyer hisses.

‘Is he allowed to interrupt me all the time?’ Erik asks.

‘No, he isn’t,’ Ramström says, and can’t quite hide his smile. ‘He will have to wait his turn. Please continue, Erik. I assume that you were referring to the fact that Linnéa came home?’

‘Yes, that’s it.’

You could hear a pin drop in the court. The judge and the magistrates observe Erik with interest. Linnéa is fascinated, too. He is completely calm, completely himself. He seems convinced that he is talking to a bunch of mates.

‘Suddenly she was just standing there,’ Erik says. ‘First I was worried because she saw our faces, but then I realised it didn’t matter.’

‘Why didn’t it matter?’

‘No one would believe her. I knew Helena would back us with an alibi if something went wrong. And, just in case, we had left our mobiles in the centre. It would be Linnéa’s word against ours and Helena’s … a no-brainer, don’t you think?’

He laughs a little.

‘You mean that nobody would have believed Linnéa if she accused you of vandalising her flat?’

‘Not a soul. I might as well have let her call the cops and gone back to the PE Centre,’ Erik says.

‘So, why didn’t you?’

Erik’s complacent smile is replaced by a chilly expression.

‘I wanted to take the opportunity.’

‘What opportunity?’

‘To kill her.’

Erik’s words hang in the still air of the courtroom. Everyone has heard him; everyone knows who he is now.

‘I was disappointed with Helena, who just wanted us to trash the flat. I sort of
hoped
something like that would happen. You know, that Linnéa would show up.’

‘So that you could kill her?’ Ramström asks.

‘That’s right,’ Erik replies. ‘So, when she ran off, I set out after her. And when we had trapped her on the bridge … it was just perfect. I would have liked to carry on messing around for a bit longer, but someone might have come by, a car or something. I got such a kick out of seeing her so scared. And then, to see her do what I told her to. Just jump … and sink. I felt so fucking powerful!’

Minoo had described Erik’s memories just along those lines. Now Linnéa can pick up Erik’s thoughts. He is loving every minute of this. Anna-Karin is making him
enjoy
telling the truth.

‘How did you feel when you learnt that Linnéa had survived?’

‘I was disappointed. But hoped for better luck next time.’

Linnéa hears a long-drawn-out whimpering noise. She sees that, on the other side of the glass, Julia is having a breakdown. Her face is swollen with crying. Next to her, Felicia sits with her head almost resting on her knees.

Erik sighs loudly when he sees Julia.

‘Get over it,’ he says wearily.

‘This behaviour is quite unacceptable,’ the judge says. ‘One more incident like this and I will call the guards. Anyone who causes a disturbance will be asked to leave.’

He nods to the prosecutor to continue.

‘Erik, I want to establish that I’ve heard you correctly,’ Ramström says. ‘When you heard that Linnéa had survived your attempt to drown her in the canal, your reaction was to start planning other ways of murdering her?’

‘That’s right,’ Erik says, leaning back in his chair. ‘I would have done it, you know. Should have done it ages ago.’

‘Could you develop that thought further?’

Erik chuckles.

‘Robin, Kevin and I have always got off on beating the shit out of the plebs. But Linnéa is special to me. I can’t think of anyone I hate more.’

He looks at her with that smile of his. And though she knows he can’t do anything to her now, fear still rises inside her.

‘Why do you hate Linnéa Wallin?’ Ramström asks. His voice is almost seductive.

‘Because she’s a stuck-up little whore who thinks she’s so special. That sort of thing cannot be tolerated.’

His cold smile again.

‘That kind of person needs to be exterminated.’

Robin and Kevin look shocked. Linnéa wonders if even they have ever heard him speak so frankly.

‘I’m only sorry about one thing. I should have spoken out long before now. And I shouldn’t have threatened to kill Robin and Kevin to make them take their confessions back.’

‘I see,’ Ramström says. ‘You told them that you would murder them unless they lied to this court?’