When the Devil Holds the Candle (31 page)

Not what he had expected.

September 11.

Ingemar Funder was driving an old Ford Sierra. He was a stout, dark-haired man with a heavy face and dark, deep-set eyes. He did everything in a quiet and modest manner, and he never drew attention to himself. He was known as a calm and meticulous man who never complained. But he lived alone. The company of others was too difficult for him. He stopped at the gate and got out, looked up at the ruins. He walked along the gravel and around the side of the house. It was dark, but he could see the gazebo that his father had built. A silver wedding anniversary present for his mother. It was untouched by the fire and quite beautiful. He walked up the two steps and sat on the bench inside. He sat there for a long time. He thought about everything that had happened and realized that he could go on as he had before. Then he stood up. He tested the floorboards with his foot. Some of the planks were loose and gave under his weight. He went out to the lawn. It had stopped raining. The clouds split open, and the light of a pale moon struck his powerful shoulders. For a moment he stood there, bathed in the bluish white light. Eleven years had passed.
Fifteen minus eleven is four,
he thought.
Statute of limitations regarding penalties and other legal consequences: A deed is no longer punishable when the statute of limitations has occurred in accordance with
clause 67–69.
Four more years. At times, over the course of the years that had passed, it occurred to him that his mother didn't remember. That she had simply repressed everything. They had never checked the handwriting on the letter—it had never occurred to them to do so. He was trustworthy. In a flash he remembered his mother's voice, her desperate scream and burning eyes.
You have to help me, Ingemar!

As for the body of Andreas Winther and what took place in the cellar of the deceased, the police consider this a mystery. It is also unclear why he was in Funder's house. The only one who might be able to clarify matters is eighteen-year-old Sivert Skorpe, who spent September 1 with Winther. However, this individual has disappeared. He is five foot seven, with blond hair cut short. He is wearing tight black jeans and probably a leather jacket. He speaks with an east-country accent, when he says anything at all. Any information about this individual should be reported to the nearest police station.

Maybe you've seen him?