Camilla Läckberg - The Hidden Child

‘Well, that certainly puts a different light on things,’ he said, getting up. ‘We need to do a search right away. Go and get the car while I ring the prosecutor and apply for a search warrant.’

That was all Paula needed to hear. She jumped up, the blood roaring in her ears. They were very close now, she could feel it. They were getting close.

Erica hadn’t said a single word since they got back in the car. She just stared out the window, with the diaries on her lap and her mother’s words and pain filling her head. Patrik left her alone, realizing that she would tell him when she was ready. He didn’t know as many of the details as Erica, since he hadn’t read the diaries, but while Erica was reading them, Kristina had been telling him about the son that Elsy had been forced to give away.

At first he had felt angry with his mother. How could she have kept something like that from Erica? And Anna, too. But gradually he began to see things from her point of view. She had made a promise to a friend and kept it. There had been times when she had considered telling Erica and Anna that they had a brother, but in the end she had decided to let things be. Though Patrik couldn’t condone her decision, he believed her when she said that she had tried to do what she thought was best.

Now that the secret was out, he could tell that Kristina was relieved. It was down to Erica to decide what she would do with the information. And he was pretty sure he could guess what that would be. He knew his wife well enough to realize that she would do everything in her power to find her brother. As he turned his head to study her profile as she sat next to him staring vacantly out the window, it suddenly occurred to him how much he loved her. It was so easy to forget. So easy to let life just roll by, with his job and the housework and… all the days that simply passed, one by one. But at certain moments – like right now – it hit him with an almost terrifying force just how much the two of them belonged together. And how much he loved waking up next to her each morning.

When they got home, Erica went straight up to her work-room. Still without saying a word and with the same distracted expression on her face. Patrik tidied up a bit and then put Maja in her cot for her afternoon nap before he dared disturb Erica.

‘Can I come in?’ he asked, gently knocking on the door. Erica turned and nodded, still a bit pale but with a more alert look in her eyes.

‘How are you feeling?’ he asked, sitting down in the armchair in the corner.

‘I’m not really sure, to be honest,’ she told him, taking a deep breath. ‘Dazed, I guess.’

‘Are you angry with my mother? Because she didn’t tell you, I mean?’

Erica thought for a moment but then shook her head. ‘No, not really. Mamma made Kristina promise, and I can understand why she was afraid of doing more damage by telling us.’

‘Are you going to tell Anna?’ asked Patrik.

‘Of course. She has the right to know too. But first I need to process everything myself.’

‘And I suppose you’ve already started the search. Am I right?’ asked Patrik, smiling as he nodded at the computer, with the Internet browser open on the screen.

Erica gave him a faint smile. ‘I’ve done some checking to see what avenues are available for tracing adoptions. It shouldn’t be that much of a problem to find him.’

‘Does it seem scary?’ asked Patrik. ‘You have no idea what he’s like or what sort of life he’s had.’

‘Super scary,’ Erica agreed. ‘But it seems scarier not to know. I mean, I have a brother out there somewhere. And I’ve always wanted a big brother…’ She smiled.

‘Your mother must have thought about him so many times over the years. Does this change your picture of her?’

‘It does,’ she replied. ‘I can’t say that I think she did the right thing by shutting us out, me and Anna, the way she did. But…’ She searched for the right words. ‘But I can understand that she didn’t dare let anybody in after that. It must have been awful for her, first being abandoned by the child’s father – because that’s what she thought had happened – and then being forced to give up the baby for adoption. She was only sixteen! I can’t even begin to imagine how painful it must have been for her. And right after losing her father, too – and in a practical sense her mother as well, from what I gather. No, I can’t blame her. No matter how much I’d like to, I just can’t.’

‘If only she had known that Hans didn’t abandon her.’ Patrik shook his head.

‘Yes, that’s almost the worst part. He never left Fjällbacka. And he never left her. Instead, somebody killed him.’ Erica’s voice broke. ‘But why? Why was he murdered?’

‘Do you want me to ring Martin and find out if they’ve been able to discover anything more?’ asked Patrik. It wasn’t just for Erica’s sake that he wanted to phone the station. The case fascinated him, even more so now that they had discovered the Norwegian was the father of Erica’s half-brother.

‘Could you do that?’ said Erica eagerly.

‘Sure, I’ll phone the station right now.’ Patrik got up. Fifteen minutes later he was back in Erica’s workroom, and she saw at once that he had news.

‘They’ve found a possible motive for the murder of Hans Olavsen,’ he told her.

Erica could hardly stay in her seat. ‘What is it?’ she said.

Patrik hesitated for a moment before telling her: ‘Hans Olavsen was not a resistance fighter. He was the son of a high-ranking SS officer, and he himself worked for the Germans during the occupation of Norway.’

Silence descended over the room. Erica stared at him, for once utterly speechless. Patrik went on:

‘Kjell Ringholm called in at the station earlier with a suicide letter from his father, which came in this morning’s post. Frans confessed that he murdered Britta. He also wrote that he was to blame for the deaths of Erik and Hans. They’re not sure whether to interpret that as an admission that he was the one who killed them.’

‘Then why did he say that he was to blame? What could that mean?’ said Erica. ‘And the fact that Hans was not in the resistance after all – I wonder if my mother knew that? How…?’ She shook her head.

‘What’s your opinion, after reading her diaries? Did she know?’ asked Patrik, sitting down again.

Erica thought for a moment, then shook her head. ‘No,’ she said firmly. ‘I don’t think Mamma knew. Absolutely not.’

‘The question is whether Frans found out about it,’ said Patrik, thinking aloud

‘Did Martin say anything about how they were going to proceed now?’

‘No, he just said that Paula had found a possible lead, and that they were on their way to check it out, and he would let me know as soon as they found out more. He sounded really elated,’ Patrik added, feeling a slight pang at being left out of the action.

‘I can tell what you’re thinking right now,’ said Erica, amused.

‘Well, I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t want to be over at the station, working the case,’ Patrik told her. ‘But I wouldn’t want it any other way, and I think you know that.’

‘I know,’ said Erica. ‘And I understand how you feel. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to be part of the investigation.’

As if to confirm what they had just been talking about, they heard a loud cry coming from Maja’s room. Patrik got up.

‘Aha – that’s the sound of my factory whistle.’

‘Back to the salt mines you go,’ laughed Erica. ‘But first bring that little slave-driver in here so I can give her a kiss.’

‘Be right back,’ said Patrik. As he was on his way out the door, he heard Erica suddenly gasp.