by Koppel, Hans
Perhaps she was blowing it up out of all proportion. As her mother had pointed out, she wasn’t the first woman in history to be unfaithful. Nor was she the first one to appear naked in a film. However, the short clip she’d seen had reminded her of just how sexual their encounters had been.
Was that why Erik had reacted in the way he did? Was that why he expected more? Because he believed the strength of her response stemmed from powerful underlying emotions?
‘Are you going deaf?’
Anna spun round. Hedda was standing with her hands on her hips like an old busybody.
‘The phone’s ringing.’
Her daughter already had her hand on the receiver. She answered the call.
‘Nothing in particular,’ she said.
Anna could tell by her voice that it was Magnus.
‘In the kitchen,’ Hedda said.
Anna guessed he’d asked where she was. Strange, given that he’d phoned the landline. Anna looked at her daughter, who was inspecting the floor as she always did when she was on the phone.
‘But why? Oh, okay.’
Hedda finished the conversation and looked up at her mother.
‘Dad,’ she said. ‘We’re to stand by the window and look out.’
‘Look out?’
Hedda shrugged.
‘Why?’
‘He didn’t say.’
They looked out through the window. Five seconds passed, ten. Then they started to laugh when a red SUV glided majestically into view. Hedda ran out, Anna took her time. Magnus had just got out of the car when she came to the door.
‘What do you think?’ he asked, proudly. ‘A hundred and fifty thousand, and it’s ours.’
‘Is it second-hand?’
‘Of course it’s second-hand, good God, a new one costs five or six hundred thousand kronor. What do you think?’
Anna nodded.
‘Absolutely.’
‘Jump in.’
‘I’ll just lock the door.’
‘Oh, don’t worry about that, just a quick spin.’
They cruised slowly around the streets of the neighbourhood. Magnus was unstoppable, told them all the about the car’s merits, the many finesses, the superior finish.
‘You really sit quite high up,’ Anna commented.
‘Just that in itself. The feeling it gives you, the overview.’
‘Like lords,’ Anna teased.
‘Ganz richtig, real gangsta wheels. What do you think, sweetheart?’
He turned and looked at Hedda in the back seat.
‘Nice,’ she said.
‘It sure is.’
‘How much fuel does it guzzle?’ Anna asked.
‘About one to ten, which isn’t bad. Not much more than the one we’ve got. What do you reckon?’
Anna turned to face her hopeful husband.
‘What’s the mileage?’’
‘Six thousand.’
‘Almost the same as our old car.’
‘God, there’s no comparison. This is German quality, a totally different car.’
Anna looked straight ahead again, thought how strange it was that something so meaningless could be so important. And how difficult it was not to be certain of the obvious fact that her husband’s boyish must-have joy would be replaced by everyday indifference within a fortnight.
‘Yes, why not,’ she said. ‘If you want it, so do I.’
Magnus grinned. He leaned forwards and put on the radio, turned it up loud, stretched his arms out to the wheel and with immense pleasure pushed back into the seat.
Magnus stopped outside the house.
‘I’ll just drive back into town then and finish up the deal,’ he said.
Anna nodded.
‘Still a hundred thousand less than the one we looked at.’
Magnus was pleased that she’d approved.
‘Exactly. I think that’s wise. Don’t always need to buy new. It’s the first two thousand miles that cost. And this is a very different car.’
Anna patted him on the knee, opened the door and got out. She turned to Hedda.
‘Are you coming, sweetie?’
‘I want to go into town with Dad. Can I sit in the front?’
‘Of course.’
Anna stood on the road and watched them drive off. She went into the house, closed the door behind her and caught a whiff of strawberries. A faint, barely perceptible trace. The air felt different. As if someone who had been out in the cold had just passed through the room. She stood absolutely still, with her hand on the door, listening for sounds.
‘Hello?’
She slowly let go of the doorknob and took a step into the room.
‘Hello?’
She looked around for something she could use as a weapon, grabbed an umbrella, held it out in front of her and called again.
She sniffed. The smell of strawberries wasn’t so strong any more. Had she got used to it or had she just imagined it?
‘Erik?’
She went into the kitchen, swapped the umbrella for a kitchen knife, and swallowed to wet her throat.
‘Hello?’
She pushed open the door to the bedroom. Looked under the bed, carried on to Hedda’s room. She stopped by the stairs down to the cellar, hesitated.
‘Hello? I’m going to get the neighbour. And if there’s anyone down there I want you to show yourself.’
A neighbour. How would she explain that to her husband? If it really was Erik and the neighbour detained him and called the police? Everything would have to come out.
‘Erik?’
She went down a step. And one more.
‘I have to warn you, I’m armed.’
She listened. The feeling that someone was down there was overwhelming. She didn’t dare continue. She backed her way up, retreated down the hall with the knife out in front of her.
‘Listen. If there’s anyone down there, I want you to leave the house immediately. I’m going to get help. You’ll have time to get away.’
She darted towards the front door, threw the knife down on the floor and ran to her closest neighbours, an elderly couple who had stayed in their big house, even though the children had long since left home. The woman opened the door. Anna was nervous and talked very fast.
‘Hello, I’m sorry. We just went out for a spin and I forgot to lock the door and now I think there’s someone in the house. Probably just my imagination, but…’
‘Göran, can you come here a minute?’
Anna explained the situation again to the husband. She was ashamed that she lacked the courage, but Göran seemed happy to be charged with such a dangerous task, despite his age. He put on his shoes and went back to the house with Anna.
‘I’m probably just imagining it,’ she said, embarrassed, ‘but it really felt like someone was in there.’
‘In the cellar?’
‘I don’t know.’
They went through the house.
‘Thank you, thank you so much,’ Anna said ten minutes later when they’d established that the house was empty of intruders. ‘I just got so scared, I don’t know what’s wrong with me.’
‘Not to worry, it was a pleasure. If it happens again, just ring the bell.’
‘Thank you. Really. I feel so embarrassed now.’
He put a hand on her shoulder.
‘Well, you shouldn’t. I know that feeling only too well. And it’s better to be on the safe side. I would have done exactly the same thing.’
‘Thank you.’
He left and Anna closed the door behind him, filled her lungs and let out a loud sigh.
32
‘I’ll have to go over with a bottle of wine.’
Hedda was sitting in front of her computer in her room and Anna had just told Magnus about the imaginary intruder.
‘I still don’t understand,’ Magnus said. ‘It smelt odd?’
‘But it was like, like someone had just walked through the room.’
Magnus gave her
a sceptical look.
‘The white lady sort of thing?’
‘Okay, okay, has your imagination never run away with you? I did in fact want to lock the door. It was you who said I didn’t need to. But don’t say anything to Hedda. It’ll only make her nervous.’
Magnus smiled at her, held his hands up in the air and wiggled his fingers.
‘Whoooohoooo.’
Anna let out an unimpressed sigh.
‘I’m sorry,’ Magnus said. ‘You did the right thing. You never know. Always best to be on the safe side.’
He opened the fridge, grabbed a beer and looked out at their newly purchased car. Anna went into the sitting room and switched on the TV. The phone rang and Magnus answered it. Anna saw him put it down again.
‘Who was it?’
‘No one.’
The phone rang again. Magnus answered it again.
‘Yes? Hello? Hello?’
He hung up.
‘Probably some salesperson who got an answer elsewhere.’
It was generally only salespeople who called on the landline. With the exception of Kathrine and a few parents from school who didn’t have their mobile numbers. The phone rang for a third time. Magnus looked at the display before he barked: ‘Yes?’
He stood silently for quite a while.
‘Hello?’ he said, finally, before putting the phone down in irritation.
‘Someone messing around?’ Anna suggested.
The phone rang for a fourth time and Magnus shouted up to Hedda.
‘There’s someone who keeps calling but doesn’t say anything, maybe it’s for you.’
Hedda answered.
‘Oh, hi, Granny. Fine, thank you. Yes. No. Not today. Of course.’
She came into the sitting room with the phone.
‘It’s Granny.’
Anna took it.
‘Hi, Mum. Did you just call?’
‘Wasn’t me.’
‘Okay.’
Anna was worried that her mother might ask whether it could have been Erik and quickly changed the conversation.
‘We’ve bought a new car.’
‘Have you? Why?’
‘The other one was getting a bit old.’
‘But it was such a nice car.’
‘A BMW,’ Anna said, and noticed Magnus grow a few inches in the background.
‘Is it difficult for you to speak?’ her mother whispered.
‘Second-hand,’ Anna said.
‘So you haven’t told him. Good. I think it might be wisest to wait. I called the national registry a few days ago, checked up on Erik Månsson. I didn’t tell you earlier because I felt so ashamed.’
Anna didn’t know what to say. Her mother had phoned the authorities? Why on earth had she done that?
‘His mother is dead,’ Kathrine continued. ‘I don’t know how, but she died a couple of years ago now. And his dad disappeared out of the picture early on, moved to Finland when Erik was just a baby.’
‘Okay.’
‘I don’t think he’s had an easy life.’
‘Mmm.’
‘I can tell that it’s not easy for you to talk. Can we maybe speak tomorrow?’
‘Of course.’
‘Take care then, dear. Bye.’
‘You too, lots of love.’
Anna put down the phone and saw Magnus was looking at her, full of anticipation.
‘She wondered how we could afford it,’ Anna said, and saw her husband grow even more
As if the borrowed money bought status and increased his value as a person. The telephone rang again.
‘Hello?’
‘Can you tell Mr Wimpy to stop answering the phone?’
Anna felt her cheeks burning.
‘You must have got the wrong number.’
‘I have to meet you. We need to talk.’
‘Not a problem.’
She cut off the conversation and struggled to swallow.
‘Wrong number.’
She put the telephone down on the table in front of her. Stared at the TV, but saw only the phone in the foreground. Her ears shut down and a shrill sound filled her head, a sound that she couldn’t block out. She barely heard the phone when it started to ring again. She grabbed it, quick as a flash.
‘Anna.’
‘If you answered your mobile phone I wouldn’t need to call the landline.’
‘Hello?’
‘You’re such a bad liar.’
‘Hello?’
‘And yet you’re living a lie.’
‘Hello?’
Anna looked at Magnus, who had left the kitchen and was walking towards her.
‘Come here and I’ll fuck you like I fucked you on the video. I’m watching you right now.’
Anna heard herself moaning in the background and hung up. She held the red button in until the phone was completely dead.
‘No one there?’
Anna nodded.
‘Just as well to keep it off then.’
She glanced at her husband and then turned to the TV again. She could feel him looking at her, and reached out for the remote control. She couldn’t even change channels naturally.
Magnus turned and left the room.
‘Hedda? Someone keeps calling our landline. Do you have any idea who it might be?’
33
Kathrine barely recognised her daughter’s voice. She sounded frightened and stressed. Erik Månsson really had knocked her off kilter and it couldn’t continue.
Who might know more about this motherless, misguided young man? Kathrine logged on to ratsit.se and typed in the address in Huddinge where he and his mother had been registered. A list of all the other people living in the block came up. Plus their ages. She chose a man of thirty-five and searched for his phone number.
‘Lars Johansson in the middle of eating,’ he answered, humorously.
Kathrine could hear children’s voices and a woman scolding in the background.
‘Oh, so sorry, didn’t mean to interrupt,’ she said. ‘Can I call you back later?’
‘What’s it about?’
Kathrine guessed insurance broker, but she wasn’t sure why.
‘Well, my name is Kathrine Hansson and I’m trying to get in touch with an old friend who used to live at this address. Anneli Månsson. I’m coming up to Stockholm and thought it would be nice to meet her again, but the number that I’ve got doesn’t seem to work any longer.’
‘Oh,’ said Lars Johansson in the middle of eating.
‘I’m sorry?’
‘Just a moment, I’ll just go into the next room, so the kids don’t hear.’
‘Sorry, would you like me to call back later?’
‘There,’ the man said, when, by the sound of it, he had locked himself in the family bathroom. ‘You’re an old friend of Anneli Månsson, did you say?’
‘Yes. We met on a holiday a few years ago, and had a lovely time together. And as I’m coming to Stockholm, I thought I’d surprise her.’
‘Well, I’m very sorry to say I’ve got bad news for you then,’ Lars Johansson, the insurance broker, said. ‘Sadly, Anneli Månsson has passed away.’
‘Passed away? But she wasn’t that old.’
‘She took her own life.’
‘T-t-took her own life?’ Kathrine stammered. ‘Why on earth would she do that?’
She tried to sound shocked and suitably upset.
‘I guess you never really know with that kind of thing,’ Lars in the middle of eating replied.
‘But she was so full of life,’ Kathrine said, and really felt very sorry for herself.
‘Yes,’ Lars Johansson agreed, stoically. ‘You just never know.’
Kathrine changed tack.
‘Did you know her well?’ she asked.
‘Not at all.’
‘Did you know her son?’
‘No. But from what I understand, he was the one who found her.’
‘Oh, the poor boy,’ Kathrine said, and finished
the conversation.
She rang the next person on the list of Erik Månsson’s former neighbours, a woman her own age, a few years older in fact.
‘Barbro Wellin.’
‘Hello, my name is Kathrine Hansson and I’m calling from Helsingborg.’
‘I see.’
Kathrine explained the situation to her, without leaving anything out. She found it hard to make up a story and lie to a peer.
‘Your daughter had a fling with Erik Månsson and now he won’t leave her alone?’ Barbro Wellin summarised.
‘Yes. And that’s why I’m calling. Is he… dangerous?’
‘I don’t know,’ Barbro said. ‘He lived with his mother, who committed suicide. But you knew that. To tell you the truth, I never really knew them. There was a wall of silence around them. And then there was all the gossip.’
‘What gossip?’
‘That he and his mother… Well, I don’t know how seriously to take rumours like that, but well, there was something going on.’
‘You mean that there was something going on between them?’ Kathrine guessed.
‘Yes, at least, that’s what was hinted at between the lines,’ Barbro Wellin replied.
Anna was in the bathroom brushing her teeth.
‘Oh, how sweet,’ Magnus shouted from the bedroom.
Anna had her mouth full of toothpaste and couldn’t say anything. Their curious daughter asked instead.
‘What?’
‘Your mother,’ Magnus said. ‘She’s left a racing car sweet on my pillow.’
‘Why?’
‘It’s the kind of thing you do in posh hotels, leave sweets on the pillow. And Mummy’s put a racing car on mine because we’ve just bought a new car.’
‘I want one too.’
