The Key (66 page)

‘I feel like such a hypocrite,’ Clara says. ‘I have joined this circle. I take orders from a man I hate. I don’t even have a good reason. Viktor believes that we can save the world. I don’t. All I wanted was … to belong. Just for once.’

Clara’s eyes are glistening with tears.

‘I know exactly how you feel,’ Minoo says quietly. ‘And I am not particularly proud of how I’ve behaved either.’

She holds on to her question for a moment but then she asks Clara.

‘You really don’t believe that we can save the world?’

‘You mustn’t listen to me,’ Clara replies. ‘I always believe the worst. It is as if Viktor got all the optimism and I all the pessimism. You know, like the light and the dark twin.’

An ironic smile comes and goes again.

‘Besides, it doesn’t matter what I believe or don’t believe now. I have sworn the oath to obey the Council. Do you know what they do to defectors?’

Minoo nods. She knows it far too well.

‘Anyway,’ Clara says. ‘I’m glad I can finally do some good. However small.’

‘What are you talking about?’

‘I know you won’t say what it’s for,’ Clara says. ‘But we’ll do it together once the assessments are under way. I’ll make myself invisible and stand guard in the corridor while you’re in Adriana’s room. If someone comes I’ll knock on the door.’

Minoo doesn’t want Clara to take any more risks. And she promised Viktor.

‘It’s too dangerous. Being invisible isn’t going to protect you. Animals can see you. What if Walter’s familiar—’

‘I’m going to do it,’ Clara interrupts.

‘Viktor would never forgive me.’

Clara looks very serious.

‘I love my brother more than anything. But I’m stronger than he thinks. There is no need for him to behave like my personal nurse. And I can say this thanks to you, Minoo. I owe you.’

‘You don’t understand. What I’m doing isn’t so important. It’s not worth—’

‘I don’t care,’ Clara says. ‘I’m doing it because I want to.’

* * *

Anna-Karin sits silently next to Alexander and stares straight ahead. She clutches her mobile. The car radio is on and running a report on the inexplicable breakdown of all communication links in the Engelsfors area. Alexander is just about to end yet another call to tell his contacts that Anna-Karin saw Olivia last night.

She remembers the scene in the gym hall, when Alexander carried Olivia away. And wonders if he feels personally responsible for her escape.

‘Thank you,’ he says. ‘I will be back in touch later.’

He pulls his hands-free set from his ear.

‘What will you do if you catch her?’ Anna-Karin asks.

‘What is required,’ Alexander replies.

Anna-Karin is relieved that he doesn’t go into details.

She keeps an eye on the road signs for Västerås. By now the kilometres are down to single figures. Suddenly, they pass the slip road to Västerås city centre and Alexander pulls the mobile from her grip.

‘I’ll drive you back to Engelsfors later,’ he says. ‘Just keep calm.’

Anna-Karin panics.

STOP!

Of course he saw it coming. Her power bounces back and the impact is so strong she feels as though her skull is cracking. She tries to keep her eyes focused but everything is spinning, as if in a kaleidoscope. Then darkness closes in around her.

Vanessa walks into the hall of the court building. It is a white-walled atrium, flooded with daylight through its high glass ceiling. Looking up, she can see the clouds floating past. The courtroom doors are large rectangles of light wood. Sofas are placed here and there on the polished, stone-flagged floor.

There are people everywhere. Far too many people. Vanessa worries that she and the others won’t get seats in the courtroom. They don’t allow more than thirty people in, and most of the crowd have come to support Erik, Robin and Kevin. Or to report on the proceedings. Linnéa needs to be able to see that her friends are there.

Vanessa, together with Evelina and Nicolaus, go quickly along to stand outside the door where some journalists have already clustered.

She scans the faces. Many are familiar from school. Linnéa’s father sits alone on one of the sofas. But there’s no sign of Alexander’s tall figure and no sense of Anna-Karin’s energy either.

‘Where are they?’ she says. ‘They left before us so they ought to be here already.’

‘I’m sure they’re just stuck in the traffic,’ Nicolaus says, but he looks concerned.

Vanessa takes her mobile out of her bag.

‘Hi, Vanessa!’ a voice says behind her.

She turns and sees a tall, gangly young man with a thin beard. He wears a keffiyeh round his neck and clutches a microphone.

‘Someone here pointed you out as the claimant’s girlfriend. Must be tough to date another girl in a small town. Can you tell us a little about your relationship? Were you dating when the alleged events took place? Do you think that it was a hate crime?’

Vanessa barely hears.

What if Alexander won’t allow Anna-Karin to come here at all? What if he has injured her in some way?

Dear God, Vanessa thinks. Don’t let anything bad happen to her. Don’t let him hurt her.

‘Julia!’ Felicia calls. Vanessa turns to the front door.

Julia has just come in with Erik’s parents and his older brother. Her blonde hair is neatly pinned up and her make-up is discreet. She is wearing a gauzy white dress under a pale pink cardigan. She comes across as a nice, ordinary girl, only better looking than most. Someone who has been caught up in this dreadful business through no fault of her own. Someone who would absolutely not go out with a boy capable of appalling acts of violence. Her bearing is proud. Sad yet courageous.

And Vanessa knows just how much Julia adores this role.

Cameras go off again and the guy in the keffiyeh gallops off towards Julia together with the other reporters.

‘We believe Erik!’ a middle-aged lady shouts. Her cheeks are as round as a baby’s. ‘Be strong! They’ll get through this!’

Disgusted, Vanessa turns her back and calls Anna-Karin.

‘We just want to be able to put all this behind us,’ she hears Julia say while she waits for the signal to get through. ‘We want to go back to our normal lives. She has stolen so much of our time together. It’s perhaps the worst thing she has done to us.’

Another signal. And someone replies.

‘Hello, Vanessa.’

It’s Alexander’s voice. Vanessa can’t find her own.

‘I have agents in place in the courtroom. They will contact me immediately if they even suspect any of you of trying to manipulate the conduct of the hearing. And if they do, Anna-Karin will pay a high price. I will not hesitate. Do you understand me?’

Vanessa’s face goes cold with fear.

‘Yes,’ she whispers.

‘You will have to put your faith in justice,’ Alexander says, ending the call.

Gustaf and Rickard have just come to join them. People behind them in the queue mutter angrily.

‘What’s wrong?’ Evelina asks.

Vanessa is scrutinising the people in the hall. Who is spying for Alexander? Of course, the bit about ‘agents’ might be a lie. She sees Viktor at a distance, but he won’t be in the courtroom until it is his time to take the witness stand.

‘Vanessa?’ Nicolaus says.

She tries to think logically but her thoughts are bouncing about. Anna-Karin might be in danger. They can’t do anything about Robin. Erik will be freed. What if Alexander has killed Anna-Karin already?

‘Nessa?’ Evelina says.

‘They’re not coming,’ Vanessa says. ‘I think Anna-Karin is all right but …’

She can’t say any more than that in this crowd. Nicolaus looks very worried. But not as worried as Evelina, who understands the full implications of Anna-Karin not being able to be here.

A voice on the intercom announces that it is time for the public to take their seats and the doors open automatically. Vanessa and Evelina walk in and find seats next to each other in the front row.

The room is divided by a glass wall, confining the public to one half, while the court sits on the other. The judge is a man in his sixties. When he bends to check something in his documents, Vanessa notices that he has a comb-over, evidence that he is refusing to accept the truth about what is happening to his own head. And Vanessa wonders if that means anything regarding his approach to his job. His deputy sits next to him, a young woman who looks not much older than the Chosen Ones. Vanessa wonders what she thinks about the case. Not that it matters. She isn’t going to deliver the judgment.

That is up to the judge and the magistrates, a woman and two men of the same age as the judge. The four of them are to decide if Erik, Robin and Kevin are guilty and, in that case, what their sentence should be.

The woman wears a grey suit, has short, white hair and a face with almost as many smoke-wrinkles as Mona Moonbeam. She looks distracted, as if she is planning tonight’s supper. One of the men has crew-cut grey hair and a military bearing. Vanessa suspects he is ex-army. The other man is the complete opposite. He is so fat his features seem blurred and his eyes have an uncertain look as he scans the crowd in the galleries. He seems stressed by all the people.

This is the court that they are supposed to put their faith in.

Then Linnéa comes in, walking between two men. One of them must be the prosecutor; the other Vanessa recognises as Linnéa’s solicitor.

Vanessa’s eyes fill with tears as she watches Linnéa on the other side of the glass wall. Her head is bent and her arms crossed. She isn’t wearing any make-up and the clothes she’s wearing obviously don’t belong to her.

Linnéa
, Vanessa thinks, hoping that Linnéa can pick up her thoughts.
I’m here
.

Linnéa meets her eyes for a brief moment.

Is Anna-Karin here?
Linnéa asks.

No
.

Vanessa won’t tell her why because Linnéa mustn’t be troubled now.

Good
.
I was worried she’d try something
.

It will go all right anyway
, Vanessa thinks.
I promise
.

No reply now. Linnéa sits down to the left with her back to the public.

Then the defendants enter from the right. They are escorted by three prison guards each. All three defendants are wearing a suit and tie, their hair is neatly combed and they look serious. Despite their handcuffs, they look more like victims than criminals. That is especially true of Erik and Robin, who have missed out on the summer sun, and no longer look like sporty hockey lads with rosy cheeks. Vanessa hears a broken sob from Erik’s mother. The boys sit down with their representatives on the right-hand side of the court.

The judge starts talking to introduce the hearing. The prosecutor outlines the case and reads out a description of the alleged events. Vanessa can’t concentrate properly, and instead becomes fixated on the way he keeps using the phrase ‘by means of’. Why can’t he talk normally? She hates this overly complicated language.

‘How do the defendants plead?’ the judge asks.

Erik’s solicitor speaks into the microphone.

‘Erik Forslund pleads not guilty.’

Vanessa looks at Robin or, rather, the back of his neck with its short, blond hair. And, even though she knows it is hopeless, she still hopes.

* * *

Not guilty
. Erik. Robin. Kevin. All three. Innocent.

Linnéa already knew how they would plead, but to hear it in open court makes her feel as if she stands accused. That she is the one to be judged. And punished.

She regrets not taking a tranquilliser but it’s too late now. She can’t start swallowing pills in front of the court.

Not guilty
.

They have just taken a short break and Hans-Peter Ramström is about to question her. His voice is kind when he asks her if the perpetrators are present in court. And, if so, can she point to them?

Kevin doesn’t meet her eyes when she points at him. Robin doesn’t either, but Erik looks straight at her and, even though she doesn’t want to hear his thoughts, she can’t stop them all from entering her mind.

Just wait, you fucking whore. Just wait
.

His face remains completely calm.

The prosecutor asks Linnéa to give an account of what happened that evening. He leads her through the events with his questions. Linnéa tries to be coherent, tries to focus on what he says. But she is constantly aware of the public on the other side of the glass wall, of the video camera pointed at her by the deputy judge and of the eyes of the judge. Now and then, she senses some of Kevin and Robin’s anxious, fluttering thoughts as well as Erik’s powerful fantasies of what he’ll do to her once all this is over.

Then, suddenly, it is the turn of Erik’s solicitor.

The famous lawyer looks different from the photos. He is shorter. His brown eyes are almost jovial. A perfectly ordinary, friendly man. Until he opens his mouth.

Now, Linnéa becomes even more certain that she is the accused.

He calls into question everything she has said.

How could she be certain that the man on the bridge was Erik? He was masked, wasn’t he? The water was ice cold at the time, so how did she manage to get out? Why didn’t she tell the police? Who made the anonymous call to the emergency services? How did she explain the curious coincidence that the mobiles belonging to both boys were in the PE centre all night?

She tries to answer, to explain, but she feels as if she is just making things worse. Now and then, the lawyer’s thoughts get through to her. He is positive that he’ll win and get one up on that old sod Ramström. She also senses the doubts in the minds of the judge and the magistrates. Her story is unconvincing.
She
is unconvincing.

At least she doesn’t lose her temper. She is too preoccupied with surviving.

Does Linnéa have a police record? Contacts with the social services? She is actually subject to a Care Order? Foster care? And the flat where she lives now belongs to the social services? Does Linnéa have a history of alcohol abuse? Cannabis abuse? Dependence on any other classified substances? If so, which substances? Would she please list for the court the drugs she has consumed, or perhaps that is too hard to remember? Does she have any psychological problems? Has she seen a psychologist? Twice a week, is that so? Did she tell her psychologist about the alleged events by the canal? No? Why not? Perhaps there wasn’t all that much to tell?