Chapter 31
While Karin clears away after dinner—game stew with lingonberry sauce and mashed potatoes—?ke sits down in front of the TV to watch the evening news.
He is alone in the living room—Peter is downstairs, putting the boys to bed.
Next door has been a hive of activity all day—police cars all over the place. Information about what had happened was posted online later.
?ke has followed every report, all the speculation, read every word he could find.
At last it is time for the local news from SVT J?mtland.
He immediately recognizes the view on-screen. It is Sadeln, seen from Lake ?re. The Lowengrens’ ugly house is clearly visible as the camera pans across the area.
Karin comes over and stands beside ?ke’s armchair with a tea towel in her hand.
“Can you turn it up?” she says, her eyes glued to the TV.
The reporter gives a detailed account of the police presence during the morning, how the body of a young woman was found outside one of the biggest houses in Sadeln. Then she interviews a gray-haired female police chief in her sixties, who refuses to say whether or not this is a homicide.
“But do you think she froze to death, or was she killed?” the reporter presses the police officer. “Surely you must have a theory?”
“Unfortunately I can’t comment at this stage.”
The reporter continues to push, but she gets nowhere.
“Terrible business,” ?ke says when the piece is over.
Karin sinks down on the sofa as if she has no words. She looks pale and tired; she seems to have been deeply affected by the events next door. ?ke has always known that his wife has a bigger heart than he does—especially when it comes to children and young people.
“I’m not surprised it ended so badly,” he continues. “You should have seen how drunk they were last night.”
“They treated you terribly,” Karin says. “So disrespectful!”
?ke agrees. He told Karin what happened when he went over there; he still shudders at the memory of their behavior. He remembers the surge of anger he felt, the rage he could barely control when that girl tried to touch his penis.
Someone had to put their foot down.
She needed to be taught a lesson.
“It was only a matter of time before an accident happened in that house,” he says, drumming his fingers on the arm of the chair. “No doubt about it.”
“In a way they have only themselves to blame,” Karin says quietly, as if she doesn’t want to speak ill of the dead. “No one forced them to drink so much.”
“It was their choice,” ?ke agrees.
“Still, it’s a tragedy that she’s dead,” his wife adds. “Her poor parents—it won’t be easy for them.”
?ke sees that Karin has tears in her eyes. She wipes them away discreetly with the blue-and-white striped tea towel.
“Like you said—tragic,” he agrees, mainly to soothe his wife’s feelings.
They hear footsteps on the stairs, and Peter joins them. He sits down on the sofa beside his mom. ?ke notices that the hair at the back of his neck his way too long—he really needs to go to the barber.
?ke sighs. Things are difficult for his eldest son right now. His whole life fell apart when his wife, Anna, left him a year ago. ?ke will never understand how she could ask for a divorce, with no warning whatsoever—especially when the boys were so little.
On top of everything, she had the nerve to argue over custody. First of all she demanded sole custody; then eventually she agreed that Peter could have the boys every other weekend and during some of the school breaks.
But Peter doesn’t want to talk about it. As soon as ?ke or Karin tries to bring up the subject, wondering why the marriage collapsed, their son simply shuts down.
“Are they asleep?” Karin says, patting Peter’s arm.
She worries about him all the time. The fact that he lives in Gothenburg while they are in ?re doesn’t exactly help now he’s a single dad. Karin often talks about how difficult things are for him, and goes down as often as she can to help out.
Peter adjusts his glasses, which are greasy and covered in fingerprints.
“They were both worn out. I didn’t even finish reading them a story before they fell asleep.”
Peter seems tired too, ?ke thinks. But of course it’s hard work looking after two little ones on your own, even if it only involves visiting Grandma and Grandpa for a few days.
Anna should be ashamed of herself.
He would like to teach his former daughter-in-law a lesson. Sometimes he wishes she were standing in front of him so that he could tell her exactly what he thinks of her behavior.
The local news is coming to an end, and is followed by the weather forecast for the next three days—the low temperatures are set to continue.
“Hell of a business with the neighbors,” Peter says, gazing at the screen. “Terrible.” He yawns without covering his mouth.
“Accidents happen,” ?ke says. “That’s just the way it is.”
“You think it was an accident?” Karin says, with sadness in her eyes.
?ke does his best to answer calmly and with conviction—he knows how sensitive his wife can be.
“Of course. What else could it be?”