“hi,pappa,”pernillaabrahassonsaid.

hegavehisdaughteralonghug.

“whereintheworlddidyouspringfro？”

“frohoe,ofcourse.i’onywaytoskellefte？.canistaythenight？”

“ofcourseyoucan,buthowdidyougethere？”

“maaknehereyouwere.andiaskedatthecaféiftheyknehereyouwerestaying.thewoantoldeexactlyhowtogethere.areyougladtoseee？”

“certainlyia.ein.youshouldhavegivenesoewarningsoicouldbuysoegoodfoodorsoething.”

“i. compedonipulse.iwantedtoweleyouhoefroprison,butyounevercalled.”

“i’sorry.”

“that’sok.maatoldehowyou’realwaysgettinglostinyourownthoughts.”

“isthatwhatshesaysaboute？”

“moreorless.butitdoesn’tatter.istillloveyou.”

“iloveyoutoo,butyouknow…”

“iknow.i’prettygrown-upbynow.”

headeteaandputoutpastries.

whathisdaughterhadsaidwastrue.shewasostassuredlynolongeralittlegirl；shewasalostseventeen,practicallyagrownwoan.hehadtolearnto. comtreatingherlikeachild.

“so,hoasit？”

“hoaswhat？”

“prison.”

helaughed.“wouldyoubelieveeifisaidthatitwaslikehavingapaidholidaywithallthetieyouwantedforthinkingandwriting？”

“iwould.idon’tsupposethere’suchdifferencebetweenaprisonandacloister,andpeoplehavealwaysgoocloistersforself-reflection.”

“well,thereyougo.ihopeithasn’tbeenaprobleforyou,yourfatherbeingagaolbird.”

“notatall.i’proudofyou,andineverissachancetobragaboutthefactthatyouwen. comrisonforwhatyoubelievein.”

“believein？”

“isawerikabergerontv.”

“pernilla,i’notinnocent.i’sorrythatihaven’ttalkedtoyouaboutwhathappened,butiwasn’tunfairlysentenced.thecourtadetheirdecisionbasedonwhattheyweretoldduringthetrial.”

“butyounevertoldyoursideofthestory.”

“no,becauseitturnedoutthatididn’thaveproof.”

“ok.thenanswereonequestion:iswennerstr？ascoundrelorisn’the？”

“he’soneoftheblackestscoundrelsi’veeverdealtwith.”

“that’sgoodenoughfore.i’vegotapresentforyou.”

shetookapackageoutofherbag.heopeneditandfoundacd,thebestofeurythics.sheknewitwasoneofhisfavouriteoldbands.heputitinhisi,andtheylistenedto“sweetdreas”together.

“whyareyougoingtoskellefte？？”

“bibleschoolatasuercapwithacongregationcalledthelightoflife,”pernillasaid,asifitweretheostobviouschoiceintheworld.

blokvistfeltacoldfirerundownthebackofhisneck.herealisedhowalikehisdaughterandharrietvangerwere.pernillawassixteen,exactlytheageharrietwaswhenshedisappeared.bothhadabsentfathers.bothwereattractedtothereligiousfanaticisofstrangesects—harriettothepentecostalsandpernillatoanoffshootofsoethingthatwasjustaboutascrackpotasthewordoflife.

hedidnotknowhowheshouldhandlehisdaughter’snewinterestinreligion.hewasafraidofencroachingonherrighttodecideforherself.atthesaetie,thelightoflifewasostdefinitelyasectofthetypethathewouldnothesitatetolabastinmillenniu.hewouldtakethefir. comportunitytodiscussthisatterwithherother.

pernillasleptinhisbedwhilehewrappedhiselfinblanketsonthebenchinthekitchen.hewokewithacrickinhisneckandachinguscles.pernillawaseagertogetgoing,soheadebreakfastandwentwithhertothestation.theyhadalittletie,sotheyboughtcoffeeattheini-artandsatdownonabenchattheendoftheplatfor,chattingaboutallsortsofthings.untilshesaid:“youdon’tliketheideathati’goingtoskellefte？,doyou？”

hewasnon-plussed.

“it’snotdangerous.butyou’renotachristian,areyou？”

“well,i’notagoodchristian,atanyrate.”

“youdon’tbelieveingod？”

“no,idon’tbelieveingod,butirespectthefactthatyoudo.everyonehastohavesoethingtobelievein.”

whenhertrainarrived,theygaveeachotheralonghuguntilpernillahadtogetonboard.withonefootonthestep,sheturned.

“pappa,i’notgoin. comroselytise.itdoesn’tattertoewhatyoubelieve,andi’llalwaysloveyou.butithinkyoushouldcontinueyourbiblestudies.”

“whydoyousaythat？”

“isawthequotesyouhadonthewall,”shesaid.“butwhysoglooyandneurotic？kisses.seeyoulater.”

shewavedandwasgone.hestoodontheplatfor,baffled,watchingthetrainpullaway.notuntilitvanishedaroundthebenddidtheeaningsinkin.

mikaelhurriedoutofthestation.itwouldbealostanhourbeforethenextbusleft.hewastoouchonedgetowaitthatlong.herantothetaxistandandfoundhusseinwiththenorrlandaent.

teninuteslaterhewasinhisoffice.hehadtapedthenoteabovehisdesk.

magda—32016

sara—32109

r.j.—30112

r.l.—32027

mari—32018

helookedaroundtheroo.thenherealisedwherehe’dbeabletofindabible.hetookthenotewithhi,searchedforthekeys,whichhehadleftinabowlonthewindowsill,andjoggedthewholewaytogottfried’scabin.hishandswerepracticallyshakingashetookharriet’sbibledownfroitsshelf.

shehadnotwrittendowntelephonenubers.thefiguresindicatedthechapterandverseinleviticus,thethirdofthepentateuch.

leviticus,20:16

“ifawoanapproachesanybeastandlieswithit,youshallkillthewoanandthebeast；theyshallbeputtodeath,theirbloodisuponthe.”

leviticus,21:9

“andthedaughterofanypriest,ifsheprofanesherselfbyplayingtheharlot,profanesherfather；sheshallbeburnedwithfire.”

leviticus,1:12

“andheshallcutiti. comieces,withitsheadanditsfat,andthepriestshalllaytheinorderuponthewoodthatisonthefireuponthealtar.”

leviticus,20:27

“aanorawoanwhoisaediuorawizardshallbeputtodeath；theyshallbestonedwithstones,theirbloodshallbeuponthe.”

leviticus,20:18

“ifaanlieswithawoanhavinghersickness,anduncovershernakedness,hehasadenakedherfountain,andshehasuncoveredthefountainofherblood；bothoftheshallbecutofffroaongtheirpeople.”

hewentoutandsatontheporch.eachversehadbeenunderlinedinharriet’sbible.helitacigaretteandlistenedtothesingingofbirdsnearby.

hehadthenubers.buthedidn’thavethenaes.magda,sara,mari,r.j.,andr.l.

allofasuddenanabyssopenedasmikael’sbrainadeanintuitiveleap.hereeberedthefirevictiinhedestadthatinspectormorellhadtoldhiabout.therebeckacase,whichourredinthelateforties.thegirlwasrapedandthenkilledbyhavingherheadplacedonsoulderingcoals.“andheshallcutiti. comieces,withitsheadanditsfat,andthepriestshalllaytheinorderuponthewoodthatisonthefireuponthealtar.”rebecka.r.j.whatwasherlastnae？

whatingod’snaehadharrietgottenherselfixedupin？

vangerhadbeentakenill.hewasinbedwhenblokvistknockedonhisdoor.butannaagreedtolethiin,sayinghecouldvisittheoldanforafewinutes.

“asuercold,”henrikexplained,sniffling.“whatdidyouwant？”

“ihaveaquestion.”

“yes？”

“didyoueverhearofaurderthattookplaceinhedestadsoetieintheforties？agirlcalledrebecka—herheadwasputonafire.”

“rebeckajacobsson,”henriksaidwithoutasecond’shesitation.“that’sanaei’llneverfet,althoughihaven’thearditentionedinyears.”

“butyouknowabouttheurder？”

“indeedido.rebeckajacobssonwastwenty-threeortwenty-fourwhenshedied.thatusthavebeenin…itwasin1949.therewasatreendoushueandcry,ihadasallpartinityself.”