The Fire Dance (32 page)

Angelika hadn’t moved, but Irene knew that she was listening and that she was nervous, as she had every reason to be.

“Did Frej ask you to bring Ingrid the …”

“Frej didn’t know anything!” Angelika yelled and jumped out of the chair. Her eyes were shimmering with rage, and it looked as if she wanted to punch Irene.

“So? Frej knew nothing. How was I supposed to know this? He will inherit everything from his aunt, and we know that the sale of her farm will bring in a fortune,” Irene said, calmly.

Angelika swallowed hard a few times and then said, “I … I took his keys. That is, Ingrid’s keys.”

All her instinct to fight deserted her, and she sank back onto the chair.

“Where did you get them?” Irene asked.

“From the Änggården mansion. He wasn’t home when I took them. He’d put them on the work table in his darkroom.”

“Which keys were on the ring?”

“The keys for the farm and for the apartment.”

“So you used Ingrid’s keys to get into her building.”

Angelika nodded, and it appeared she was about to start crying.

“When were you at Ingrid’s place?”

“Wednesday. About six.”

That was when Irene was talking to Frej in his darkroom. He’d been so stressed he’d probably forgotten that he’d put the key ring on his worktable. He probably hadn’t
missed them, either. At least, he hadn’t said anything to Irene about them.

“Did you take the elevator?”

“No, the stairs,” Angelika replied in a low voice.

“You met no one on the stairs.”

Angelika shook her head and wiped away the tears that started running down her cheeks.

“When did you put the keys back?”

“The same evening. I knew Frej was taking capoeira and would be home late. He knew absolutely nothing about any of this! I did it on my own! I was the only one involved!”

Tommy leaned over and placed a hand on Angelika’s arm. “Why did you, Angelika?”

She gave him a confused look and said, “I can’t tell you!”

Her tears turned into heartbreaking sobs. Tommy took a box of paper tissues and handed it to her.

When she had calmed slightly, Irene said, “Angelika. I attended the premiere of
The Fire Dance
. I remember your face as you ran from the building. You looked scared to death, as if you’d seen a ghost. You certainly knew enough about dance to interpret the story Sophie had put in her creation.”

Irene paused for effect. Angelika sat and stared at her with a paper tissue pressed to her nose. Her eyes were wide with fear.

The Guardian had found the peacefully sleeping Prince, who was holding the bottle so tenderly in his arms. She resolutely pulled him to his feet and hid him beneath the Queen’s wide skirts. The Guardian took off her cape and flung it over the Queen’s shoulders to help hide the Prince. The trick worked as none of the other guests saw how the two women took the Prince away from the scene
.

“Sophie’s
Fire Dance
is the true story of what happened at Björkil so long ago when the fire broke out. Ingrid was the
Guardian and you were the Queen. Together, the two of you have been protecting Prince Frej all these years. You were able to keep him out of the investigation. No one knew that he had been at the house that afternoon except three people: you, Ingrid and Sophie. Sophie protected her brother in the only way she knew: by keeping silent. And you kept silent, too.”

“It was that old hag’s fault! If she hadn’t fallen asleep, nothing would have happened! She was responsible for him, but when she fell asleep, he sneaked out!”

“He went home.”

“Yes,” Angelika whispered.

“Did he know that his father was home?”

Angelika said nothing for a while, but then she shook her head. “No. Magnus was sleeping on the second floor. The house was dark. Frej didn’t think anyone was at home, and I believe he was unhappy to come home with nobody there. Or he thought no one was there. The door must have been unlocked, so he could walk right in. I don’t know where he found one of Magnus’s bottles, but they were often lying around everywhere … I also don’t know why he drank what he found … but kids are like that. They try things. He was so little!”

She was pleading as she said those words. Irene could understand her a bit. A mother is inclined to ignore and explain away anything to protect her child. In this case, however, it came at the price of her other child. This Irene found more difficult to comprehend.

“You told me earlier that Sophie was fascinated by fire at an early age. But it was really Frej you were talking about, right?”

Angelika opened her mouth to say something, but then realized that words weren’t necessary. The fear in her eyes revealed everything.

I
NTERROGATING
F
REJ WENT
well. In the beginning, he’d refused to answer the questions the police asked him, but in time he was ready to talk.

At first, he just answered in short syllables, but the urge to tell all about what happened soon made itself known, and then the words flowed so quickly it was hard to get him to stop. Irene played the recorded interrogation several times. She felt sad and sorrowful each time she listened to it.

Family secrets. The things that everyone knew but no one was supposed to talk about. As long as everyone kept quiet, the secret was invisible. The truth was still there like a wound ready to burst. The lies that were spun around it would keep growing like a cancer until the whole thing could no longer be contained and erupted all at once. The one frightful thing everyone was afraid of.

The truth.

Angelika, Ingrid and Sophie had all conspired to protect Frej. Had their silence actually helped him, or did it make his guilt grow along with their own?

Irene kept starting the tape where Frej revealed what happened on the night of September 24th, when Sophie disappeared from the Park Aveny Hotel:

Frej:
We had, like, a code. When we saw a fire truck. Or if we saw … something good. Something to set fire to … that is … Sophie wanted photographs, of course. So we texted FIRE and then
we would meet at a predetermined place. That night I saw a really old shed, and I thought it was time … to set it on fire … out at Skrabro. Each time I’d drive over to Ingrid’s place, I’d see it. It was just fifty meters from the road. I knew it was going to be torn down … they were going to build a shopping center. So I sent my text and she got it while she was going up the stairs at the hotel. They were supposed to have an after-party at that old man’s suite … the one she’s related to … that author. There’s another staircase at the back of the hotel, and she just went right back down … I’d parked my car behind the hotel … there’s a parking lot there. We drove out to Björlandavägen and out to Skrabro. The shed was there. It was already falling down, and they were going to get rid of it anyway … so, we, like, poured on some lighter fluid and lit it up. Then things went wrong because an old guy from a house down the road came running and started to yell at us. That son of a bitch had a rifle and started to shoot at us! Sophie was terrified and began to run to the car. She fell into a ditch. She didn’t notice right away that she’d hurt her arm. We threw ourselves into the car and drove off as fast as we could. Sophie yelled, “We have to hide! He’s going to call the police, and they’re going to set up roadblocks!” I believed her—at least then. So we drove to Björkil because I had the keys to Ingrid’s farm. We drove the car straight into the stable so that it wouldn’t be seen. Sophie was out of her mind with hysteria. I’ve never seen her like that! She just lost it completely! She wanted to hide in the office in the stable, so that no one would think we were, like, burglars or something and start shooting at us. She went on and on about that guy. She was completely out of it! And … she’d been smoking pot—

Irene:
Did Sophie often take drugs?

Frej:
No, she didn’t do drugs. Just some pot … not too often … but it made her weird. Still, she liked to use it …

Irene:
Okay, go on
.

Frej:
I went into the house and got the spare bed and two
mattresses. I took them to the office. Also sheets … everything we needed was in the house. Ingrid doesn’t throw anything away. So, we just slept in the office. In the morning, I wanted to go home, but Sophie refused. She wanted to stay hidden. She thought that if she were gone, Marcelo would start to miss her. So I made some food for us, and then I went home and acted like nothing happened. On Saturday, my mom said Sophie was missing … and then things just kept going on from there. Sophie didn’t want to come out. She thought it was exciting that people were out looking for her, and no one knew where she was. The police were involved … Mom was out of her mind with worry, and Sophie still thought that Marcelo would be missing her
.

Irene remembered that Frej stopped at this point to give her a meaningful, crooked smile. They both knew that Marcelo would never miss any woman.

Frej:
But Sophie hurt her arm when she was running to the car. It really started to hurt, and a few days later it was swollen like you wouldn’t believe. She asked me to get some pills that were in her father’s bathroom cabinet back home. You know, he had these painkillers before he kicked the bucket. Really strong, because he had cancer. I took the whole carton so she could decide how many to take
.

Frej was silent for a moment. When he started to speak again, it was apparent that he was trying to keep from crying.

Frej:
I thought she took too much. She was really in pain, and I wanted to take her to the emergency room. I promise … I wanted to get her to come out of hiding, but she refused. She kept saying the police were after her. I began to think that she was starting to lose it … I wanted to talk with my mom about it … but when I came back to the stable that last night, she was lying dead on the bed
.

At this point, Frej began to cry. A few minutes later, he was able to calm down enough to continue his story.

Frej:
I tried to wake her up, but I couldn’t. She was dead!
I swear! I wanted to call my mom … or an ambulance … but then I started to think that the whole thing looked really sick. It didn’t sound right that Sophie wanted to stay in hiding. No one would believe me! I mean … people would think I killed her!

His blue eyes looked pleadingly into Irene’s.

Irene:
Why did you bring her to the shed at Högsbo and then set fire to it?

A long silence with muffled weeping.

Frej:
I didn’t know what I was supposed to do … I wrapped her in a blanket and brought her to the car. I threw a rug over her so no one could see her … I put the mattress into the trunk, and all the sheets and stuff … they were disgusting. She’d vomited and … before she died …

Again, a long silence.

Frej:
Sophie and I talked about it a lot. When a person dies, he should be burned … because fire purifies … she repeated that all the time. I knew that she wanted to disappear in a fire … so I drove to that shed and put her on the mattress, and I put the rug over her … like a cover … and then I set her on fire. She would have wanted that
.

He was still crying.

Irene:
How did you know about the old shed?

Frej:
We saw it last summer. There was another building that burned down in the area. I saw it then
.

Irene:
Were you and Sophie the people who set fire to the other building?

Frej did not answer, and pressed his lips closed.

Irene:
There were many old buildings that were set on fire in that area. All of them were scheduled to be demolished. And there were some container fires, too. Were you and Sophie the people who started those fires?

Frej said nothing for a while, but finally said something that sounded like a maybe.

Irene:
Could you speak louder so it can be heard on the recording?

He shook his head and refused to answer.

Irene:
It is now fifteen thirty-two, and this interrogation is finished for the day
.

I
RENE TOOK THE
tape out of the recorder. She contemplated putting in the recording from the interrogation session regarding the Björkil fire, but then decided not to listen to it. It was not all that informative. Frej had insisted that he did not remember anything because he was so young. He had been shocked by the death of his father and probably repressed everything that had happened. Irene had the feeling that he remembered more than he let on. The only breakthrough was that he did not deny that he’d sneaked home when his aunt had fallen asleep after dinner.

The forensic psychologist was going to talk to Frej later that day. He would then make a determination if Frej was capable of standing trial.

They had checked into Frej’s story about the arson at the old shed in Skrabro. The incident had been reported to the police. The old man backed up Frej’s story, and even admitted to firing his rifle. He said that he didn’t aim for the young people, but shot the rifle straight into the air. No, he hadn’t put in the police report that he’d fired his rifle. He’d forgotten to mention it.

T
HE FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGIST
, Torgny Wallén, peered at Sven Andersson and Irene from over his reading glasses. He was the same age as the superintendent, and the two of them knew each other well after the twenty years they’d both spent on the force. Torgny Wallén folded his sausage-like fingers over his round stomach and then sat back in his chair. It was right after lunch, and he needed to make room for his Thursday pea soup and pancakes. He began the conversation in his pleasant Scanian accent.

“I’ve ordered a more extensive psychological evaluation for Frej. It’s going to take longer than a week. As far as I can determine so far, he seems to be telling the truth about his sister’s last weeks of life. She appears to have been psychologically damaged, but that’s another story. It could be that both of them were part of a
folie à deux
, where one psychologically damaged person has such a strong influence over the other that they both fall ill. As far as Sophie is concerned, her pot smoking could have contributed to a psychosis, especially when combined with the trauma around the unsuccessful arson attempt. She seems to have had a neuropsychological handicap as well.”