The Scent of Almonds: A Novella (13 page)

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Authors: Camilla Lackberg

Tags: #Detective and Mystery Fiction, #Novella, #Suspense

BOOK: The Scent of Almonds: A Novella

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With a sigh he tossed his belongings into his bag and slung the strap over his shoulder. He’d put Bernard’s mobile and the Sherlock Holmes book in two paper bags, which he’d carefully wrapped up in his sweater and placed on top of everything else. The glass from yesterday’s dinner was also securely stowed in his sports bag. He had no intention of leaving it behind.

Before he followed the others downstairs, he went to Matte’s room and paused in the doorway. He stared at the room, as if willing it to tell him what had happened there. When he turned his head slightly to the left, he saw the bullet embedded in the door. The damage to the front of the fireplace was still bothering him. He had the feeling that it was important somehow. But for the life of him he couldn’t work out what it might mean.

Ten minutes later they were all trudging through the snow towards the dock, but it was difficult because of the luggage they were carrying. Börje had gone on ahead, and judging by the sound, he’d had no trouble starting up the boat’s motor. They would soon be back on the mainland. After a hasty consultation, they’d agreed to take all the luggage down to the dock first. Then the men would return to fetch the bodies from the cold-storage room. No one was looking forward to that task. From a purely professional standpoint, Martin knew that he ought to tell the family that the bodies should remain where they were. But he was haunted by the look in Britten’s eyes when she asked whether Matte would go with them. So he offered no objections to the plan.

On his way back to the hotel, all sorts of thoughts kept swirling through his mind. The gun, the book, the conversations he’d had with the Liljecrona family, the dinner on that first evening when hidden meanings and taunts had flown like sharp arrows across the table. It all merged into one inside his head. Matte and Ruben. Grandfather and grandson, who had a closer relationship than the rest of the family. Meeting every Friday to talk and share thoughts. Two men, one old, the other young. One physically ill, the other suffering mentally. Their interest in Sherlock Holmes. Martin had only seen films made from some of the stories, and he couldn’t understand how anyone could become so obsessed with … Suddenly he noticed something hovering at the edge of his consciousness. He came to an abrupt halt in the deep snow, causing Bernard to run right into him.

‘What the hell?’

‘Oh. Sorry,’ said Martin distractedly as he started plodding forward again. They had almost reached the front steps. He shook his head, as if to force the thought to emerge fully, but in vain. It was something connected to the idea of Sherlock Holmes and the films … Wait! There it was! He felt a sense of triumph as the thought finally coalesced, and he raced for the door.

‘What the hell is the matter with you?’ shouted Bernard, but Martin paid no attention. He didn’t bother to take off his snow-covered shoes, and he slipped and almost landed on his backside as he stomped indoors. At the last second he managed to grab the handrail and regain his balance. He took the stairs two at a time and ran down the hall towards Matte’s room. He could hear the others yelling after him, but he was so focused on what he was doing that their voices barely registered. He had to be right. He knew he was right. It explained everything!

When he opened the door to Matte’s room, he stopped. His heart was pounding so fast in his chest, both from his dash up the stairs and from the excitement at what he now knew. Cautiously he entered the room, walking around the pool of blood on the floor and going over to the fireplace He stared at the missing piece and then reached out to touch it. It was freezing cold. He withdrew his hand and impatiently rubbed his palms together to rub some warmth into them. Feeling a little better, he again reached out one hand and stuck it up the chimney to grope around. At first he found nothing and he was filled with doubt. What if he was wrong? But he kept on searching, and when his fingers touched something hard and cold, he was flooded with relief. So he was right, after all. Now he heard voices behind him.

‘What are you doing?’ Bernard was standing in the doorway with a perplexed look on his face, his hair uncharacteristically in disarray. Behind him were Harald and Gustav, equally flummoxed.

Without a word, Martin grabbed the object and yanked on it. The men in the doorway gasped when they saw what he was holding.

‘The gun?’ exclaimed Harald in disbelief. ‘But how did it end up in there?’

Still without saying a word, Martin tugged harder to show them that the gun was attached to an elastic band.

‘I … I don’t understand.’ Gustav shook his head as he stared at the gun and the elastic band. Martin wasn’t ready to start explaining his theory, so he turned his back to them as he continued to search the chimney. Again he looked pleased as his fingers touched plastic. He poked at it carefully, making the plastic rustle faintly, but it refused to give. Then he tried lifting it up, and what turned out to be a plastic carrier bag finally came loose. A perfectly ordinary bag from the ICA grocery store. The bag was heavy, and he carefully set it down on the floor before looking inside. It contained two things: a video camera and an envelope.

By now the three Liljecrona men had come into the room and were standing around Martin. All three looked puzzled.

‘Why was a video camera hidden inside the fireplace?’ Gustav asked Martin.

‘Let’s have a look,’ he replied, pressing a button on the camera. When it turned on, he pressed Rewind and then Play. At first the display was black, but after a few seconds they heard the familiar voices of Matte and Ruben. Grandpa Ruben was sitting in his wheelchair, speaking directly to the camera. Matte was apparently the one filming the video. Ruben cleared his voice.

‘When you see this, I will be dead.’

Harald gasped. Gustav’s face had turned white, but Bernard almost seemed amused. As if he already knew what was coming.

Ruben went on.

‘I have six months to live, according to my doctors. I’m not in the habit of giving up, so I’ve consulted every possible specialist, but they all say the same thing. There’s no hope. And it’s going to be painful. And undignified. As you all know, pain is something I could endure. But an undignified end … Never. So I’ve decided to take matters into my own hands. And I can’t resist the chance to tell all of you off. You have betrayed me in the worst possible ways, and you have never lived up to my expectations. Don’t worry – you’ll get the money. However, knowing you as I do, I doubt the money will make you happy. More likely, it will ruin you. So be it. But I’m not planning to give away the money without making you suffer a little.’

Ruben smiled and reached for something outside the frame of the video. Martin recognized the canopy bed in the background. The film had been made in Ruben’s room, here on Valö. Ruben was now holding up a small plastic bag of powder in one hand, level with his face.

‘This is potassium cyanide. Not too difficult to obtain, if you have money and the right contacts. I’m going to pour this into my glass tonight at dinner, and hopefully create with a dramatic scene. Let me emphasize that I’m going to put it in the glass myself. Matte will not play any role in my death, other than as a supporter and observer. I also want to make it perfectly clear that he has done his utmost to persuade me not to do this. Eventually, realizing how determined I am, he accepted the fact that this is my final wish. He has agreed to help me teach the rest of you a lesson. My hope is that, at least for a short while, you will all suspect and fear that I have disinherited the lot of you. When my will is read, and you discover that your fears are unfounded, Matte is going to make sure that this video is shown. The detective mystery in which you were all involuntary – and innocent – players will at last be solved. “Elementary”, as dear Doctor Watson would have said.’ Ruben laughed at his own joke, clearly pleased with the plan that he’d cooked up for his own dramatic passage to the other side. Matte was silent as he held the camera, but an occasional shuddering breath revealed how upset he was.

Ruben began shifting about in his wheelchair, apparently getting ready for the finale.

‘I wish all of you a hell of a Christmas and a truly miserable New Year. May you have no joy from my money.’ He chuckled. Then the screen went black.

‘That … bastard,’ snarled Gustav. Harald was staring vacantly at the display on the video camera, as if he still hadn’t fully taken it all in. Bernard started laughing. He laughed harder and harder, until he had to hold his stomach as tears ran down his face. He howled with laughter until his father jabbed an elbow in his side.

‘Stop that, Bernard. You’re making a fool of yourself.’

‘What a bastard,’ said Bernard, seemingly unable to stop laughing. ‘He fooled us all.’ Tears of merriment kept rolling down his face, and he wiped them off on the sleeve of his sweater.

Harald sank down onto the bed. He wasn’t smiling.

‘But Matte … Why?’

Martin handed him the white envelope. ‘Maybe this will explain things.’

Harald took the envelope, tore it open with trembling hands, and pulled out a letter. He read it in silence while the others watched.

After a moment he put the letter on his lap and said in a low voice, ‘He couldn’t live with the fact that he’d helped Grandpa take his own life. Ruben convinced him to do it, begged him to help set up this farce. But he couldn’t handle it afterwards. He writes that he couldn’t bear knowing what he’d done. And he asks you to forgive him, Bernard. He writes that he took your mobile and put it here in his room so that suspicion would fall on you. But he also knew that as soon as it was discovered that his death was a suicide, you’d no longer be a suspect. He writes that, in that sense, he was truly Ruben’s grandson. He couldn’t resist a chance for revenge. He wanted to make you suffer.’

‘Suicide?’ said Gustav. He didn’t understand. So Martin explained.

‘I suddenly remembered seeing this done in a Sherlock Holmes film. Matte fastened the gun to one end of an elastic band. The other end he attached to the inside of the chimney. Then he shot himself in the heart. As soon as he let go of the gun, the elastic band yanked it up inside the fireplace and out of sight. Abracadabra – the pistol was gone! And our first assumption was that he’d been murdered. It was the gun that made that mark on the mantelpiece,’ said Martin, pointing at the gash. ‘It rammed into it before it disappeared up inside.’

‘I had no idea he was so clever,’ said Bernard. He’d stopped laughing, but he still looked amused. ‘Well, now that you’ve worked this whole thing out, I suggest we make our way back to the mainland. The boat is waiting.’

Even though Martin disliked his carefree tone, he knew that Bernard was right. There was nothing more to do here.

Half an hour later the boat pulled away from the dock. Darkness had fallen, but the stars were out, and the boat lights illuminated the snow that was piled high on the ice on either side of the path that the icebreaker had cleared. Everyone now knew what had happened during that weekend on Valö. There was nothing more to say. Everyone sat in silence. Martin turned around so he was sitting with his back to the island that was slowly receding. Up ahead lay Fjällbacka, glittering in the darkness.

On the deck of the boat lay the two dead men, covered with a tarp. It was five days until Christmas Eve.

Try the latest spine-tingling thriller in Camilla Lackberg’s Fjallbacka series …

TRAGEDY RUNS IN THE FAMILY

AND MURDER RUNS IN THE BLOOD …

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About the Author

Camilla Lackberg is a worldwide bestseller renowned for her brilliant contemporary psychological thrillers. Her novels have sold over 12 million copies in 55 countries with translations into 37 languages.

www.CamillaLackberg.com

Also by Camilla Lackberg

The Ice Princess

The Preacher

The Stonecutter

The Stranger
(previously titled
The Gallows Bird
)

The Hidden Child

The Drowning

The Lost Boy

Buried Angels

About the Publisher

Australia