Read Online Echoes From the Dead by Johan Theorin - Free Book Online

but Julia looked much more weary than he’d expected. More weary and much thinner. She made him think about bitterness and selfpity.
    His daughter had grown old. So how old did that make him?
    “Hello, Gerlof,” said Julia, then she didn’t speak for a few seconds. “Well, here I am again.”
    Gerlof nodded and noted the fact that she still had no intention of calling him Dad, not even facetoface. She said Gerlof, in a tone that suggested she might be talking to a distant relative.
    “How was your journey?” he asked.
    “Fine.”
    She unbuttoned her coat, hung it on a hook in the hall, and placed her bag on the floor. It seemed to Gerlof that she was moving slowly, without any energy. He wanted to ask how she was feeling, but perhaps it was too soon.
    “Right.” Silence again. “It’s been a long time,” he said.
    “Four years, I think,” said Julia. “More than four years.”
    “Yes. But we’ve kept in touch by phone.”
    “Yes. I meant to come and help when you moved here from Stenvik, but it wasn’t…”
    Julia stopped speaking, and Gerlof nodded.
    “The move went very well anyway,” he said. “I had a lot of help.”
    “Good,” said Julia. She’d come halfway into the room. She sat on the bed.
    Gerlof suddenly remembered the little speech he’d been practicing.
    “Now
    you’re here,” he said, “there are certain things we
    need to”
    But Julia interrupted him.
    “Where is it?”
    “What?”
    “You know,” said Julia. “The sandal.”
    “It’s here. In the desk.” Gerlof looked at her. “But first I thought we could”
    “Can I see it?” Julia broke in. “I’d really like to see it.”
    “You might be disappointed. “It’s just a shoe. It has no … no real answers.”
    “I want to see it, Gerlof.”
    Julia got up. She hadn’t even smiled so far, and now she was staring so intensely at Gerlof that he was beginning to think the whole thing was a mistake. Perhaps he shouldn’t have called her.
    But something had already been set in motion, and he couldn’t stop it now.
    Still, he tried to delay things as long as possible.
    “You didn’t bring anybody else with you?” he asked.
    “Like who?”
    “Jens’s father, perhaps,” said Gerlof. “Mats … was that his name?”
    “Michael,” said Julia. “No, he lives in Malmo. We hardly keep in touch anymore.”
    “I see,” said Gerlof.
    Silence again. Julia took another step forward, but Gerlof thought of something else:
    “Did you do what I said on the telephone?” he asked.
    “What?”
    “Did you think about how thick the fog was that day?”
    “Yes … maybe.” Julia gave a distracted nod. “What’s all this about the fog?”
    “I don’t think …” Gerlof chose his words carefully. “I don’t think anything could have happened … that things could have gone so badly if it hadn’t been for the fog. And how often do we get fog on Oland?”
    “Not very often,” said Julia.
    “No. Three or four times a year, maybe. As thick as it was that day, anyway. And lots of people knew it was coming; it had been mentioned in the weather forecast.”
    “How do you know?”
    “I rang the weather bureau,” said Gerlof. “They keep the forecasts.”
    “Was
    the fog so important?” said Julia.
    “I think … somebody was making the most of the fog,” said Gerlof. “Somebody who didn’t want to be spotted in the area.”
    “Didn’t want to be spotted on that particular day, you
    mean?”
    “Didn’t want to be spotted at all,” said Gerlof.
    “So somebody was using the fog to … take Jens away?” said Julia.
    “I don’t know,” said Gerlof. “But I do wonder if that was the aim. Who knew he was going to go outside that day? Nobody.
    Isn’t that right? Jens didn’t even know himself, he just… took the chance when it arose.” Gerlof could see that Julia had begun to press her lips together as they started to talk about her son’s disappearance, and he went on quickly: “But the fog that came