The Invisible Man from Salem (19 page)

Her dad's face peered round the doorframe. It was tough and severe, the skin slightly red, and he was swollen around the eyes, as though he had just woken up. He looked surprised. He was holding a plate and a tea towel.

‘I didn't think you were home,' said Julia.

‘But we are.' He tried to smile, and looked at me. ‘Have we met?'

‘No, I don't think so.'

‘No point,' said the woman's voice. It was monotonous, but had a slightly husky quality that was attractive. If she'd varied her inflection she could've worked in customer service for a company with angry customers. ‘She never sticks to anything anyway.'

‘Mum,' Julia said, carefully, but I saw that her teeth were clenched.

‘It's true.'

‘Leo,' I said. ‘I'm Leo. I live in the next block.'

‘Leo,' Julia's dad said, as though he was trying to place the name.

‘I'm friends with Gr—, with John. We go to the same school. Not in the same class, but the same school. We've been friends for a while.'

I couldn't stop talking, and I could feel my cheeks going red. Julia might have noticed, because as she was taking her shoes off, she carefully put her hand on my shoulder for support, giving it a gentle squeeze.

‘I understand.'

That's all he said. The plate he was holding was dry, and he disappeared back into the kitchen.

‘Would you like some food?' he called. ‘It'll be ready in a few minutes.'

‘Maybe, Dad,' Julia said, grabbed my arm, and quickly dragged me into her room.

‘What are their names?'

‘Klas and Diana. Why do you ask?'

‘Just wondered. Neither you nor Grim have ever said.'

‘Sorry.' She shook her head. ‘I really didn't think they'd be home. They'll tell John.'

‘Not if we just say I was here to pick something up, or that you were showing me something, or … Yes.'

‘Would you be okay with that?'

‘Yes.'

‘I'm no good at lying,' she said.

‘Me neither.'

Klas and Diana Grimberg. I'd heard so much about them.

‘They aren't like I imagined,' I said.

‘Mum and Dad?'

‘Yes.'

‘What were you expecting?'

That's just what I was trying to work out. That they were always shouting, never spoke to each other? A visual recollection popped up: seeing Grim's CD player being thrown out the window and falling to the ground.

‘I don't know,' I said.

A gentle knock on the door.

‘We're eating now,' Klas said. ‘Want some?'

Julia looked at me, and I shrugged.

The table was laid simply. It was just another weekday evening, and my being there was of no significance whatsoever. They weren't trying to make an impression, at least not in that sense. There was something appealing about doing it this way, especially in comparison to my parents, who always tried to impress people on those occasions when we did have guests, which I found hugely embarrassing.

‘Spaghetti bolognese,' her dad said. ‘You do eat meat, don't you?'

‘Of course,' I said.

‘Well, it's not that simple anymore,' he muttered. ‘People's eating habits are getting stranger and stranger.'

The sound of footsteps came from the living room, and Diana Grimberg came to sit at the table, opposite her daughter. As she passed Julia, she stopped, looked at her, and stroked her cheek tenderly.

‘You look so pure, do you know that?' she mumbled.

‘Thanks.'

‘And you.' She looked at me. ‘Don't forget she is a catch.'

The corners of Diana's mouth twitched, and her expression was one of surprise, as though it was something that didn't happen very often. Eventually, her lips separated, and a laugh squeezed through — a laugh that I didn't know how to take.

‘Leo just came to borrow a CD,' Julia said, as she spooned big dollops of sauce onto her plate.

‘I understand,' Klas said.

‘But I couldn't find it,' she went on, without looking up at them. ‘Maybe it's in John's room.'

‘Yes. Maybe.'

I poured myself some water from a jug, and Julia and her dad pushed their glasses over towards me. I filled their glasses, and looked at Diana, who hadn't touched hers. She was sitting looking at something out the window. I took the glass and poured her some water, then put it back.

She was startled by the noise, and looked at me.

‘Thank you,' she said. ‘Sorry, I was just thinking about something.'

‘What were you thinking about?' Julia asked.

‘Nothing.'

‘How long have you and Julia,' Klas began, and interrupted himself to finish chewing and swallow, ‘how long have you known each other?'

‘A couple of months,' I said. ‘About as long as I've known John.'

‘He calls himself Grim,' Diana said, and drank some water. ‘Strange. Or is it just me who thinks so?'

‘No, it's not just you,' Klas said. ‘But he's seventeen. You never have such funny ideas as you do when you're seventeen. Isn't that right, Leo?'

Klas smiled, and something was behind his words — something that didn't come out.

‘I suppose so.'

‘He's going places,' he said. ‘Anyone can see that.'

‘Yes, but which places?' Diana said, and looked at me. ‘Don't you hurt her.'

‘Mum!' Julia said sharply, and I felt her hand on mine, under the table.

‘Diana, keep cal— '

‘Is it surprising that I get worried?'

Julia put her fork down next to her plate and looked up.

‘I'm sitting here. You don't need to talk about me in the third person.'

Diana looked at Klas's tumbler.

‘Are you drinking water?'

‘Yes?'

‘But you're on holiday now. You don't have to put on a front because they're here. I'm sure Leo already knows, don't you, Leo?'

‘I, no, I …'

‘Stop it now, Diana.'

‘Shall I get the bottle then?'

She looked at Klas's hands. It was only then that I noticed them trembling slightly.

‘I can see you want it.'

‘I'm drinking water.'

‘But …'

‘That's enough.'

‘He blames it on you,' Diana went on, in a monotone as before, and she glanced at Julia before turning her gaze back to the window, fixing it on something outside. ‘You know that, he needs it to cope with living with you after t— '

‘Diana.' Klas's voice was so sharp that I tightened my grip on the fork, and Julia's hand disappeared as she straightened up with a jolt. ‘That's enough.'

I left the Grimbergs' flat confused and CD-less, which was hardly surprising.

LATE THAT NIGHT
, I met Julia at the water tower, which stretched up towards the sky, and in the gloom seemed darker than usual — rougher than it normally did. I'd always thought of it as mushroom-shaped, but now it looked more like a courtroom gavel. Julia threw her arms around me in a way she'd never done before. It felt more urgent, almost desperate, and I let her do it. I asked her something she didn't hear.

‘Eh?' she mumbled, with her warm breath against my upper lip.

‘Is it always like that at home?'

‘More or less.' She looked up at the tower. ‘Come.'

Julia made her way up the tower, climbing in the darkness above me. I followed her until we got to the highest ledge.

‘This is where I first met Grim,' I said.

‘Oh, right.'

She lifted her hands up inside her dress, and something small and black fell to her ankles.

‘Unbutton your jeans,' she whispered. ‘And sit down.'

Julia's breath was burning hot on my neck. Over her shoulder, I could see Salem stretched out beneath us, and the sky, which was getting darker and darker. I strained to keep my eyes open.

XV

POLICE OFFICER SUSPECTED OF MURDER
.

Sam has her phone out, and is showing me
Expressen
's latest headline. I look from her phone to mine.

I think you should watch the news

Annika Ljungmark's article is short but succinct. As of ten o'clock this evening, several sources within the city police have confirmed the latest developments in the investigation into Rebecca Salomonsson's murder. Police are now pursuing a specific line of enquiry, one in which a police officer is implicated. ‘He can be placed at the crime scene around the time of the victim's death,' claims a source.

It will only be a matter of hours until the police officer's identity is revealed. That's always the way. I lean against the bar, and look up from my phone. My head starts spinning. Sam looks at me, worried.

‘Leo, it …'

‘It's not me,' I manage to say.

‘I know that.'

I look at her, unsure whether she has understood what I mean.

‘Good.'

Sam looks down at my phone.

‘What's that?'

‘Someone's been sending me messages.'

‘Who?'

‘I'm not entirely sure.'

What happens next is strange and yet it feels so familiar, so obvious: Sam grabs hold of my arm. From the corner of my eye, I see how Anna is watching us.