Rites of Spring by Anders Motte (life books to read .txt) 📗

‘I think that’s all you need to know. Good luck, Thea. I’m sure you’ll be fine,’ she says, with a hint of sorrow in her voice.

‘So you’re done with your working life?’ Thea says.

The other woman sighs. ‘To be perfectly honest, I’d have liked to carry on for another year or so. I’m in good health, I love my job, and I like the idea of doing something important for the village.’ She straightens her spine. ‘But as Ingrid pointed out, it’s time to pass the baton to someone younger. Time for new blood.’

Thea doesn’t know what to say. She’s suspected this ever since the idea of the move was first broached. It seemed like too much of a coincidence that there just happened to be a vacant post as GP in the village; she wondered whether her mother-in-law had used her influence.

Dr Andersson gives a wry smile.

‘So – you’ve got the keys, the telephone and the computer. One last thing – we need to call at Ängsgården on the way home. Erik Nyberg’s blood sugar monitor is playing up. If necessary we’ll have to swap it for ours. And don’t forget you have to go to Lund; your security clearance has to be handed into the regional office this week. You could do that tomorrow, while the surgery’s closed. The practice car is yours now.’

‘OK.’ Thea realises she’s looking forward to being her own boss. And the doctor is right – best to get her clearance out of the way.

*

The drive to Ängsgården takes ten minutes. Once again Dr Andersson makes a big show of pressing the GPS button to register that the car is being used for work, then fills the time with a lengthy anecdote about her holiday plans. Thea is lost in thought, listening with half an ear.

Her mother-in-law clearly has a hand in most aspects of village life. The coach house, the TV interview and the renovation of the castle is one thing, but Thea is far from comfortable with the idea that poor Dr Andersson has been kicked out in order to provide a job for her. She thinks about this morning’s phone call; Ingrid didn’t even sound surprised. Didn’t ask how Bertil was. And why didn’t she come to the lodge to pick him up herself? Why send Arne?

It would be good if we could keep this little incident between us.

*

When they arrive at Ängsgården, Erik, Per and Little Stefan are standing next to an open shed. A dead deer is hanging from a butcher’s hook just inside. The men are absorbed in their conversation, and don’t look up until Thea and Dr Andersson have got out of the car.

‘Bit early for hunting deer,’ the doctor says.

None of the men laugh at her joke.

‘Killed by a predator,’ Per says. ‘We found it this morning in one of the enclosures with its throat ripped out.’

‘Oh dear!’ Dr Andersson immediately becomes serious. ‘What predator is big enough to take a fallow deer?’

Per shrugs. ‘A wolf, or maybe a lynx.’

‘A wolf?’ Thea exclaims. ‘This far south?’

‘It does happen, although it’s rare. A couple of years ago a lone wolf was hit by a car just outside Malmö, and a guy I hunt with who lives up by Vedarp found wolf tracks as recently as last winter.’

‘This is no wolf,’ Erik mutters. ‘More like a big dog.’

Thea freezes. Emee was missing all morning. Where did Hubert say he’d found her? Over by the western meadow, just by the deer enclosure.

‘Which enclosure was it?’ she asks, afraid that she already knows the answer.

Per points in the direction of the castle.

‘The one over by the western meadow. Why do you ask?’

‘No reason – I was just curious.’

Her eyes are drawn to the body. The bloodstains on the cement floor. The gaping hole in its throat.

*

They leave Per with the deer and follow Erik’s car to the house.

‘Does Per live here too?’ Thea asks, mainly in an attempt to shake off thoughts of the dead animal.

‘He does – he and Erik share the house. Per has been in relationships with various ladies, but they never last very long.’

The doctor looks as if she has a lot more to say on that subject, but they’ve already arrived.

‘One of my dogs has had puppies – would you like to see them, Thea?’ Erik asks as Dr Andersson sits down at the table and starts to check his blood sugar monitor.

‘Yes, please!’

Erik opens a door and she follows him along a short corridor to a laundry room. In a basket in one corner there is a spaniel, feeding a heap of puppies.

‘They’re six weeks old,’ he says. ‘All reserved except for one.’

He raises one eyebrow above the rim of his dark glasses. Thea laughs.

‘Thanks, but I’ve got my hands full with the dog I already have.’

The image of the dead deer comes into her mind again; her smile stiffens.

‘I thought I’d ask. By the way, I heard that Bertil was wandering around in the forest this morning. Is he OK?’

‘He’s as well as can be expected.’

‘Good to know. What was he doing out there?’

Thea doesn’t answer right away. Her first instinct is to brush him off, but this is the second time he’s asked about Bertil. Maybe this is her chance to find out what lies behind his interest.

‘I’m not sure. He was rambling about the girl who died in the stone circle – Elita Svart.’

One of Erik’s nostril’s twitches.

‘Oh? What did he say?’

Thea decides to go for a counter-question.

‘Did you know her?’

Erik purses his lips. ‘No, but her father leased the farm from the count, so it was my job to make sure that Lasse behaved himself and . . .’ Erik breaks off. ‘So what did Bertil say about Elita?’

Thea comes back at him with another question.

‘What happened to the Svart family?’

Erik shrugs. ‘God knows. When Little Stefan got there the morning after Elita’s funeral, they were gone – all three of them. No one ever heard from them again.’ He pauses,