The Hidden Child Read Free Page A

the next few months.’
    ‘You make it sound as if I’m going to be off sailing the seven seas,’ said Erica with a laugh. ‘But I’ll be coming downstairs for lunch.’
    ‘Do you think this will work out, you staying in the house to work?’
    ‘We can at least give it a try. Just pretend I’m not here.’
    ‘No problem. As soon as you close the door to your work-room, you no longer exist for me.’ Patrik gave her a wink.
    ‘Hmm. Well, we’ll see,’ replied Erica and headed upstairs. ‘But it’ll be worth it if I can avoid having to rent office space.’
    She went into her workroom and closed the door with mixed feelings. In the twelve months she’d been at home taking care of Maja, she’d found herself longing for the day she could pass the baton to Patrik and devote herself to grown-up matters again. She’d grown sick and tired of playgrounds, sandboxes, and children’s TV programmes. Making the perfect sand pie didn’t exactly qualify as intellectual stimulation, and no matter how much she loved her daughter if she was forced to sing ‘Itsy-bitsy Spider’ one more time she’d go crazy. Now it was Patrik’s turn to look after the child.
    With a certain feeling of reverence, Erica sat down in front of the computer, pressed the ‘on’ button, and listened with pleasure to the familiar hum. The deadline for the new book in her true crime series was February, but she’d already managed to do some of the research over the summer, so she felt ready to get started. She opened the Word document she’d dubbed ‘Elias’, since that was the name of the murderer’s first victim, and placed her fingers on the keyboard. A discreet knock on the door interrupted her.
    ‘Sorry for disturbing you . . .’ Patrik opened the door and peered at Erica from under the shock of hair that fell over his forehead ‘. . . but I was wondering where you put Maja’s zip suit.’
    ‘In the drier.’
    Patrik nodded and closed the door.
    Again she placed her fingers on the keyboard and took a deep breath. Another knock.
    ‘I’m sorry, I promise to leave you alone, but I just need to ask what sort of clothes Maja should wear today. It’s really chilly outside, but she always gets overheated, and then it might be easier for her to catch cold . . .’ Patrik smiled sheepishly.
    ‘All she needs is a thin shirt and trousers under the zip suit. And she usually wears the thin cotton cap.’
    ‘Thanks,’ said Patrik and shut the door again. Erica was just about to type the first sentence when she heard cries from downstairs. They quickly rose to a crescendo, and after listening for two minutes, she pushed back her chair and went downstairs.
    ‘I’ll give you a hand. It’s hopeless trying to get her dressed.’
    ‘Yeah, I can see that,’ said Patrik, sweat dripping from his brow after the struggle to shoehorn a complaining and resistant Maja into her outdoor clothing.
    Five minutes later she was still sulky but fully dressed, and Erica gave both daughter and husband a kiss on the lips before she hustled them out the door.
    ‘Take a long walk so Mamma can have some peace and quiet to work,’ she said. Patrik looked embarrassed.
    ‘I’m sorry. I guess it will take a few days to get into the swing of things, but then you should have all the peace and quiet you want. I promise.’
    ‘That’ll be nice,’ said Erica and firmly closed the door after them. She poured herself a big mug of coffee and went back upstairs to her workroom. Finally she could get started.
    ‘Shh . . . Stop making such a damn racket.’
    ‘What’s the problem? My mother says that they’re both away. Nobody has bothered to take in the post all summer. They must have forgotten to get it redirected, so she’s been emptying their letter box since June. Take it easy, we can make as much noise as we want.’ Mattias laughed, but Adam still looked sceptical. There was something creepy about the old house. And there was something creepy about those old