The Ice Princess by Camilla Läckberg Read Free Book Online Page A

content. And I know that she couldn’t have taken her own life. Someone must have murdered her, I have no doubt about that.’
    ‘How can you be so sure? Not even Henrik could say for certain whether she might have committed suicide.’
    ‘Because she was pregnant.’
    Francine’s reply caught Erica off guard.
    ‘Does Henrik know about this?’
    ‘I don’t know. At any rate, it wasn’t his child. They haven’t lived together in that way for many years. And even when they did, Alex always refused to have a child with Henrik. No matter how much he begged her. No, the child must have been fathered by the new man in her life—whoever he may be.’
    ‘She never said who he was?’
    ‘No. As you probably realize by now, Alex was very sparing with her confidences. I have to admit that I was quite shocked when she told me about the child, but that’s also one of the reasons why I’m absolutely sure she didn’t kill herself. She was literally brimming with happiness and simply couldn’t keep the news to herself. She loved that baby and never would have done anything to harm it, certainly not take its life. For the first time, I saw an Alexandra who had a zest for life. I think I would have grown quite fond of her.’ Her voice sounded sad. ‘You know, I also had a feeling that she intended to come to terms with her past. I don’t know exactly how, but a few scattered remarks here and there gave me that impression.’
    The door to the gallery opened and they heard somebody stamping the wet snow from their shoes on the doormat. Francine got up.
    ‘That’s probably a customer. I have to go. I hope I’ve been of some help.’
    ‘Oh yes, I’m very grateful that you and Henrik have both been so frank. You’ve been a great help.’
    After Francine assured the customer that she would be right back, she showed Erica to the door. In front of an enormous canvas with a white square on a blue field they stopped and shook hands.
    ‘Just out of curiosity, what would a painting like this go for? Five thousand, ten thousand?’
    Francine smiled. ‘More like fifty.’
    Erica gave a low whistle. ‘So, there you see. Art and fine wine. Two areas that remain complete mysteries to me.’
    ‘And I can barely write a shopping list. We all have our specialities.’
    They laughed. Erica pulled her coat tighter even though it was still damp and headed out into the rain.
     
    The rain had transformed the snow to slush, and she drove a bit below the speed limit just to be on the safe side. After wasting almost half an hour trying to get out of Hisingen, where she had ended up by mistake, she was now approaching Uddevalla. A dull rumble in her stomach reminded her that she had totally forgotten to eat all day. She turned off the E6 at the Torp shopping centre north of Uddevalla and drove into McDonald’s. She gulped down a cheeseburger as she sat in the parking lot and was soon back out on the motorway. The whole time her thoughts were filled with the conversations she’d had with Henrik and Francine. What they had told her created an image of a woman who had built high defensive walls around herself.
    What Erica was most curious about was who could be the father of Alex’s baby. Francine didn’t think that it was Henrik’s, but no one could ever be completely sure what happened in other people’s bedrooms, and Erica still reckoned it was a possibility. If not, the question was whether the father was the man that Francine hinted Alex had gone to meet every weekend in Fjällbacka, or whether she had a lover in Göteborg.
    Erica had got the impression that Alex was leading some sort of parallel life. She did as she liked, without worrying about how it would affect those close to her, and Henrik in particular. Erica had the feeling that Francine had a hard time understanding how Henrik could accept a marriage under those conditions. She also thought that Francine disdained him for that reason. Yet Erica could understand all too well