The Shapeshifters by Stefan Spjut Read Free Book Online Page A

home. And they haven’t been back since. He doesn’t want to, Carina says. And Per-Erik, my son, won’t say anything at all.’
    â€˜And the neighbours?’ asked Susso. ‘The Westmans, wasn’t it? Have you spoken to them?’
    â€˜I have,’ said Edit. She shivered. ‘But I know what he’s like. He just shrugged his shoulders. And that’s just it,’ she said. She fixed her gaze on Susso, who had turned to face the Westmans’ house. ‘If you don’t know what he looked like, how strange his face was with those eyes, and how
little
he was—hardly a metre tall, I would say—then it’s hard to be interested. Hard to take it seriously.’
    Susso put her hand in her pocket and pulled out her mobile. It was almost half past two and soon it would be completely dark.
    â€˜You know what, Edit?’ she said. ‘I think this sounds very interesting, and that’s why I’d like to set up a camera. If that’s okay with you. It senses when anyone gets close to the house.’
    Edit looked a little uncertain but did not protest, so Susso waded off and fetched her backpack from the car. The camera she dug out had a camouflage pattern. Two Velcro straps were wrapped round it.
    The downpipe was the obvious choice. She positioned thecamera about a metre off the ground, with the lens aimed at a spot between the birches and the drive. She attached the top strap over the wall mounting that held the pipe in place so that the camera would not slide down. As she fixed the straps she explained to Edit how the sensor worked, how to check if the batteries had run out or the memory card had become full. Edit listened silently, leaning forwards in concentration, her eyebrows wrinkled sternly.
    â€˜Because he was here in the daytime,’ said Susso, ‘I’ll set it to take pictures day and night. Remember that, so that you don’t walk over there and we get masses of pictures of you.’
    â€˜Oh, right,’ said Edit, taking a quick step backwards.
    â€˜But you can walk there now,’ said Susso.
    â€˜Now?’
    â€˜Yes,’ she said, rubbing her hat where her scalp had started to itch. ‘So I know the camera is working as it should. Walk around the cars and come from that direction.’
    Edit walked off and disappeared behind the Opel, and the second she came into the camera’s field of vision the movement indicator began to flicker.
    â€˜Good!’ shouted Susso. ‘You’ve been detected!’
    Â 
    Out of his pockets he pulled a pair of work gloves that had dried into stiff knots. Snow met his face as he walked down the veranda steps. There was a yap from the dog enclosure and a low growling from one of the dogs, but no barking. He hit the chicken wire and the snow fell away, revealing the dogs. Two Swedish Elkhounds, a Finnish Lapphund cross, and the little Laika with her bushy arc of a tail. They all stood up and watched him.
    â€˜Were you up on the roof last night?’ he said, and the dog put her head on one side.
    The Volvo lay with its bonnet and windscreen on the ground, and the rear wheels were some way above Seved’s head. He rested a hand on one tyre and rocked the car gently.
    One of the wing mirrors was hanging loose, but luckily all the windows were undamaged. If any invisible damage had been done, they wouldn’t know about it, of course. He had asked Ejvor whether the old-timers had picked up the car and thrown it or whether they had only overturned it, but she was unsure. Probably they had only tipped it over. It was doubtful the windows would have stayed intact otherwise.
    He crouched down in front of the bonnet. There were no traces of oil as far as he could see, but water had leaked out, smelling strongly of antifreeze.
    The front door of the house slammed shut and Ejvor came walking towards him with the hood of her down coat covering her head. The fur circled her small face like