Echoes From the Dead Read Online Free PDF

memory of himself standing on deck in autumn winds like these, watching the coast of Oland slipping slowly by, either at close quarters with its rocks and cottages, or as just a dark strip along the horizonand just as he was picturing the scene, the telephone on the desk suddenly rang.
    The sound was shrill and loud in the silent room. Gerlof let it ring once more. He could often sense in advance who was calling; this time he wasn’t sure.
    He lifted the receiver after the third ring.
    “Davidsson.”
    No one answered.
    The line was open, and he could hear the steady hiss of electrons or whatever it was that whirled around the telephone cables, but the person holding the receiver didn’t say a word.
    Gerlof thought he knew what the person wanted anyway.
    “This is Gerlof,” he said, “and I received it. If it’s the sandal you’re calling about.”
    He thought he could hear the sound of quiet breathing on the other end.
    “It came in the mail a few days ago,” he said.
    Silence.
    “I think it was you who sent it,” said Gerlof. “Why did you
    do that?”
    Only silence.
    “Where did you find it?”
    The only thing he could hear was the hissing noise. When
    Gerlof had been pressing the receiver to his ear for long enough, it began to feel as if he were sitting there all alone in the entire universe, listening to the silence of black outer space. Or to the sea.
    After thirty seconds, someone gave a deep cough.
    Then there was a click. The receiver at the other end had
    been put down.
     
    julia’s Elder sister, Lena Lundqvist, was clutching the keys firmly and looking nervously at the car. She glanced briefly at Julia, then looked back at their shared car.
    It was a small red Ford. Not new, but still with shiny paintwork and good summer tires. It was parked on the street, next to the driveway of Lena and her husband Richard’s tall brick house in Torslanda; they had a big garden, and although there was no sea view, they were so close to the sea that Julia thought she could smell the tang of the salt water in the air. She heard the sound of shrill laughter from one of the open windows, and realized all the children were home.
    “We’re really not keen on lending it out… When did you last drive?” asked Lena.
    She was still holding the car keys in one hand, her arms firmly crossed over her chest.
    “Last summer,” said Julia, adding a quick reminder: “But it is my car … at least, half of it is.”
    A cold, damp wind swept along the street from the sea. Lena
    was wearing only a thin cardigan and skirt, but she didn’t ask Julia to come inside where it was warm so they could discuss things furtherand even if she had, Julia would never have agreed. Richard was bound to be inside, and she had no desire to see either him or their teenage children.
    Richard was some kind of big boss at Volvo. He had his own
    company car, of course, as did Lena, who was head of a primary school in Hisingen. They were very fortunate.
    “You don’t need it,” added Julia, her voice steady. “You’ve only had it while … while I haven’t wanted to drive.”
    Lena looked at the car again. “Well, yes, but Richard’s daughter is here every other weekend, and she wants”
    “I shall pay for all the gas,” Julia interrupted her.
    She wasn’t afraid of her older sister, she never had been, and she had made the decision to drive to Oland.
    “Yes, I know you will, it isn’t that,” said Lena. “But it doesn’t feel right, somehow. And then there’s the insurance. Richard says”
    “I’m only going to drive to Oland in it,” said Julia. “And then back to Gothenburg again.”
    Lena looked up at the house; there were lights behind the
    curtains in almost every room.
    “Gerlof wants me to go,” Julia went on. “I spoke to him yesterday.”
    “But
    why now?” said Lena, then went on without waiting for
    an answer. “And where are you going to stay? I mean, you can’t stay with him at the homethere aren’t any