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something of their old ability: to provide a boundary between herself and everything out there she didn’t want to deal with. She felt safe again.
    She had two days to be happy. Then Ellinor was back again, and Maj-Britt understood right away that she hadn’t managed to shut her up as properly as she had intended. The girl wasn’t in the flat more than a few minutes before her torrent of words caused another deep rift.
    ‘Say, is it okay if I ask you a question? I know you don’t like to talk to any of us who come here, but …’
    She had both asked the question and answered it herself. Why should Maj-Britt have to join in her conversations? She caught Saba’s eye, and they were in agreement. They had to see about getting this person replaced.
    ‘That letter that I posted …’
    She didn’t even have to finish her sentence before Maj-Britt wanted with all her heart to get her out of the flat so that she could open the refrigeratorundisturbed and select what she was going to stuff in her mouth.
    ‘Was it the Vanja Tyrén?’
    Maj-Britt was trapped again. Once more her long since forgotten ‘best friend’ was trying to force her into something against her will. She didn’t intend to permit it. She didn’t intend to reply. But it was no use. When Ellinor didn’t get an answer she just kept going on her own, and the words she said made the cracks grow to huge holes exposing her to the hostile outside world.
    ‘The Vanja Tyrén who killed her entire family?’

5
    L eadership – tools and methods that produce results .
    She had agreed several months earlier to take the course, a long time before Thomas had come into her life. At a time when any of the infrequent breaks in her monotonous daily life had been more than welcome. Back then she had looked forward to the trip.
    Now everything was different. Now she didn’t know how she was going to make it through the four days.
        
    A pharmaceutical company had offered to pay her course fee. Not for a moment had they managed to convince her that they were worried about her leadership skills or ability as a boss to motivate her staff. Perhaps they were worried about her ability to motivate her staff to select their company’s brand of medicine when they were writing prescriptions, but both sides participated in the game. It wasn’t the first time that a pharmaceutical company had shown some of the clinic’s doctors a little extra appreciation. Nor would it be the last.
    She didn’t consider herself a particularly good boss, but as far as she knew the staff in her department were satisfied. Her poor leadership qualities seldom had any effect on them; on the contrary, she was theone who usually took on the most extra work. Delegating tedious tasks had always gone against the grain; it was easier to do them herself and avoid resentment. She always felt a need to compensate in some way if she asked them to do something, keep them in a good mood. But actually it was more about ensuring continued goodwill towards herself. So that nobody would think badly of her.
    In her role as a physician she had more self-confidence. If she hadn’t been regarded as highly skilled and goal-oriented, she never would have been offered the job four years ago. The clinic was under private management with a foundation as the primary shareholder, and to be offered a position as head surgeon was a clear endorsement. There were nine departments in the building, and she was the head of General Surgery. Even so, her leadership skills could definitely use some work, and in her former life, the one before she met Thomas, she would have thrown herself into the assignment wholeheartedly. Now it no longer felt so important. Thomas thought she was fine the way she was, despite all her shortcomings. Right now she just wanted to enjoy that feeling.
    Except that there was one shortcoming she hadn’t revealed yet.
    The nastiest, lowest of them all.
        
    She stood at the bus station and waited.