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public. The wall is said to have been … hm … raised in the fourteenth, oh no fifteenth, century to block up a door to a small room in the old stone house. The reason to why the door was blocked up at the time is not known. Whether this is the room which according to … folklore … contains a girl buried alive is subject to debate but many still believe in the legend, expecting to find the remains of the young girl upon opening the wall. Eighty seven year old Sture Ekman …Oh I know him”, Erik added, “who lives only three kilometres from Torpa said yesterday: ‘They would certainly be tempting fate by going anywhere near that room. Anyone who has tried to break the wall has died’. One of the objections to the application is that it would be unethical to break open this possible resting place. Leading the initiative to open the wall is Ingrid Stenbock at Torpa. She is being supported by a professor from Oxford University, Professor Paul Simmons, who suggests that the hidden room may house an important ancient artefact. The debate continues. The local council has given no indication of when they are likely to come to a final decision.”
    “I had no idea this would cause such uproar”, Paul said as he started to put his slippers on. “The whole ‘threat of death’ folklore is amusing but surely no one can actually believe that opening a wall can cause someone’s demise! It actually makes me more convinced that there is something of value hidden inside.”
    “Consider Tutankhamun’s curse,” Emma pointed out. “After Tutankhamun’s tomb in the Valley of the Kings had been opened, a number of people present at the opening ceremony later died in more or less unexplained circumstances. I personally don’t believe in any type of curse or supernatural hocus-pocus but you never know…”
    “Well, in this instance I think you do. It’s ridiculous to suggest, firstly, that opening the wall in pursuit of science – in pursuit of the truth – would be sacrilegious and, secondly, that anyone would die in the process”. Paul suddenly seemed a bit out of spirits. Emma was certain that he had enjoyed his first few days on Swedish soil in the beautiful Torpa estate. Now she understood that the process of waiting for the Swedish local council to make the decision to allow the opening of the wall was starting to take its toll on his mood.
    Erik’s parents had already given their permission to go-ahead with the opening of the wall. Emma’s first impression was that Erik’s mother, who appeared to be a shrewd business woman, had only accepted this on the basis that it would attract media attention and visitors to the estate. His father seemed a fairly quiet and laid back character who didn’t really care what happened to it. He had left the decision to his wife. The mere fact that Erik’s parents had honoured them with their presence in the house given their tragic relationship with the old woman was in a way surprising, although Erik had told Emma that his parents had started to live there more frequently since his grandmother had become less active. She could not blame them. Emma herself could imagine spending the rest of her days next to the breathtakingly beautiful lake surrounding the house, breathing the wonderfully fresh air. Compared to London, where she had grown up, this was the equivalent to living on a health farm.
    The decision was now in the hands of the Swedish local authority. The weight of the mere opinion of an Oxford professor had already given significant credibility to the whole idea but Paul had felt that he needed to be on site to ensure that it actually happened and to relieve Erik and Mrs Stenbock of some of the pressure. There had been a surprising amount of press-coverage, albeit only in the local paper and on the regional news. This was clearly an issue close to many locals’ hearts.
    “I really cannot understand the locals’ resistance to the opening of the wall. Surely, it will