‘That all depends on what we are now waiting for with baited breath: in other words, my father’s will. We came to these suppers for the most part because he was Magdalon Schelderup, but also because we were waiting for him to tell us at some point about his will. But that never happened. Either he was still in doubt, or he just wanted to keep us on tenterhooks.’
She hesitated briefly, but then continued with youthful zeal.
‘And as regards the inheritance, perhaps my father died a few years too early. The only one of his children who is capable of taking over – in other words, me – is still too young, in practical and legal terms, to head a consolidated company of that size. The alternative is to divide up the business, and that would not be profitable at this point. The company is on the offensive, and appears to be in the middle of several transaction processes that make the situation unclear for the next year. My father also liked to keep secrets from those closest to him. It was part of his strategy for holding the reins and keeping everyone around him on their toes. So none of us know what it says in the will. I know that my mother has pressured him to leave a company that was as consolidated as possible to me, but I have no idea whether she succeeded or not. It was not easy to persuade my father to do anything – not even for my mother. I presume that you will shortly be told the content of the will and I would be very grateful if you could telephone as soon as the mystery has been clarified.’
The latter was said with a tiny sweet smile. I registered vaguely that I was nodding in reply, and that her smile widened with even greater sweetness. Maria Irene Schelderup was her father’s daughter: a player who needed to be watched. This feeling was in no way diminished when she continued.
‘So, the situation is this: I may have a motive for murder, but if that is the case, it depends on the content of a will that I know nothing about. But I did not kill my father, regardless of what it says. I realized that he did not have many more years left, and anyway I wanted to study for a few years before taking over the business. So time was in my favour.’
I felt I was slightly at sea and tried to regain control of the interview by asking about her and her father’s relationship with her two half-brothers.
‘I for my part feel very little for either of them, positive or negative. Leonard is of course closer to me than Fredrik, both in age and personality. But the distance between us is still too great for me to have any sisterly feelings. The fact that we have different mothers who cannot stand the sight of each other has naturally taken its toll. I have grown up as my mother’s only child, but have always been painfully aware that my father had two older sons.’
