I resisted the temptation to ask her whether she had feelings for anyone other than herself, and instead indicated that she should carry on telling me about her brothers. And this also seemed to be a topic she had thought about a lot.
‘As regards my half-brothers’ relationship with our father, I don’t think he ever saw much hope in Fredrik. A father who paid attention to every detail and a son who cares about nothing are not compatible. I would not be surprised if my father had not always stayed on the right side of the law, but it mattered to him greatly that he had never been convicted of anything, and that no one should be given the opportunity to do this. Fredrik, on the other hand, could have papered an entire wall with his speeding and parking fines. Father once commented that he had hoped to have a son who understood the laws of the land well enough to avoid them, but instead he had a son who did not even realize that laws existed. I am sure it was a great disappointment and, based on that alone, I do not think that Fredrik will get much in the will. But my father was an unpredictable man, even for me, and he had some strange and highly irrational old-fashioned ideas about the eldest son and the family’s reputation and things like that. I may be wrong, but I would guess that Fredrik will fare least well.’
She continued with a slightly more earnest expression.
‘I see Leonard as a more dangerous contender. He has never used his talents in the way that Father wanted him to. But Leonard has both talent and willpower, and it seemed as though Father felt closer to him in more recent years. Leonard’s success on the track was eventually to his advantage. Father had no interest whatsoever in athletics, but he approved of any quantifiable success that was discussed in the papers and by the people he met. So my bet would perhaps be that Fredrik receives the two hundred thousand that he has the legal right to claim, whereas the rest will be divided between Leonard and myself in some way or other.’
Now I really was staring at her with horrified fascination. It was easy to understand what her brother had meant when he said that she was a competitive person.
‘So what you are actually saying is that Leonard could have a very strong financial motive for wanting to kill his father now – before time played to your advantage?’
Her smile was brief and unexpectedly wide. It made me think of a young female lion who has an antelope in her sight.
