The killer's art

40

Knutas and Kihlgard spent the rest of Saturday preoccupied with the question of whether Egon Wallin might have been homosexual.

Knutas had rung Monika Wallin to ask her about the matter, but she rejected the idea. Not because there was any passion between them any more; she simply had a hard time believing that her husband could have been gay. During the many years of their marriage she had never noticed any such tendency in him.

But Kihlgard talked to the two women who worked at the art gallery and got an entirely different response. They had both suspected that Egon Wallin was interested in men.

Finally Kihlgard started from a different angle. He wanted to find out if any of the men who attended the gallery opening and also stayed at the Wisby Hotel on the night of the murder were homosexual. He came up with two names. Hugo Malmberg, one of the owners of the art gallery in which Egon Wallin planned to invest, and Mattis Kalvalis.

Kihlgard knocked on Knutas’s door and found him absorbed in his own work. He told the superintendent what he had discovered.

‘Interesting,’ said Knutas. ‘Kalvalis and Malmberg. So Egon Wallin may have been on his way to meet one of them.’

‘Or why not both?’ suggested Kihlgard, fluttering his lashes. ‘Maybe they were having a menage a trois!’

‘Oh, come on,’ said Knutas. ‘Let’s not get carried away. Who do you think is the most likely?’

‘Malmberg is closer in age. Kalvalis is at least twenty years younger than Wallin. Although I don’t suppose that really makes any difference.’

‘No, but Wallin was going to be Hugo Malmberg’s business partner,’ said Knutas. ‘And he was planning to move to Stockholm. It’s also possible that Malmberg could be dealing in stolen artwork. Maybe they were both mixed up in it together.’

‘I’ve checked out Malmberg,’ said Kihlgard. ‘He doesn’t have a police record, and his professional life is spotless. I also talked to him on the phone. He flatly denies having had a relationship with Egon Wallin, and he said he didn’t think Wallin was gay. He claims he would have noticed if he was.’

‘So what about Mattis Kalvalis? Have you talked to him?’

‘Yes, and his reaction seemed genuine. He burst out laughing when I asked if they’d had a homosexual relationship. “That old guy?” were his exact words. “Not on your life!” On the other hand, Mattis was convinced that Wallin was gay. He said he gave off that kind of vibe, even though Wallin had never said anything overt.’

Kihlgard looked at his watch. ‘Well, I’ve got to run. I have a dinner date,’ he said with delight.

‘Really? With whom?’

‘I’m not telling.’ Kihlgard gave him a wink, laughed heartily, and left the room.

When Knutas was alone, he began filling his pipe again.

As far as Wallin’s involvement with stolen paintings was concerned, they’d hit a brick wall and at the moment couldn’t seem to find out anything more. The search of his Stockholm flat had produced absolutely nothing. The hard drives of his computers were missing. Wallin’s book-keeping and records of his bank accounts were all immaculate. There was nothing to indicate any sort of irregularity. Monika Wallin had done her work perfectly.

Knutas was feeling extremely frustrated about the fact that they had no idea how to proceed in terms of Wallin’s art galleries. They had checked out his prospective business partners in Stockholm but again had found nothing of interest.

He began making another careful study of the guest list for the gallery opening. He gave a start when he noticed the name of Erik Mattson from Bukowski’s Auction House on the list. He had not received a personal invitation; instead, a general invitation had been sent to the auction house. The firm had sent two representatives, and one of them was Erik Mattson. How strange, thought Knutas. Mattson had valued the stolen paintings found in Egon Wallin’s home, but he hadn’t said a word about attending the opening when Knutas talked to him on the phone.

He punched in the number for Bukowski’s and spoke to the head curator, who was in the midst of preparing for the big spring auction taking place the following week. The curator confirmed that they had sent two colleagues to Gotland on the weekend in question. They had a valuation to do in Burgsvik on Friday, and then they were supposed to attend the gallery opening on Saturday. Since both men were experts in modern art, it was important for them to keep up-to-date with what was happening in the art world. And all indications were that Mattis Kalvalis was going to be a big name.

Knutas asked to speak to Erik Mattson, but he wasn’t in. The curator gave him Mattson’s mobile number. No one answered, so Knutas left a message on his voicemail.

It was now past six, and it was Saturday. Knutas searched for Mattson’s home phone number on the internet, but without any luck. Apparently he had an unlisted number. He tried the mobile number again, but without success. Well, it would just have to wait. But Knutas felt an uneasiness gnawing at him as he drove home.

It was almost dusk, and the sky was tinged with crimson. That was one of the things that people who visited Gotland always talked about. The light. That it was different on Gotland. They were probably right. Even though he was so used to it, occasionally he still stopped to look at the special glow that settled over the island.

Knutas’s heart belonged to Gotland, without question. He had deep roots here; his family had lived on the island as far back as anyone cared to research his genealogy. His parents lived on a farm in Kappelshamn in the northwest. They were now past retirement age, but they continued to bake flatbread, which they delivered to island restaurants and shops. The bread was famous. Some tourists even claimed that they went to Gotland just to buy that bread. It wasn’t available anywhere else.

Knutas had a good relationship with his parents, but he preferred to keep them at a safe distance. When he and Lina decided to buy a summerhouse, his father tried to convince him to find one in Kappelshamn. They decided instead to buy a place in nearby Lickershamn. If his parents needed help with something in the summer-time, it wouldn’t take him long to get to their house, but he didn’t really want them stopping by all the time.

Knutas had an older sister who lived in Farjestaden on the neighbouring island of Oland. He also had a twin brother who was in the military and lived on Faro. The brothers saw each other mostly at family gatherings. Knutas usually saw his sister Lena only at Christmas and Midsummer; she was seven years older than him, and they’d never been close. But he spoke to his brother on the phone from time to time, and occasionally they went out for a bite to eat or a beer. Even though they saw each other so seldom, their relationship was easygoing and uncomplicated. Knutas thought that was probably because they were twins. They always knew where they stood with each other, without constantly needing to re-establish contact. Whenever his brother came to Visby for a visit, he would stay overnight. The children were very fond of their uncle. Petra and Nils enjoyed listening to his tall tales about military life, and he could always keep them laughing.

When Knutas turned into his driveway, he caught sight of Lina through the kitchen window and was suddenly seized with melancholy. To think that people could live side by side and keep such secrets from each other, the way Egon and Monika had done. He was appalled by the idea that a woman could go around believing that she had a good marriage when the exact opposite was true. And then to find out that her spouse was cold-heartedly planning to move away and start a new life in a completely different place without saying a word. For Knutas it was incomprehensible that a person could be capable of such betrayal. He felt sorry for Monika Wallin. Even though she herself had taken a lover, she had still been thoroughly deceived by her husband.