The killer's art

56

It took twenty-four hours before the media got wind of the fact that the police had blocked off Muramaris and were searching Rolf de Mare’s cottage. On Tuesday afternoon someone was out taking a walk in the area and happened to see the blue-and-white police tape around the cottage. That’s when the rumours started to fly. The police refused to comment on their actions, citing the need for keeping under wraps the preliminary investigation that was under way.

Johan was about to burst with frustration because no one would tell him anything. He and Pia were back at the editorial offices after going out to shoot whatever they could get at Muramaris. They’d been forced to plod through the woods to take pictures. Even then they only got partial shots of the grounds. The police had blocked off the car park.

As usual, Grenfors had rung Johan to demand a story to headline the news broadcast. Johan had been unable to contact either Anita Thoren or anyone else willing to make a statement. He was tearing his hair out, staring vacantly into space as Pia edited the footage they had shot.

‘I’ve got no text,’ he said. ‘The only thing I can report is that we have nothing to report! The police aren’t talking. Nor is the owner, and there aren’t any neighbours in the area. What the hell are we going to do?’

Pia stopped typing on the computer keyboard and took her eyes off the screen, with its sweeping image of the woods and the imposing building just visible in the background. She took out a small tin of snuff and took a pinch.

‘Hmm… who the hell might know something? Wait a minute, there’s a restaurant out there that’s open in the summertime. And I know a girl who usually works there. It’s a long shot, but I can try ringing her.’

Ten minutes later they were on their way to Muramaris again to do a piece-to-camera. Johan was going to report on the latest news on-site with the house in the background, even though it was barely visible because the grounds had been blocked off by the police. But it would be much more effective on TV. Pia Lilja’s friend turned out to be the girlfriend of Anita Thoren’s son, and she was surprisingly well informed. She knew about the police searching the place, and she told them about Nils Dardel’s connection to Muramaris. She also said that it was presumably there that he had painted the stolen work of art. She said she’d heard that the police suspected that the perpetrator had rented Rolf de Mare’s cottage just before Egon Wallin was murdered.