The killer's art

58

The man who had rented the cottage at Muramaris had used a false name. There was no Alexander Ek with the address he had given. He had paid cash, and the van he’d been driving was traced to a carrental company in Visby. The police spent a long time interviewing the gardener, even though he had been away most of the week in question. But on the day when the guest arrived, he’d seen the man’s vehicle and even noticed on the back window the name of the rental agency, which he was able to recall. The van had been rented for the same period as the cottage, also under a false name. All indications were that the perpetrator was indeed the man who had rented the cottage at Muramaris. Rolf de Mare’s cottage was combed for evidence.

Both blond and pitch-black strands of hair were found in the bed and bathroom. Cigarette butts, the Lucky Strike brand, were scattered outside on the ground. In a bag of rubbish forgotten behind the cottage, the police found a used bottle of foundation make-up and disposable coloured contact lenses that were bright blue.

The fact that the police had cordoned off Muramaris attracted a lot of attention, and when representatives from the local media arrived on the scene, they began asking the usual questions. Knutas had instructed Norrby not to say anything about the link between Muramaris and Egon Wallin’s murderer. Yet strangely enough, Johan Berg included that information in his report on the evening news. Knutas was at least grateful that the journalist didn’t know more of the details. The passenger lists from the ferries had been examined, and Alexander Ek was found to be one of the passengers who arrived from Nynashamn on the morning of Wednesday 16 February. He returned on Sunday 20 February. He did not take a car aboard the ferry.

‘So at least we now know when the killer arrived and departed,’ said Jacobsson when the investigative team gathered for a meeting at police headquarters late that night.

‘He rented a car from Avis in Ostercentrum,’ Sohlman went on as he motioned for Jacobsson to turn off the lights. ‘It was a white van like this one. The van is being searched at the moment. The tracks in the snow at Norra Murgatan match the tyre tread on this vehicle, so there’s no longer any doubt. The van was definitely used by the perp.’