The Lost Boy

20

They had a pleasant evening with Göran. For most of their lives, Erica and Anna hadn’t known that they had a brother, but he had soon grown close to his younger sisters. Both Patrik and Dan thought very highly of their brother-in-law. His adoptive mother, Märta, who had eaten dinner with them, was a wonderful old woman who had quickly become part of the extended family.

‘Are you ready to go?’ said Ulf as they stood in the car park outside police headquarters.

Without waiting for a reply, he introduced his colleague, Javier. He was even bigger than Ulf, if that was possible, and in considerably better shape. Apparently he wasn’t the talkative type, and he shook their hands in silence.

‘Do you want to follow us?’ Ulf squeezed in behind the steering wheel of an unmarked police car.

‘Sure, as long as you don’t go too fast. I don’t know my way around here,’ said Patrik. He and Gösta headed for their own vehicle.

‘I’ll drive as cautiously as a driving instructor,’ laughed Ulf.

They headed through town and then entered an area with fewer buildings. After another twenty minutes, there were almost no buildings at all.

‘We’re really out in the country,’ said Gösta, glancing around. ‘Do they live out in the woods?’

‘Maybe it’s not so strange that they live way out here. There are probably a lot of things they don’t want the neighbours to see.’

‘True enough.’

Ulf slowed and turned into a driveway in front of a big house. Several dogs came running out to the cars, barking loudly.

‘Shit. I don’t like dogs,’ said Gösta, staring out of the windscreen. He jumped when one of the big dogs, a Rottweiler, began barking outside his door.

‘Their bark is worse than their bite,’ said Patrik, switching off the engine.

‘That’s what you think,’ replied Gösta, making no motion to open the door.

‘Come on.’ Patrik got out of the car but froze when three dogs surrounded him, baring their teeth and growling.

‘Call off the dogs,’ shouted Ulf. After a minute a man came out of the front door.

‘Why should I do that? They’re doing their job. Keeping uninvited visitors away.’ He crossed his arms with an amused smile.

‘Come on, Stefan. We’re just here to have a little talk. Call off the damn dogs.’

Stefan laughed, raised his hand to his lips, and whistled. The dogs stopped barking at once. They ran over to their master and lay down at his feet.

‘Satisfied?’

Patrik couldn’t help noticing that the leader of the IE was quite good looking. If it hadn’t been for the coldness in his eyes, he might even have been called handsome. His clothes detracted from that impression: worn jeans, a stained T-shirt, and black motorcycle vest. On his feet he wore wooden clogs.

More men began appearing, all of them with the same wary and hostile expression.

‘So what do you want? You’re on private property,’ said Stefan. He was following their every move.

‘We want to have a chat, that’s all,’ Ulf repeated, holding up his hands in the air. ‘We’re not here to make trouble.’

There was a moment’s pause while Stefan considered this. Nobody moved a muscle.

‘Okay, come in,’ Stefan told them at last, shrugging as if to say that he didn’t really care. He turned on his heel and walked towards the house.

Ulf, Javier, and Gösta took him at his word. His heart pounding in his chest, Patrik followed the others.

‘Have a seat.’ Stefan pointed to several armchairs standing next to a dirty glass coffee table. He sat down on an ostentatious leather sofa, stretching out his arms along the back. The table was covered with beer cans, pizza boxes, and cigarette butts, only some of them in the ashtray.

‘We didn’t have time to clean up,’ said Stefan with a grin. Then he turned serious. ‘What do you want?’

Ulf glanced at Patrik, who cleared his throat. He was feeling nervous, and that was putting it mildly, to find himself in the headquarters of a biker gang. But there was no turning back now.

‘We’re from the Tanumshede police,’ he said, noticing to his dismay that his voice was shaking. Not a lot, but enough to bring an amused glint to Stefan’s eyes. ‘We have a few questions with regard to an assault that took place back in February. On Erik Dahlbergsgatan. The man who was attacked was named Mats Sverin.’

Patrik paused while Stefan continued to stare at him.

‘And?’

‘According to a witness, he was assaulted by some men who wore your emblem on their backs.’

Stefan laughed scornfully and glanced at his men, who were keeping a close eye on the police officers from the far side of the room. They started laughing too.

‘So what does the guy have to say about it? What was his name? Max?’

‘Mats,’ said Patrik. It was obvious that the bikers were putting on a show, but he didn’t yet know enough to be able to puncture Stefan Ljungberg’s smug facade.

‘Oh, excuse me. So what does Mats have to say? Did he say it was us?’ Stefan stretched his arms out even further. It looked like he was taking up the whole sofa. One of the dogs came over and lay down at his feet.

‘No,’ Patrik said reluctantly. ‘No, he didn’t.’

‘All right then.’ Stefan grinned.

‘It seems a little strange that you haven’t asked who this man is that we’re talking about,’ said Ulf, trying to entice the dog to come over. Gösta stared at him as if he were crazy, but the dog got up and padded over to Ulf to have his ears scratched.

‘Lolita hasn’t learned to hate the smell of a cop,’ said Stefan. ‘But she will. And as far as this Mats is concerned, I can’t keep tabs on everybody. I’m a businessman and have contact with lots of people.’

‘He worked for an organization called the Refuge. Does that sound familiar?’

The longer they sat there, the more Patrik’s loathing for this man grew. He was finding this charade frustrating. Stefan knew exactly what they were talking about. It would have been better if they could have taken him down to the station so that the witness from Erik Dahlbergsgatan could identify him. Though they had no proof that Stefan had participated in the beating of Mats Sverin, Patrik was convinced that he had. Considering how personal the situation was, he didn’t think Stefan would have turned over the task to his thugs.

‘Refuge? No, never heard of it.’

‘That’s odd. Because they know you. Quite well, in fact.’ Patrik could feel himself boiling inside.

‘Is that so?’ said Stefan, feigning ignorance.

‘How’s Madeleine?’ asked Ulf. Lolita was now lying on her back so he could scratch her stomach.

‘You know what chicks are like. Things are a bit dodgy at the moment, but nothing that can’t be resolved.’

‘Dodgy?’ said Patrik tersely, and Ulf gave him a warning look.

‘Is she home?’ he asked.

Javier hadn’t said a word. He radiated sheer muscle power, and Patrik understood why Ulf had decided to bring him along.

‘Not at the moment,’ said Stefan. ‘But I’m sure she’ll be sorry to have missed you. Chicks love having visitors.’

He seemed totally calm, and Patrik had to restrain himself from punching the guy in the face.

Stefan got to his feet. Lolita instantly jumped up and crept over to her master. She pressed close to his legs, as if to apologize for leaving his side. Stefan leaned down to pat her.

‘If that’s all, I’ve got other things to do.’

Patrik still had a thousand questions to ask. About the cocaine, about Madeleine, about the Refuge, and about the murder. But Ulf gave him another warning glance and nodded towards the door. Patrik realized the other questions would have to wait.

‘I hope that guy’s okay. The one who was attacked, I mean. That sort of thing can be a bad business.’ Stefan stood in the doorway, waiting for them to leave.

Patrik stared at him. ‘He’s dead. Shot to death,’ he said, his face so close to Stefan’s that he could smell stale beer and cigarettes on his breath.

‘Shot?’

The grin was gone, and for a fraction of a second, Patrik saw a look of genuine surprise in Stefan’s eyes.

‘So was the house still standing when you got home last night?’ Konrad looked at Petra through the small, round lenses of his glasses.

‘Yeah, it was,’ said Petra, but she didn’t really seem to be listening. Her attention was focused on the computer screen. After a moment she rolled back her chair and turned to Konrad. ‘I’ve found something in the records. Wester’s wife owns property in Bohuslän, in the archipelago outside of …’ She leaned forward to read what it said. ‘Fjällbacka.’

‘That’s a great place. I’ve spent a couple of summer holidays out there.’

Petra looked at Konrad in amazement. For some reason, she’d never really pictured him going on holiday. She had to bite her tongue to prevent herself asking who he’d gone there with.

‘Where is this place?’ asked Petra. ‘It looks like she owns a whole island. Called Gråskär.’

‘Between Uddevalla and Strömstad,’ said Konrad. He was going through Fredrik Wester’s phone records – both outgoing and incoming calls. It was tedious work, but it had to be done, and phones could be goldmines for criminal investigations. He doubted that they would find anything in this instance. These boys were too shrewd to leave any traces behind. They probably used a phone card that they threw away the minute anything risky took place. But it was worth a shot, and Konrad was known for his tenacity. If a clue was lurking in this endless list of phone calls, he would find it.

‘I haven’t managed to find a mobile number for her yet,’ said Petra. ‘So it would probably be faster to contact the police up there. If they have a police force, that is. It’s not exactly a big town. Maybe Göteborg is the closest station?’

‘Tanumshede,’ said Konrad as he continued to type in phone numbers to compare with the list. ‘The closest police station is in Tanumshede.’

‘Tanumshede? How come you know that?’

‘There was a big story in the papers a couple of days ago about a drug-related murder out that way.’ Konrad took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. After staring too long at the small type on the list, his eyes had begun to hurt.

‘Oh, so that sort of shit doesn’t only happen here in the big city.’

‘No, believe it or not there’s a whole world outside of Stockholm. I realize that may seem strange, but it’s a fact,’ said Konrad.

Petra had been born in Stockholm and she’d lived her whole life in the city. She rarely ventured north of Uppsala or south of Södertälje. ‘Is that so?’ she said. ‘And where do you come from?’ she added sarcastically. At the same time she realized it was odd that she didn’t know, given that they’d worked together for fifteen years. But it had never come up in conversation.

‘Gnosjö,’ replied Konrad, without taking his eyes off the phone list.

Petra stared at him. ‘In Småland? But you don’t have an accent.’

Konrad shrugged. Petra was about to ask another question but stopped herself. She had just learned where Konrad was from and where he’d spent his holidays. That was more than enough information for one day.

‘Gnosjö,’ she repeated with astonishment. Then she picked up the phone. ‘I’m going to call our colleagues in Tanumshede.’

Konrad merely nodded. He was deeply immersed in the world of numbers.

‘You look tired, sweetheart,’ Erica told Patrik, giving him a kiss. She was holding a baby in each arm, and he kissed his sons on the tops of their heads.

‘Yes, I’m feeling a bit worn out. How are things with you?’ he asked, looking guilty.

‘Everything’s fine, as a matter of fact.’ She was surprised to hear herself say that, but she really meant it. Everything had gone smoothly. Maja was at the day-care centre, and the twins had just had their bottles, so they were both content.

‘Was it worth the trip? How are Göran and Märta doing?’ she asked as she laid the twins down on a blanket. ‘There’s coffee if you’d like some.’

‘Thanks. That would be great.’ Patrik followed her to the kitchen. ‘I can only stay a short time. I have to get back to the station.’

‘Sit down for a few minutes and unwind,’ Erica said, practically shoving him down on to a kitchen chair. She set a cup of coffee in front of him, and he gratefully took a sip.

‘Look, I’ve even baked buns.’ She set a plate of buns, still warm from the oven, on the table.

‘Wow, I can’t believe it. Looks like you’re turning into a real homemaker, in spite of everything,’ said Patrik, but from the look on Erica’s face, he realized the joke wasn’t appreciated.

‘Okay, tell me what you found out,’ she said, joining him at the table.

Patrik gave her a summary of what had happened in Göteborg. A hint of resignation was evident in his voice.

‘And Göran and Märta are fine. They’re thinking of coming to visit us some weekend in the near future.’

Erica’s face lit up. ‘That would be wonderful! I’ll phone Göran this afternoon and we can agree on the date.’ Then she turned serious. ‘Something just occurred to me. Has anyone told Nathalie what happened to Gunnar?’

Patrik looked at Erica, realizing that she had a good point.

‘No, I don’t think so. Unless she phoned Signe.’

‘Signe is still in hospital. Apparently she’s not doing well at all.’

Patrik nodded. ‘Okay, I’ll ring Nathalie as soon as I get a chance.’

‘Good.’ Erica smiled. Then she got up, moved his coffee cup out of the way, and sat astride his lap. She ran her fingers through his hair and kissed him gently on the lips.

‘I missed you.’

‘Mmm, I missed you too,’ he said, wrapping his arms around her waist.

From the living room they could hear the twins prattling happily, and Patrik saw a familiar gleam in Erica’s eyes.

‘Is my sweet wife in the mood to accompany me upstairs for a while?’

‘Yes, please, dear sir. I would like that.’

‘So, what are we waiting for?’ Patrik stood up so abruptly that Erica almost fell off his lap. He took her hand and led her towards the stairs. But the moment he set his foot on the bottom step, his mobile rang. He fully intended to ignore it, but Erica stopped him.

‘Sweetheart, you need to take that call. It might be the station.’

‘They can wait,’ he said. ‘Because believe me, this isn’t going to take very long.’ He tugged at her hand again, yet she held back.

‘I’m not sure that’s much of a selling point,’ she said with a smile. ‘And you do have to answer the phone. You know that.’

Patrik sighed. He knew she was right, no matter how disappointed he was.

‘Will you give me a rain check?’ He went out to the front hall to get his mobile out of his jacket pocket.

‘With pleasure, dear sir,’ said Erica and curtseyed.

Patrik laughed as he answered the phone. He truly loved this dotty wife of his.

Mellberg was worried. It felt as if his whole life depended on resolving this matter. Rita was out taking a walk with Leo, and the girls were at work. He’d run home for a while to watch the sports programme. But for the first time ever, he was unable to concentrate on what was happening on TV. Instead, he found himself paying attention to all the thoughts racing through his mind.

Suddenly he gave a start. By God, he had the solution. It was right in front of his nose. He rushed out of the flat and down the stairs to the office on the ground floor. Alvar Nilsson was sitting behind his desk.

‘Hi, Mellberg!’

‘Hi.’ Mellberg gave him a big smile.

‘What’s going on? Are you here to keep me company?’ Alvar opened the top drawer of his desk and took out a bottle of whisky.

Mellberg fought a silent battle with himself, but it ended as it always did.

‘Sure, what the hell,’ he said, sitting down.

Alvar handed him a glass.

‘There’s something I want to talk to you about.’ Mellberg swirled the whisky in his glass, taking a moment to savour the sight before sipping it.

‘Is that so? What can I do for you?’

‘The girls have decided that they want a flat of their own.’

Alvar looked amused. The ‘girls’ were both over thirty.

‘That usually happens in these situations.’ He leaned back and clasped his hands behind his head.

‘The thing is, Rita and I don’t want them to move too far away.’

‘I can understand that. But it’s hard to find flats in Tanumshede at the moment.’

‘That’s exactly why I thought you might be able to help.’ Mellberg leaned forward and fixed his eyes on Alvar.

‘Me? You know what the situation is here. All the flats in the building are occupied. There’s not so much as a cubbyhole that I could offer you.’

‘But there’s a very nice three-room flat immediately below ours.’

Alvar gave him a surprised look.

‘But the only three-room flat in the building is …’ He fell silent. Then he shook his head. ‘Not on your life. No, that’s impossible. Bente would never agree.’ Alvar craned his neck and glanced nervously in the direction of the next room, where his Norwegian secretary and secret mistress was usually sitting at the desk.

‘That’s not my problem. But it might be yours.’ Mellberg lowered his voice. ‘I don’t think your wife Kerstin would appreciate this little … arrangement of yours.’

Alvar glared at Mellberg, who experienced a momentary discomfort. If he’d made a mistake, Alvar could throw him out of the office head first. He held his breath. Then Alvar started to laugh.

‘My God, Mellberg. You drive a hard bargain. But let’s not allow a woman to get in the way of our friendship. We’ll solve this thing. I have a few contacts, and I’m sure I can fix Bente up somewhere else. Shall we set the move-in date for a month from now? But I don’t intend paying for any sort of painting or repairs. You’ll have to handle that yourselves. Agreed?’ He held out his hand.

Mellberg breathed a sigh of relief and shook hands with Alvar.

‘I knew I could count on you,’ he said. His stomach was bubbling with joy. Leo might be moving out, but only one floor down. He’d be able to run downstairs and see the boy as often as he liked.

‘I think we should celebrate with another drink. What do you say?’

Mellberg held out his glass.

A frenzy of activity was going on at Badis, but Vivianne felt as if she were moving in slow motion. So many things had to be finished, so much had to be decided. But she couldn’t stop thinking about Anders’s evasive answers. He was keeping something from her, and that had opened up an abyss between them, so wide and deep that she could hardly see to the other side.

‘Where should we put the buffet tables?’ A waitress was giving her an enquiring look, and she was forced to pay attention.

‘Over there on the left. In one long row so people can walk on both sides.’

Everything had to be arranged properly. The place servings, the food, the spa rooms, the treatments. All the rooms had to look perfect, with flowers and fruit baskets for the guests of honour. And the stage needed to be set up for the band. Nothing could be left to chance.

Vivianne’s voice was beginning to go as she answered questions coming from all directions. Every once in a while she would notice the sparkling ring on her finger, and she had to fight an urge to tear off that ring and hurl it against the wall. She couldn’t lose control now, not when they were so close to their goal and life was finally about to take a new turn.

‘Hi. What can I do to help?’

Anders looked terrible, as if he hadn’t slept a wink all night. His hair was dishevelled, and he had dark circles under his eyes.

‘I’ve been trying to reach you all morning. Where have you been?’ She was filled with dread. The thought that had crept into her mind refused to leave her alone. She didn’t really believe that Anders was capable of such a thing, but she wasn’t a hundred per cent sure. How could anyone truly know what went on inside someone else’s mind?

‘I turned off my mobile. I needed to sleep,’ he said, keeping his eyes averted.

‘But …’ She stopped herself. It was pointless. After everything they’d shared, Anders had chosen to shut her out. No words could express how hurt she felt.

‘You could make sure that there’s enough to drink,’ she said instead. ‘And enough glasses. I’d be grateful if you’d take care of that.’

‘Sure. I’ll do anything for you. You know that,’ said Anders. For a moment he was his usual self. Then he turned around and headed for the kitchen.

I knew it, Vivianne thought. Tears ran down her cheeks. She wiped them off on her sleeve and started walking towards the spa rooms. She couldn’t fall apart. That would have to wait until later. Right now she had to see to it that they had enough massage oil and oyster scrub.

‘We’ve had a phone call from our colleagues in the violent crimes division in Stockholm. They’re trying to locate Nathalie.’ Patrik saw the astonishment on his colleagues’ faces. He must have had the same expression when he answered his mobile at home less than half an hour ago and Annika told him the very same thing.

‘Why is that?’ asked Gösta.

‘Her husband was found murdered, and they’ve been worried that Nathalie and her son might also be dead. Fredrik Wester was apparently one of the big guns in the Swedish narcotics trade.’

‘You’re kidding,’ said Martin.

‘I had a hard time believing it myself. But apparently the narcotics division has had him under investigation for a long time, and recently he was found dead, shot in his own bed. He seems to have been there for a while, possibly a couple of weeks.’

‘But why didn’t anyone find him sooner?’ asked Paula.

‘Evidently the family had packed their bags and were due to leave for their house in Italy. They were going to be gone all summer. So everyone assumed that they’d left.’

‘What about Nathalie?’ said Gösta.

‘As I said, at first they were afraid that Nathalie and Sam would be found in some wooded area with bullets in their foreheads. When I confirmed that they’re both here, the Stockholm police concluded she must have fled with her son, trying to escape from whoever killed her husband. She might even have witnessed the murder, and in that case, it was smart to run away. But they can’t rule out the possibility that she was the one who pulled the trigger.’

‘What’s going to happen now?’ Annika looked upset.

‘Two of the officers handling the investigation will be arriving here tomorrow. They want to talk to her as soon as possible. We’ll wait until they get here.’

‘What if Nathalie and Sam are in danger?’ said Martin.

‘Nothing has happened so far, and tomorrow we’ll have reinforcements. I’m hoping that our colleagues will know how to handle the situation.’

‘Yes, it’s probably best to allow Stockholm to deal with this,’ Paula agreed. ‘But am I the only one who thinks …’

‘That there’s a connection between the murder of Fredrik Wester and the murder of Mats Sverin? Yes, that thought occurred to me, too,’ said Patrik. He had been almost convinced who the perpetrator was, but this new information changed everything.

‘So how did it go in Göteborg?’ asked Martin, as if he could read Patrik’s mind.

‘Good and bad.’ He told them what had happened during the two days that he and Gösta had been away. When he was done, silence settled over everyone in the kitchen, except for Mellberg, who sniggered at whatever scene was playing out in his mind. He smelled suspiciously of whisky.

‘After having no leads, we now have two plausible leads,’ Paula concluded.

‘Yes, and that’s why it’s extremely important not to get locked into any particular theory. We need to keep working. Tomorrow the officers from Stockholm will be here, and then we can talk to Nathalie. I’m also waiting for Ulf in Göteborg to advise how we can best proceed with IE. And then there’s the technical evidence to consider. Still no match for the bullet?’ asked Patrik.

Paula shook her head.

‘It’ll probably take time. The boat is also being examined, but we haven’t heard back yet.’

‘What about the cocaine bag?’

‘There are still some fingerprints that haven’t been identified.’

‘I was thinking about the boat. We need to consult an expert on the currents out there, someone who can tell us what direction the boat would have drifted, how far, and so on.’ Patrik looked around and finally fixed his gaze on Gösta.

‘I’ll take care of it.’ Gösta sounded tired.

‘Good.’

Martin raised his hand.

‘Yes?’

‘Paula and I talked to Lennart about the documents that were found in Mats’s briefcase.’

‘What did he say?’

‘Unfortunately, everything seems to be in order. Although I suppose that’s actually good news, depending on how you look at it.’ Martin blushed.

‘Lennart couldn’t find any irregularities,’ Paula clarified. ‘That doesn’t necessarily mean that there aren’t any, but according to the documents in Mats’s possession, everything seems to be above board.’

‘Okay. What do we know about the laptop?’

‘That’s going to take another week,’ said Paula.

Patrik sighed. ‘It looks as though we’re going to do a lot of waiting, but we need to continue working on what we have. I’m going to sit down and go over everything that we’ve learned so far. Then I’ll have a feel for where we stand and whether we’ve overlooked anything. Gösta, you deal with the boat. Martin and Paula …’ He paused for a moment. ‘I’d like both of you to start digging up whatever information you can find on the IE’s activities, and also Fredrik Wester. Our colleagues in Göteborg and Stockholm have promised to help. You can get the contact information from me, then you can request all the background material that they’re able to share. The two of you can divide the workload however you see fit.’

‘Okay,’ said Paula.

Martin nodded agreement and then raised his hand again.

‘What about the Refuge? Are we going to report them?’

‘No,’ said Patrik. ‘We’ve decided not to. As we see it, there’s no reason to do so.’

Martin looked relieved. ‘By the way, how did you find out about Sverin’s girlfriend?’

Patrik cast a glance at Gösta, who looked down at the floor.

‘Meticulous police work. And a gut feeling.’ Then he clapped his hands. ‘Okay, let’s get to work.’