who cut down Tekla had said that Tekla had hanged herself from the ceiling beam closest to the window. We didn’t find Linda there. She was on the beam two in from the window.”
“Is this important?” asked Jonny.
“Don’t know. Maybe it was enough to hang her up in the same room where Tekla had been but not necessarily from the same ceiling beam.”
“What would that indicate?” asked Irene.
“The murderer knew only part of the story,” said Hannu.
A vague idea flashed in Irene’s brain. This was important, but she still didn’t know why. She nodded at Hannu. “The murderer didn’t know all the details of Nurse Tekla’s death. Gunnela Hagg didn’t know them either. She knew the story, but she didn’t know the details. Has anyone confirmed whether she’d ever been at Lowander Hospital, by the way?”
“Yes,” said Hannu. “A group of Lillhagen’s mental patients were at Lowander Hospital one month in 1983. Gunnela was one of those.”
Yet again things were beginning to fall into place in the puzzle. Irene was staring at Hannu in concentration when she became aware that Tommy was laughing quietly beside her.
“Hannu found all that out by lunchtime, so I called Siv Persson back. I asked her if she might know how any of the mental patients could have known the story of Nurse Tekla. She was angry at me at first and said she had no idea, but in the end she confessed. She’d told them the story herself.”
“Why in the world would she tell this story to a group of mental patients?” Irene asked.
“So that they’d stay in their rooms and not sneak out at night. She made them afraid of the ghost.”
“Lord help us!”
Here was the reason that Gunnela knew the Lowander Hospital ghost story, which led to a newspaper story, which in turn led to the poor woman’s death.
Svante Malm had more to say. “There were two large suitcases and a smaller, older leather briefcase up in the attic as well. We’re going to take a look at them. Their locks were broken rather recently, and they were wiped down with a cloth afterward, so there was no dust on them at all. We’ve taken all of them to the lab, and they’ll be ready tomorrow afternoon. Would any of you like to look at them then?”
Without a moment’s hesitation, Irene said, “Yes!”
Svante Malm nodded and wrote something down in his notebook. “Tomorrow afternoon at the earliest,” he said.
No one had any information on possible cars at the visitors’ parking lot behind the spruce grove. No new witnesses had been flushed out of hiding that day. The only ones who’d made any progress were the members of the “Ghost Group,” as Andersson called them, and he decided to let them continue.
The superintendent wished his people good luck in their investigations the following day. He then requested they throw their empty pizza cartons into the large plastic bag by the door.
THE FLAYED BODIES hung close together, making it difficult for Irene to move. She crept forward carefully and tried to avoid touching them. Thick slime on the floor engulfed her feet. From far off she heard Jenny’s cries for help. She knew that forcing her way through would not work, because the heavy bodies would fall off their hooks and cover her. The slime rose further, and she realized she’d soon be trapped among the cadavers. Jenny’s desperate voice was getting fainter. Soon she’d be beyond all help.
IRENE SAT UP straight in bed, covered in sweat. Darn it, she still hadn’t had a chance to ask Jenny about the posters rolled up under the bed. Sunday evening, after the girls had returned from their skiing trip, had been too busy. The girls had so much to tell, and all their suitcases needed to be unpacked. Last night she hadn’t had any time either.
Irene lay back down and tried to calm her thoughts. She turned her head cautiously to look at Krister. He was sleeping on his back, right arm stretched over his head, and he was snoring loudly. Irene nudged him. Without waking up he rolled onto his side and grunted. His snoring quieted.
Irene hadn’t told him about the posters. It was pure cowardice on her part, she knew. On the other hand, she didn’t know how he would react if she told him Jenny had a stash of protest placards for the Animal Liberation Front hidden under her bed. He’d been so unhappy about her veganism; this was one step further and obviously much more serious.
It was useless to stay in bed and stare into the darkness. There was only one thing to do—this evening she’d have to talk to Jenny.
Although she’d made up her mind, she still couldn’t fall back asleep. Of course, her alarm clock rang just as she dozed off.
TO IRENE’S SURPRISE, Svante Malm was at morning prayer.
“Morning, everyone,” Andersson began. “Svante has other places to go, but he has something important to say. Go ahead, Svante.”
“Yes, well, I forgot to inform you that we secured evidence in the dust on the floor of the attic. Just inside the doorway, we saw signs that a body had lain on the floor. We identified strands of Linda’s hair there and also signs of a body being dragged to where she was hung. There was a great quantity of dust from the floor on her clothes. We have concluded that her body lay on the floor right behind the door and only later was dragged to the place where it was found.”
“So yesterday’s summary of what might have happened appears correct. Linda was murdered first and then Marianne,” Irene said. She nodded at Hannu. He barely nodded in return and kept his calm gaze on the technician.
“There was a shoe print in the dust as well. There were a number of scuff marks, but only one clear print. A well-built female shoe with a heel. Probably size eight and a half or nine.”
Svante Malm raised his hand in good-bye and hurried out of the room.
There were a few moments of silence after he left. The superintendent stared gloomily at the door, then barked, “Ghosts don’t leave shoe prints.”
No one had anything to add after that, and they all quickly decided to get on with the investigation.
• • •
IRENE, TOMMY, AND Hannu discussed ways to proceed with their assignment.
“I want to talk to Carina Lowander,” Irene said. “Anyone want to come with me?”
“You go,” Hannu said, nodding toward Tommy. Hannu didn’t say what he planned to do, and something made his colleagues decide not to ask. Instead they agreed to meet again at three in the afternoon.
SOMETIMES YOU GET lucky, Irene told herself when Carina Lowander answered the home phone.
“Good morning. This is Criminal Inspector Irene Huss. I’m wondering if we could meet today and have a quick talk.”
“Yes, that’s fine,” Carina said, sounding very interested.
“Can we come now?” Irene asked.
“Sure.”
Carina sounded wide awake and energetic. She’d probably already concluded her first round of exercises and had eaten a biodynamic breakfast of granola and sun-ripened grapefruit. Then she’d taken an ice-cold shower before she applied her makeup and dressed in her best Armani jacket.
Irene scolded herself for having those thoughts. Simply a case of jealousy. Carina Lowander was beautiful, in great shape, and drove a BMW. And was married to Sverker to boot.
THE POLICE CAR was light blue, the color of the Swedish flag. A practically new Ford Fiesta. Irene parked it on the blacktop driveway in front of the garage. The Lowander residence was a large modern house, plastered in a warm apricot color with doors and window frames picked out in a reddish brown brick color.
