healthier. Irene continued, “Have you thought of where you’re going to live now that your apartment is gone?”
Anna-Karin started. “I haven’t thought about that yet. I guess I’ll have to stay with Mama for a while. She lives in Kungalv. I can take the bus to work from there.”
“Good. We will need your telephone number and address there. However, do not go back to work until these murders have been cleared up. And under no circumstances are you to give your new address and phone number to anyone at Lowander Hospital. It’s much too dangerous. Lie low for a while in Kungalv.”
“Can I leave Kungalv to visit Ola in Varberg?” Anna-Karin asked meekly.
“Just keep in contact with him by phone for a few days. We have the feeling that we’re going to solve this case and put the killer behind bars fairly soon.”
Irene’s voice sounded more certain than she felt, but Anna-Karin seemed to gather courage from her words.
Anna-Karin was given the opportunity to call her mother and make arrangements. As she told her mother about the fire, the flood of tears returned, and the officers could hear that her mother was crying just as hard. Once she hung up, she seemed in a much better mood. Tommy arranged a police escort to Kungalv.
As soon as Anna-Karin left the room, Irene reached for the phone and called Lowander Hospital.
“YES, LINDA AND I have—had a relationship.”
If Sverker Lowander had seemed hassled and worn out before, he was a total mess now. His eyes were sunken into their sockets. His hair was unwashed, and it appeared he’d lost twenty pounds during the past two weeks. His hands shook noticeably. He looks like he isn’t eating or sleeping much at all, Irene thought.
“How long did your relationship go on?” Tommy asked.
“Right before Christmas. That’s when we.…”
Sverker’s voice trailed off and he stared dully at Tommy and Irene’s messy bookshelf. Irene had placed herself on a chair by the door. Without discussing it beforehand, they had agreed that Tommy would lead the interrogation.
“Where did you usually meet?”
“The on-call apartment.”
“Can you tell me what happened the night she disappeared?”
Lowander kept staring at the bookshelf, but he began to talk hesitantly. “We didn’t see each other during the weekend.”
He fell silent again. Patiently, Tommy asked, “Why not?”
“My daughter Emma left to go on a skiing vacation with friends. Carina and I were invited to an important party on Saturday. On Sunday, Linda was busy. She was helping Pontus pack up the last of his things.”
“So you decided to meet at the hospital.”
“Yes.”
“Why did she come so late at night?”
Sverker held his head in his hands. “The ghost hour. No one on the night shift ventures out then. So there’s little risk we’d be seen. We’d have a whole hour.…”
“Did she arrive on time?”
With his face still hidden in his hands, Sverker mumbled, “No. She never came. I never saw her alive again.”
“Did you love her?” Tommy asked.
At first it seemed that Sverker didn’t hear the question, but after a few moments he took his hands from his face and nodded slowly. “Yes, I did. Very much.”
“So much that you were already discussing marriage?”
The doctor startled at this. For the first time, he looked directly at Tommy. “Discussing marriage? Who told you that?”
“So you weren’t?”
Sverker seemed troubled and kept running his trembling hands through his dirty hair. Finally he replied, “Well … I did tell Linda that my marriage to Carina was in bad shape and that I was considering asking her for a divorce.”
“Did you?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“I didn’t have time before … it … happened.”
“But Linda seemed to be very clear that you promised to marry her.”
“She did? Well, we probably would have … eventually.”
“Let’s go back to the night of the murder. Tell us what happened while you were waiting for Linda.”
“I was up in the apartment at eleven-thirty. I got undressed and got into bed. I tried to read for a while. Midnight came, and then it was a few minutes past.”
“Were you worried?”
“Not really. I thought she might have been held up and was running late. The minutes kept ticking away, and she didn’t come.” He looked at his shaking hands and took a deep breath. “At exactly twelve-fifteen, the power went out. I had just looked at the clock. At first I was irritated, but then I heard the respirator alarm go off. I leaped out of bed, threw on some clothes, and you know the rest. During everything that happened, I kept wondering where Linda was. It was as if I had a premonition.”
“Nurse Siv said that you took her flashlight and went to the operating rooms through the ICU’s back door. You saw no trace of Linda or Marianne?”
“No. Of course I was looking for both of them. I didn’t see anything. But I did feel as if I were being watched. Down in the entrance foyer … while I was waiting for the police. I know it sounds crazy, but I had the strong feeling of being observed. And I’m not superstitious.”
“You don’t believe it was the hospital ghost?”
“No. Every decent hospital that’s been around for a while has a ghost, and ours is called Tekla. If that old nurse hadn’t hanged herself in the attic, there would have been another ghost story about someone else.”
“So if it wasn’t a ghost watching, it must have been a human being.”
“Yes.”
“But you have no idea who it might have been?”
For a moment Irene felt that Sverker was hesitating; the expression in his eyes was difficult to interpret. He looked down before he answered, “No.”
“Then … let’s move on to something else that happened here. What were you doing last night at twelve?”
“Last night? I slept. I actually slept for the first time since … it happened. Six hours in a row. I think I fell asleep at eleven-thirty. Probably had something to do with the wine.”
“Wine?”
“Carina had opened a bottle the night before last, and there was half a bottle left. She was making beef stew for dinner and put the bottle on the table. Red wine went with the food, so I had two glasses. It was just enough to knock me out.”
“Were Carina and Emma at home?”
“Emma was already asleep when I went to bed. Carina finishes work late on Tuesdays. She teaches aerobics all evening and usually isn’t home until eleven-thirty at the earliest.”
“Did you hear her when she came home?”
“Yes, she arrived around the usual time, and I heard her come in before I drifted off. Why are you asking?”
“But you didn’t see or speak with each other after that?”
“No, I was asleep by the time she came upstairs.”
Tommy told the doctor about the arson at Anna-Karin Arvidsson’s apartment. He also said that Anna-Karin would not be returning to work until the threat to her life was eliminated. In other words, when the killer was caught.
As Tommy was telling the story, Irene saw how Sverker had quietly withdrawn into his head. He had fastened his gaze back onto their bookshelf, and it was doubtful that he’d heard what Tommy was saying.
