“HE SUSPECTS SOMETHING—OR knows something,” Irene said.
“Why do you think so?” Tommy asked.
“When you were telling him about the arson at Anna-Karin’s, I had the feeling he only half heard your words. He was thinking about something else.”
“Yes, but he’s at the end of his rope. Maybe he couldn’t listen to any more bad news.”
“Maybe not.” Irene wasn’t convinced, but there wasn’t any evidence to back up her feeling. For now it would just have to wait. She changed the subject. “So this story comes back to fire again.”
“Fire? Are you thinking about the garden shed and Mama Bird?”
“Yes, and also the fire ten years ago when the doctor’s mansion burned down. So there are three fires. Let’s think about the fire at the mansion. Who was involved in that story?”
“Barbro, Carina, and Sverker.”
“And which of these three would have reason to set the other two?”
Tommy thought about it. “In principle, all three.”
“That’s right. Barbro lives alone and can come and go as she pleases now that her children are living in the United States.”
“But what would be her motive?”
“Revenge. Hate.”
“Maybe. As for Sverker and Carina, it would be much harder. They live together and know where each other should be.”
“Do they? I think they live fairly separate lives. As far as the garden shed goes, either one of them could have set that fire. They didn’t meet up until it was time to go to that party. Before then anyone could have arranged the candle and the rags. Neither of them has an alibi. Their daughter, Emma, was away on winter break. They didn’t have to worry about her. Sverker says he was at the hospital looking through construction bids. Notice that he was at the scene. Two hours after he leaves the building, the fire breaks out. Carina said she was exercising in her private gym and then went jogging. She came home a few minutes after Sverker. It’s strange, too, that they were able to pull themselves together for a party after everything that had been going on at the hospital.”
“Neither Linda nor Gunnela had been found yet when the garden shed burned.”
“Right. But Linda had gone missing.”
“Sverker had to keep a calm facade and not let Carina know how worried he was.”
“Exactly. And Carina hasn’t seemed all that affected by any of this. She is one cool lady.”
“Yes, goal-oriented. She’s decided to turn the hospital into a fitness center, and so it will be.”
Silence spread through the room until Irene finally asked, “So which of the three do you think is behind it?”
“Not Barbro. She has nothing to gain by killing Linda, Marianne, or Gunnela. If she were guilty, she would have aimed at hurting Carina directly. Or killed her.”
“My thoughts exactly. Barbro as a suspect is too far-fetched. It’s been too long since they divorced.”
“Either Sverker or Carina, then.”
“Yes, but I can’t see a motive for either of them.”
“What are we missing? Which questions haven’t been answered?”
Irene thought. “Why did Marianne have Linda’s day planner in her pocket? And where is Marianne’s flashlight?”
“Yep. We know that the killer needed the flashlight to light the way up the stairs to the attic. Also for hanging Linda up. Probably the killer used it to walk through the operating rooms, since there are no windows there. Going down the stairs would be easier. The street lamps and the moon would have lit the way. According to Siv Persson, it was almost as light as day.”
“So where did the murderer put the flashlight?”
“Where do people put flashlights?”
Tommy stared at Irene. “Where? Well, I have one in the garage. And one in the closet, though that one’s broken. And one in the car.”
Irene nodded. The gears in her head began to turn. “I also have one in the car. As well as a towrope and a jack. But I don’t keep a toolbox in my car. Do you?”
“Not in my car, no. I keep mine in the garage. I have a set of wrenches instead and a jack. I don’t have a towrope.”
“So you don’t have a toolbox with a hammer and a screwdriver and the like either?”
“No. What’s this toolbox idea?”
“Carina Lowander said they keep a toolbox in their car. She said she’d taken the screwdriver from the toolbox in order to break open the suitcases in the attic. I would like to take a good look at that toolbox.”
“Why?”
“Because if there isn’t one, Carina got a screwdriver from somewhere else, and I’m going to put my money on the security guard’s room. And as you well know, someone also took a large pair of wire cutters and a few yards of flag rope.”
BY PHONE IRENE was able to reach Sverker Lowander at home around six that evening.
“Why do you need to look at our garage and our cars?” Sverker asked her suspiciously.
Irene always had difficulty skirting around the truth, so she explained calmly, “We’re looking for an instrument that matches some break marks we found. Perhaps a dull knife or a screwdriver. We have not found anything that fits at the hospital or in the security guard’s room. So now we are going to go through all the homes of everyone involved. Even those of the victims.” Irene added the last sentence to make it appear more like a routine search.
“Where did you find these break marks?”
“I can’t tell you. It’s part of the investigation.”
This usually stopped further questions, and it worked on Sverker Lowander.
“I’m driving Emma to her riding lesson. We’re already late. I’m staying there until she’s done at eight-thirty. We’re seldom home before nine.”
“Is Carina at home?”
“No, she won’t be home until eleven-thirty.”
This family certainly kept late hours, and the cars wouldn’t be in the garage. Irene thought quickly. “Could you just leave your car in the garage tomorrow morning?”
Silence on the other end of the line. Finally, “Sure. Anything to get this over with. But we don’t keep a lot of tools in our cars, so I imagine your search won’t take long. There are not many tools in the garage either. I’m not fond of home improvement or woodworking or that kind of thing.”
“It’s good we can do this as efficiently as possible. It’s just routine. Everyone must be checked systematically, and we can’t leave anything to chance, as you probably know,” Irene chirped. She was surprised that he swallowed her weak story but relieved he didn’t question their right to search his cars and his garage. It would have been much more difficult if he’d asked for a search warrant and demanded to know what his legal rights were. Irene knew that her suspicions weren’t enough to authorize a search warrant, and in any event it just would take too long.
COLD RAIN POURED from the black skies and trickled down Irene’s neck as she crossed the short stretch from her police car to the Lowanders’ front porch. She felt it run in little streams from her hair onto her neck as she rang the doorbell and heard it echo within the house. After the third ring, she heard footsteps on the other side. The brickred door was opened slightly, and through the gap, Irene heard an angry, snakelike hiss: “Who’s there?”
“Inspector Irene Huss. I spoke to your husband and—”
