Unknown

'Yes, you're right,' Johan agreed.

The link to the hotel owner in Visby was interesting. He would follow up on it later.

Kerstin took her cell phone out of the pocket of her linen shirt and punched in a number. When someone answered, she got up and went over to the railing that surrounded the restaurant area. She hopped up to perch on the railing as she talked. Sitting there and dangling her legs like that, she looked like a young girl. Johan instantly started thinking about his newborn daughter. In a few years she would be able to sit like that.

Kerstin came back to the table. 'Jacob Dahlen doesn't know anything,' she said. 'He was shocked. He said he didn't even know that Martina was on Gotland.'

Because of the photo torn out of a newspaper that Jacobsson had found under Martina's pillow, they decided to drive farther south to Frojel, which was about six miles from Warfsholm. They wanted to have a talk with the excavation leader, Staffan Mellgren.

At the church Knutas turned off from the main road and parked outside the former school building, which now contained a cafe and a small exhibition space with a display about the excavations.

A ladder led down to the dig area, and as they approached, they saw Mellgren walking among the students, who were hard at work. The ground had been divided into rectangles that were about a foot and a half deep. In several of the pits, portions of skeletons could be seen, along with other objects that Knutas had a hard time identifying. On a long table in the middle of the area lay folders, maps, and plastic bags marked with various labels. Mellgren had stopped and was writing some notes in a folder. He looked up when Knutas and Jacobsson greeted him. A tall, athletic man with thick, dark brown hair with a touch of gray, he had to be in his forties, Jacobsson guessed. His eyes were an intense brown, and she concluded that he was good-looking- more attractive than in the photos she had seen.

'We'd like to talk to you about the disappearance of Martina Flochten,' Knutas began.

'Of course. Just a minute,' said Mellgren. He turned to a younger woman in the next pit, asked her a question that they couldn't hear, and jotted down some illegible squiggles.

There were objects inside the plastic bags on the table-bone fragments or tools. Jacobsson exclaimed with surprise when she saw a bag containing a silver necklace and another with silver coins.

'What are you going to do with all this?' She turned to Mellgren, who now seemed to have finished writing his notes.

'Every item we find is documented.' He gestured to the ground behind them. 'These spaces are called pits. We divide up the ground to facilitate both the excavation and the documentation. The items we find are placed in a bag on which we record the exact location and time of the find, in which pit and at what depth. When the workday is over, we lock up everything in those carts you walked past on your way here. Later the material is taken to our office at the college, where it's sorted and examined. Finally it ends up in the Antiquities Room for storage.'

'Could we sit down somewhere and talk?' asked Knutas.

'Of course.'

Mellgren led them to a corner of the excavation area where there was a plastic table and a few simple chairs.

'How long have you been digging here?' asked Knutas after they sat down.

'You mean during this course? We're just starting our third week of excavation.'

'So by now you've all gotten to know each other well, is that right?'

'Of course. We've spent an intense amount of time together.'

'Also in the evenings?'

'Not always, but there are a number of evening lectures and other activities, and sometimes we eat supper together. My responsibilities as the leader don't end when the workday is over.' Mellgren smiled.

'What do you think of Martina?' asked Knutas.

The excavation leader turned serious again. 'She's very knowledgeable for someone so young. She knows a surprising amount about the Viking Age in particular. Other than that, she's a lively person with a lot of enthusiasm, which rubs off on the others. So she's definitely an asset to the group.'

'What do you think about her disappearing like this?' asked Jacobsson.

'It's incomprehensible. I'm sure that she would have called if everything was okay. Now I'm worried that she's in some kind of trouble. I don't know how much longer we can keep digging if she doesn't turn up soon. The fact that she's missing has created an enormous sense of uneasiness among all of us.'

'When was the last time you saw her?' Knutas looked at the excavation leader attentively.

'On Saturday, after we finished digging for the day. She rode home in the bus with the rest of the students, the same as usual.'

'What time was that?'

'It was around four, I think. Everybody was going to the concert that evening, and they were in high spirits when they left here.'

'You didn't go?'

'No. I stayed home with my family.'

'I see.' Knutas wrote something in his notebook. 'Could you describe your relationship with Martina?'

'We get along well. As I said, she's doing a great job.'

'And you don't have a more intimate relationship?'

'No, we don't.'

Jacobsson took the newspaper clipping out of her bag. 'We found this under Martina's pillow on her bed.'

Mellgren glanced at the article. His face was expressionless. 'What am I supposed to say?'

'Why do you think she had a picture of you under her pillow?' asked Knutas.

'I have no idea. And by the way, the article is about what we do in the course. It's not just about me.'

'Do you think that it's out of devotion to her archaeological work that she keeps a photo of the excavation under her pillow?' Knutas's voice was heavy with sarcasm.

Mellgren shrugged his shoulders. 'How would I know? I don't know my students very well.'

'So you don't have a closer relationship with Martina? That would be easy to assume, from looking at this.'

'Absolutely not. Don't you understand that? I'm married and have four children. Besides, naturally I could never get mixed up with my students in that way.'

Jacobsson tried a different tactic. 'Could it be that Martina is in love with you?'

'I really don't think so.'

'Has she given you any signs to that effect?'

'No.'

'Maybe you've encouraged her in her work, and she misinterpreted what you said?'

'Of course that's possible, but not as far as I know, at any rate.'

'Has anything happened between the two of you?'

'What do you mean by 'happened'?'

'Well, is there anything going on between you?'

'No. And now that's enough.'

Mellgren was about to stand up, but Knutas took his arm to stop him.

'You haven't had a fight? Some sort of confrontation?'

'Let's drop this topic. I have exactly the same relationship with Martina as with all the others. No more, no less.'

'Then what about someone else?' asked Jacobsson to ease the tension. 'Do you know whether she's with someone else in the group?'

'I don't really keep tabs on their relationships with each other.'

'You haven't noticed that she's had a fight with anyone?'

'No. Martina was as happy as always when I last saw her. I just hope that she turns up soon.'

Jacobsson could see that they weren't going to get any further and changed the subject. She had become quite curious about what was going on around them.

'Could you tell us a little about this site and the excavation work?'

Mellgren sighed and leaned back in his chair, as if to collect himself after the assault on his integrity.