and muscular.'
'I'm thinking about the decapitated horse in Petesviken,' said Jacobsson. 'I wonder if there's some connection. That seemed ritualistic, too.'
'Of course we'll look for points of connection between the two cases,' said Knutas. 'We need to find out more about Martina Flochten's past. Who was she? What was she doing before the murder? Did anything unusual happen? Did her behavior change in any way? What sort of person was she? Can you take responsibility for finding out these things, Karin?'
'Sure.'
'It's also important that we talk with every single summer-house owner around Vivesholm as soon as possible, and even more important, the guests who were staying at the hotel over the weekend. I'll leave that to you, Thomas. All the archaeologists have to be interviewed, too-the students taking the course, the teachers, and the others at the college. Since I don't want the press to get wind of this ritualistic angle, no one should say anything about it, and I mean not to anybody at all.'
Knutas gazed sternly at his colleagues sitting around the table.
'If this gets out, we're done for. Then we'll have reporters chasing us all day long.'
He stood up.
'At four o'clock this afternoon we're holding a press conference. Lars and I will handle it.'
Staffan Mellgren looked haggard when Knutas met him in the reception area of police headquarters. His face was pale and his eyes red-rimmed and shiny. There was something jumpy about him, and his clothes were so wrinkled that it looked as if he had slept in them. They went up to Knutas's office where they could talk undisturbed. Mellgren declined the offer of coffee.
'How are you doing?' asked Knutas after they sat down across from each other.
'This is so terrible, what happened to Martina. I can't understand it.'
'I want to start by talking some more about the student group. We understand that Martina was quite popular. Was there anyone who didn't get along with her?'
Mellgren shook his head.
'No, not as far as I know.'
'Do you know of anyone who was particularly fond of Martina? Or maybe even in love with her?'
'Not exactly,' he replied hesitantly, 'but there are two guys who paid a lot of attention to her.'
'Who are they?'
'Jonas is a Swede, from Skane, probably no more than twenty years old. Mark is American, a little older, about twenty-five, I would guess. Those two really get along-Mark and Jonas, I mean. They're as thick as thieves.'
'In what way did they show an interest in Martina?'
'Well, they were always hovering around her. Both of them liked to talk and joke with her.'
'Did one of them seem more fond of her than the other?'
'No, I don't think you could say that. I think they both liked her equally.'
'Was the interest mutual?'
'I think Martina thought they were fun and nice as friends, but nothing more than that.'
'How do you know that?'
'It's just a feeling.'
'Are the two of them also staying at Warfsholm?'
'Yes.'
'Have you noticed any strangers hanging around the excavation site?'
'Just the usual. People we know or one of the neighbors who drops by to talk for a while. Small groups of tourists show up several times a week, but they usually keep a safe distance away.'
'As the leader of the course, do you have any idea who might have murdered Martina?'
'No.'
'I've asked you this question before, but I'm going to have to ask it again: What was your relationship with her?'
'She was a student that I liked and respected, as a student, ' said Mellgren in a sharp voice. 'Of course there was nothing going on between us. I've already told you that.'
'Where were you on Saturday night?'
'I was actually out having a beer.'
'Alone?'
'Yes.'
'Where?'
'First at Donner's Well and later at the Monk's Cellar.'
'Did you meet anyone you know?'
'I always run into a few acquaintances.'
'When did you get home?'
'I don't know. I didn't look at my watch.'
'But you must be able to say whether it was 9:00 p.m. or 3:00 a.m.,' said Knutas impatiently.
He was starting to be genuinely annoyed, and he wondered what a married father of four was doing out on the town alone on a Saturday night. Why wasn't he home with his family if he hadn't planned to meet someone?
'I guess it was almost three.'
'What's your marriage like?' asked Knutas.
Mellgren was slow to answer. His jaw visibly tightened.
'You'll have to excuse the question, but I need to ask it,' Knutas went on as he stared back at the man.
'Things are fine between Susanna and me. Did she tell you otherwise?'
Knutas raised his hand in protest. 'Absolutely not. I was just wondering.'
The room in which the press conference was going to be held was buzzing with life. The reporters were taking seats in the rows of chairs, and microphones were being set up on the podium at the front of the room. Up until now the police had declined to issue any statement, so everyone was very curious about what they were going to hear about the murder of the young archaeology student.
The murmuring automatically stopped when Anders Knutas and Lars Norrby took their places up front.
'Welcome to the press conference,' Knutas began. 'The young woman who has been missing since Saturday, Martina Flochten, who was born in 1983, has been found dead outside of Vivesholm. That's just outside of Klintehamn, approximately nineteen miles south of Visby on the west coast. There is no doubt whatsoever that she was murdered.'
He glanced down at his notes.
'The body was found at 5:45 a.m. by an individual who was out walking in the area. Many of you already know that Martina was born and raised in the Netherlands, but her mother was from Hemse here on Gotland. The mother died three years ago. Martina has lived in the Netherlands all her life. She came here in early June to take part in a course on archaeological excavation that is offered by the college. She had been on Gotland for a month before she disappeared on the night that a concert was held at Warfsholm. July third. We'll now take questions.'
'Can you tell us anything about how she was murdered?'
'No.'
'Why not?'
'Because the investigation is ongoing.'
'Was some sort of weapon used?'
'Yes, but I don't intend to say anything more on the subject.'
'Was she sexually assaulted?'
'We won't know until an autopsy is performed on the body.'
'When will that happen?'
'The body was examined by the ME at the site this afternoon. Tonight it will be transported to the forensic medicine lab in Solna. The autopsy will be done in the next few days.'
