and friends scattered over many parts of the island. She had no less than six siblings, and all of them had stayed on Gotland and established their own families, so her network of contacts was enormous. In terms of quality, the shots that she took might not have been quite as top-notch as Johan was used to, but she took plenty of them, often from interesting angles. Over time she would undoubtedly be brilliant, as long as she kept her sense of commitment and strong drive. She was young, ambitious, and determined to get a permanent position with one of the big TV stations in Stockholm. She had been working less than a year, yet she'd already managed to get a long-term temporary job with Swedish TV, which was nothing to sneeze at. Right now she had disappeared around a bend in the road.
Johan had a real urge to crawl under the police tape farther away, but he knew that if he got caught, he would have burned his bridges with the police. And he definitely couldn't afford to do that. He was aware that his bosses back in Stockholm were considering reinstating the local news service on Gotland on a full-time basis, and the results of his summer assignment would weigh heavily in the balance. Johan wanted nothing more than to stay on the island.
He looked for Pia, but she seemed to have been swallowed up by the earth. Surprising, since the TV camera was so big and cumbersome- hardly something that you could carry around just anywhere. He started walking along the fence.
It was a big pasture, and he couldn't see where it ended. The wooded area was in the way. He surveyed the strip of trees and suddenly caught sight of Pia. She was inside the cordoned-off area and was busy getting a panoramic shot of the pasture. At first he was angry-he was going to pay the consequences if it was shown on TV- but the next second he changed his mind. She was just doing her job, getting good shots in the best way she knew how. That was exactly how he wanted a cameraperson to work. The danger of worrying about offending the police was that you could start being too considerate. Then the focus shifted from looking out for the best interests of the viewers to staying on good terms with the authorities. That was not at all where he wanted to end up. He was aware that he had to look out for himself. The irritation that had flared up inside him gave way to gratitude. Pia was a damn good camerawoman.
When she was finished, they stopped by the nearby farms. No one was willing to be interviewed. Johan suspected that they'd all been given instructions by the police. Just as they had decided to give up and were about to drive off, a boy about ten or eleven came walking along the road. Johan rolled down the window.
'Hi! My name is Johan, and this is Pia. We work for the TV station, and we've been here filming the pasture where the horse was killed. Did you hear anything about what happened?'
'Of course I did,' said the boy. 'I live right over there.'
He nodded at the road behind them.
'Do you know the girls who found the horse?'
'A little. But they don't live here. They're just visiting their grandmother and grandfather.'
'Do you know where their house is?'
'Yes, it's right nearby. I can show you.'
The boy declined their offer to let him ride along in their car. He led the way down the road, and they drove behind at a snail's pace.
They quickly reached the home of the girls' grandparents.
A well-trimmed hedge surrounded the house, and outside sat the two girls on a big rock, dangling their legs.
Johan introduced himself and Pia, who was right behind him.
'We're not allowed to talk to reporters,' said Agnes. 'That's what Grandpa said.'
'Why are you sitting out here?' asked Johan, ignoring her comment.
'No reason. We were thinking of picking some flowers for Mamma and Pappa. They'll be here tonight.'
'How lovely for you,' said Pia sympathetically. 'After such an awful thing happened. I can't understand how anyone could do something like that to a horse. To such an innocent animal. And he was so adorable, a real sweetheart from what I heard.'
'The world's sweetest horse, that's what he was. The world's most adorable pony…'
Agnes's voice faded away.
'What was his name?'
'Pontus,' said the girls in unison.
'We're going to do our best to help out so that the police will catch the person who did this. I promise you,' Pia went on. 'Was it horrible when you found him?'
'It was disgusting,' said Agnes. 'The whole head was gone.'
'I wish we'd never gone into that pasture,' added Sofie.
'Now wait a minute-just think about it. You were the ones who went in, and it was actually a very good thing that you did, because otherwise it might have taken much longer before Pontus…Was that his name?'
The girls nodded.
'Otherwise it might have taken much longer before Pontus was found, and for the police it's really important to investigate these sorts of matters as quickly as possible.'
Agnes looked at Pia in surprise.
'I guess that's right. We didn't think about it like that,' she said, looking relieved. Sofie also looked happier.
Johan pondered for a few seconds the appropriateness of interviewing such young girls without first obtaining permission from their parents. He was always particularly cautious about interviewing children. This was a borderline case. He decided not to interfere. He would let Pia carry on with the conversation.
'Our job, mine and Johan's,' said Pia in a soft voice, 'is to make TV reports when something like this happens. We'd like to be able to give the viewers a story, but of course we would never force anyone to be on TV. Although it's best when we have eyewitnesses who can describe what happened, because that might prompt other people to come forward with tips for the police. We think that if people watching TV saw the two of you talking about how you found Pontus, they'd be more interested than if Johan just talks. They would care more, to be quite honest.'
The girls were listening attentively.
'So we were wondering whether we could ask you a few questions about what happened this morning. I'll run the camera and Johan will ask the questions, and if you can't answer or you think it's too hard, we'll stop. You get to decide. Later we'll edit the interview, so it doesn't matter if there are mistakes. Okay?'
Sofie used her elbow to poke Agnes in the side and then whispered in her ear. 'We're not allowed.'
'No, but I don't care,' said Agnes firmly as she jumped down from the rock. 'It'll be fine.'
When Pia and Johan drove off, they had an interview on film with the girls describing what they had seen. They had also revealed that the horse's head wasn't merely cut off-it had disappeared without a trace.
'It won't surprise me if we catch shit for this,' Johan said to Pia as she drove.
'What do you mean?'
'The police are going to be mad. Not that I care, but I just thought I should warn you.'
'I don't know what you're talking about.' Pia cast an indignant glance at Johan. 'We're doing our job. That's all. There's no need to exaggerate. This is about a dead horse, damn it. Not a person.'
'True, but interviewing children is a sensitive issue.'
'If we started questioning them right after their mother died, I would understand your reasoning.' Pia's voice sounded even angrier.
'Don't misunderstand me,' Johan objected. 'I just think we need to be careful about interviewing minors. As journalists we have a huge responsibility.'
'It's not our fault if people want to talk. We haven't forced anyone. Besides, we found out some new information, thanks to talking to those girls. The part about the horse's head being missing.'
She rolled down the window to toss out her wad of snuff. Then she deliberately turned up the music. The discussion was clearly over. Pia was intelligent and bold, but maybe she needed to be a bit more humble, since she was new at the game. Johan sensed that-for good or bad-his colleague was going to be a cameraperson to reckon with in the future.
Emma Winarve was sitting in the hammock in the yard of her house in Roma, leaning against the pillows propped behind her back. She was trying to find as comfortable a position as possible. In her extremely pregnant condition, that wasn't so easy. She was hot and sweaty all the time, even though she stayed in the shade. The high
