The elevator rumbled down again. They waited. The door opened and a young, dark-haired woman stepped out. The elevator was empty. She propped the door open with a chair. She nodded hastily and continued out through the door, which was fastened open. She ducked into the pickup.
She came back with a box that seemed heavy. They were still standing there.
“If you’re not doing anything else, maybe you can carry things,” she said.
Halders laughed. That was his style. Aneta didn’t laugh. She saw the woman smile and shove the box into the elevator. She had seen this woman before. A few times in a car that stopped outside the Palace to pick up a tired chief inspector. She knew his name, and she knew her name.
“What are you doing here, Moa?”
Ringmar and Winter were standing in the stern when the
They had made two phone calls after they’d made their decision. Now here they stood, with a sudden sun over all the mountains that stuck up above the surface of the water. But that was only a small part of it, a tenth of a percent. Everything was below the surface. The iceberg effect. These weren’t icebergs, but the effect was the same. That’s how it was with good books. Ringmar pondered that concept. The simple words were only the topmost layer. Everything was underneath. Books, but also the work in their world. Their world was words, words, words. Spoken, written. Bawled out. Complete, half complete, broken into pieces, broken off. Forced out. Dissolved sentences. Lies and truths, but often those didn’t matter since most of it was still below the surface. They only saw the tops of the truth or the lies.
“A person should probably live out here,” said Winter. “It’s always cloudy in the city but when you come out here, it clears up. It’s always like that.”
“Well, you’re going to build by the sea.”
Winter didn’t answer.
“Right?” Ringmar observed him. “You did buy the land.”
“Mmhmm.”
“Mmhmm? Aren’t you sure? Didn’t you both decide?”
“Yeah, I guess we did.”
“It’s great to hear young, enthusiastic people talking about their future.”
Winter squinted at the sky.
“You have a family, and you and I both know what Angela wants. And imagine how Elsa will love life by the sea.”
But this was life on the islands, all around him; it was different from life by a beach on the mainland.
“Get started building now, Erik. I can help out with the administration of your topping-out party.” He shivered suddenly in the gusty wind. “What do you say to a cup of coffee?”
They asked their way to Arne Algotsson’s house. It was on one of the sheltered streets. The colors of the houses hadn’t been transformed by the wind and the sun and the salt, not like on the other houses they’d passed. The front of the house lay in shadow. Maybe that was the reason.
Ringmar knocked on the heavy door, which seemed to be sunk into the ground. If they were allowed in they would have to duck. The woman who’d answered when Ringmar called had sounded dismissive but accepting, at least then. Her name was Ella Algotsson and she was Arne Algotsson’s sister; she had always lived on Donso and had never been married. She was over eighty years old and she took care of her brother now. Arne lived his life in there. According to Johanna Osvald, he never went out.
Ringmar knocked again, and they heard sounds, as though iron bolts were being lifted away on the other side.
The door opened and the woman nodded warily. She was short and thin. Winter could see the skin on her arms; it was like pale leather. Her face had more wrinkles than Ringmar would ever get. They ran in all directions. She looked at Ringmar, who was the shorter of the two inspectors. Her eyes were transparently blue, a washed-out shade, whitewashed, and Winter thought for a moment that she was blind.
“What is’t this time?” she said.
“Sorry?” said Ringmar.
“What you sayin’ sorry fer?” she said.
Ringmar looked at Winter, who was smiling a little. These were literal people.
“I’m the one who called,” said Ringmar.
“What?”
“I’m the one who called. I spoke to a woman who answered here and the-”
“That was the assistant,” answered Ella Algotsson as though she were the CEO of Vasttrafik public transport, which had taken over the archipelago lines. “She isn’t here now, so you can go again.”
“But you’re the one we want to talk to, Mrs. Algotsson. She-”
“Miss.”
“Miss Algotsson,” said Ringmar. “She said that it would be okay for us to talk to you and your brother for a little bit.” Ringmar took out his wallet, showed her his ID. “My name is Bertil Ringmar and I’m a detective in Gothenburg, and this young man is Erik Winter and he’s
Winter showed his ID. Ella Algotsson looked at it, then looked suspiciously to Winter and then to Ringmar.
“Can’e really mek food?”
“Make food?” Ringmar gestured toward Winter. “That’s what he’s best at.”
“Arne’s sleepin’,” she said.
“Can we wait?” said Ringmar.
“He’s tired, Arne is.”
“We can leave for a bit and come back,” said Ringmar.
She didn’t answer.
“Has anyone else been here asking about Arne?” asked Ringmar.
“What’s that?” she said.
“When we came, you wondered what it was this time.”
“Axel was here,” she said.
Ringmar looked at Winter.
“Axel?” asked Ringmar, who got to be in charge of questioning. His assistant had the sense to know his place and keep quiet. Winter had backed up a few steps. “Axel Osvald?” Ringmar leaned a bit closer. She didn’t seem to hear. “Was Axel Osvald here recently to talk to Arne?”
“A few weeks ago,” she said, without hesitation. “They sat in the parlor. I wasn’t there.”
“What did they talk about?”
“The’ talked abou’ before o’course,” she said. “That’s all Arne can talk about. Ev’rythin’ else he’s forgot. But before he ca’ remember some’a.”
He can remember the past, Winter translated to himself.
“His Erik were here too,” she said. Ringmar hadn’t asked anything further. But he had earned her trust. She hadn’t asked what brought the inspector here, why he wanted to speak to her elderly brother. It didn’t seem to be of concern to her. Did she know something? Something more than that John Osvald had disappeared once upon a time? Winter tried to see her face behind the wrinkles that
They hadn’t asked about that.
“Erik?” said Ringmar. “Erik Osvald?”
“Yes.”
“Was he here along with his father? With Axel?”
“No. It was after.”