even smaller, looking like an injured little bird with no strength left. Her throat was wrinkled, her lips chapped. She lay there motionless with her eyes closed as he came in.
‘Hello,’ he said quietly.
No reaction. He patted her hand. She gave a start and opened her eyes.
‘I’m sorry to disturb you. My name is Anders Knutas, and I’m head of the crime division here. We’ve met once before.’
‘I know who you are. I may be suffering from smoke inhalation, but I haven’t lost my memory.’ Her voice was sharp and dry.
Knutas pulled over a chair and sat down.
‘Could you tell me what happened?’
The frail woman sighed and pushed herself up into a sitting position, motioning impatiently for him to help her put two pillows behind her back. Then she rang for the nurse and asked for a glass of water.
‘The fire woke me up. It was horrible, just horrible. The room was very hot, and I saw thick smoke seeping in around the door. I broke the window and climbed out. After that, all I could do was sit and watch the whole house burn to the ground. With everything inside. All of my things, all of my memories…’
She didn’t look at him as she talked. She kept her gaze fixed on the ceiling.
Tears began running down her cheeks. Knutas waited before asking any more questions. The nurse came in with the glass of water and then left again. He shifted nervously on the chair. This was an uncomfortable situation, but since Veronika showed no sign that she would stop crying, he continued with the interview.
‘Did you see or hear anything suspicious? Did you notice any strangers in the area?’
‘I went out to the cabin the day before yesterday. I was worn out after everything that had happened – with Viktor dying and then the police interview and all the neighbours staring at me and whispering. It was too much. I went out there to escape, and I didn’t tell a soul where I was going. I don’t usually set foot out in the country until Whitsun because I hate being alone, so I’m sure nobody thought that’s where I’d go. But right from the start I had the feeling that someone was out there. Both when I took a walk and later when I went back to the cabin. Last night, before the fire started, I was convinced that there was a prowler on the property.’
‘Did you see anything?’
‘No, but it seemed that a shadow passed by outside the window. It made me nervous, and I know that I can always trust my intuition. Someone was out there. I’m sure of it.’
‘What’s your interpretation of what happened?’
‘Some madman is out to get me. There’s no doubt in my mind.’
‘How can you be so sure about that?’
Finally the woman lying in bed turned to look at him. Her expression was incredulous.
‘Surely it has to be obvious, even to the police,’ she said caustically. ‘Someone set the cabin on fire while I was inside. That means the arson was intended to kill me. I was supposed to die in the blaze. My first thought was that it had to be Viktor’s wife, Elisabeth, who did it. First she killed her husband and then she tried to kill me.’
‘That leads me to my next question,’ said Knutas. ‘During the party at the conference centre you were given a drink from an unknown admirer. Do you remember that?’
Veronika Hammar looked confused.
‘Yes, I think so,’ she said uncertainly.
‘It was a strawberry daiquiri, non-alcoholic.’
‘So?’
‘Did you taste the drink?’
Silence filled the room as Knutas tensely studied the woman. She bit her lip and turned to look up at the ceiling again.
‘I don’t really remember… Did I? I had the drink in my hand, but then I had to go to the loo, so I gave it to Viktor. I don’t think I even took a sip.’
‘And then you parted and didn’t see each other again. Is that right?’
‘That’s right. I… do you mean that…?’
‘The drink was probably poisoned.’
‘So it was intended for me?’ Veronika pressed her hands to her chest. She looked stunned, and her voice shook as she went on: ‘So you’re saying that the murderer was after me right from the start? That Viktor died by mistake? That’s terrible!’
‘Why didn’t you tell us about this before, at the first interview?’
‘It simply didn’t occur to me. I’d forgotten all about it.’
‘You said that the last time you saw Viktor was when he took your drink and you went to the ladies’ room. Is that right?’
‘Yes.’
‘So you didn’t see him again that night?’
Veronika shook her head. Knutas didn’t take his eyes off her.
‘Then can you explain to me why the crime scene is practically covered with your fingerprints?’
Veronika’s reaction was instantaneous and unexpected.
She stared at him in dismay for several seconds before she shrieked: ‘Stop it! I can’t take this any more! I’m a fragile person. I can’t handle this sort of thing!’
Tears poured out, and now she was wailing, not just crying. The woman’s unexpected outburst nearly frightened Knutas out of his wits.
‘All right, take it easy,’ he urged her, sitting down on the edge of the bed. ‘I’m not accusing you of anything. You must realize that we need to know exactly what happened.’ He patted her clumsily on the back.
‘First somebody kills the love of my life, then someone sneaks up and sets fire to my cabin, and now you’re trying to make me a suspect! There bloody well has to be a limit to what a person has to endure. There has to be a limit even for me!’
‘Come on now,’ said Knutas in his gentlest tone of voice. ‘I’m not accusing you, but you need to tell me what you were doing in that room. Did you find him there?’
Veronika sniffed and coughed. The door opened and a nurse stuck her head in.
‘Everything all right in here?’
‘Yes, we’re fine.’ Knutas waved her away.
The nurse cast an enquiring glance at Veronika, who nodded. That seemed to satisfy her, and she closed the door again.
Knutas refilled Veronika’s glass with water from the small sink in the room. Then he tore off a piece of paper towel.
‘All right now,’ he murmured, as if speaking to a child. ‘Dry your tears and then let’s work this out, once and for all.’
‘OK,’ she whimpered. ‘I didn’t do anything. It’s just been too much to take.’
‘I understand.’
He handed her the glass and she drank the water greedily.
‘Tell me what happened.’
‘At the end of the party – at the conference centre, I mean – I went to get my coat from the cloakroom, and then I looked around for Viktor. I got lost in the corridors but finally I found the room downstairs where we were supposed to meet. I went inside and saw a light coming from the lift a short distance away. The doors were open.’
She covered her face with her hands, stammering out the words.
‘And there he was. Lying on the floor. Not moving. I went over, thinking that he was alive. His face was turned away. But when I got closer, I realized that he was dead.’
‘What did you do then?’
‘I panicked. I yanked open the nearest door and rushed home. I was terrified. I thought the murderer might still be in the room and would come after me.’
‘But you didn’t think about calling the police?’
‘I was drunk and exhausted. I wasn’t thinking straight. No one knew about our affair, and I couldn’t see why everybody should have to find out about it. And nothing could change what had already happened. My Viktor was
