empty streets. On an impulse, he decided to drive past the refugee camp on the west side of town.
The camp consisted of huts in long rows in an open field. Floodlights lit up the green-painted structures. He stopped in the car park and got out of the car. The waves were breaking on the beach not far away.
He looked at the camp. Put a fence around it and it'd be a concentration camp, he thought. He was just about to get back in his car when he heard a faint crash of glass breaking. In the next instant there was a dull boom.
Then tall flames were shooting out of one of the huts.
CHAPTER 7
He had no idea how long he stood there, stunned by the flames raging in the winter night. Perhaps it was minutes, perhaps only a few seconds. But when he managed to break out of his paralysis, he had enough presence of mind to grab the car phone and raise the alarm.
The static on the phone made it difficult to hear the man who answered.
'The refugee camp in Ystad is on fire!' shouted Wallander. 'Get the fire department out here! The wind is blowing hard.'
'Can I have your name?' asked the man at the emergency switchboard.
'This is Wallander of the Ystad police. I just happened to be driving past when the fire started.'
'Can you identify yourself?' continued the voice on the phone, unmoved.'Damn it! 4-7-1-1-2-1! And get a bloody move on!'
He hung up the phone to avoid answering any more questions. Besides, he knew that the emergency switchboard could identify all the police officers on duty in the district. He ran across the road towards the burning huts. The fire was blazing in the wind. He wondered fleetingly what would have happened if the fire had started the night before, during the heavy storm. Even now the flames were getting a firm grip on the hut next door.
Why didn't someone sound the alarm? he thought. But he didn't know whether there were refugees living in all the huts. The heat of the fire hit him in the face as he pounded on the door of the hut that had so far only been licked by the flames.
The hut where the fire had started was now completely engulfed. Wallander tried to approach the door, but was driven back. He ran around one side. There was only one window. He banged on the glass and tried to look inside, but the smoke was so thick that he found himself staring straight into a white haze. He looked around for something to break the glass with but found nothing. He tore off his jacket, wrapped it around his arm, and smashed his fist through the windowpane. He held his breath to keep from inhaling the smoke and groped for the latch. Twice he had to leap back to catch his breath before he managed to open the window.'Get out!' he shouted into the fire. 'Get out! Get out!'
Inside the hut were two bunk beds. He hauled himself up onto the window ledge and felt the splinters of glass cutting into his thigh. The upper bunks were empty. But someone was lying on one of the lower bunks.
Wallander yelled again but got no response. Then he heaved himself through the window, banging his head on the edge of a table as he fell to the floor. He was almost suffocating from the smoke as he fumbled his way towards the bed. At first he thought he was touching a lifeless body. Then he realised that what he had taken for a person was only a rolled-up mattress. At the same moment his jacket caught fire and he threw himself headfirst out of the window. He could hear sirens far off, and as he stumbled away from the fire he saw crowds of half-dressed people milling around outside the huts. Two more of the low buildings were now in flames. Wallander threw open doors and saw that people were living in these huts. But those who had been asleep inside had fled. His head was pounding and his thigh hurt, and he felt sick from the smoke he had inhaled. At that moment the first fire engine arrived, followed closely by an ambulance. He saw that the fire captain on duty was Peter Edler. He was in his mid 30s and Wallander remembered that his hobby was flying kites. Wallander had heard only favourable things about him. He was a man who was never unsure of himself. As Wallander staggered over to Edler, he realised that he had burns on one arm.
'The huts that are burning are empty,' he said. 'I don't know about the other ones.'
'You look terrible,' said Edler. 'I think we can handle this.'
The firemen were already hosing down the huts. Wallander heard Edler order a tractor to drag away those that were already burning in order to isolate the fire.
The first police car came to a skidding stop, its blue light flashing and its siren wailing. Wallander saw that it was Peters and Noren. He hobbled over to their car.'What's happening?' asked Noren.
'It'll be OK,' said Wallander. 'Start cordoning off the area and ask Edler if he needs any help.'
Peters stared at him. 'You look awful. How did you happen to be here?'
'I was just driving by,' replied Wallander. 'Now get moving.'
For the next hour a peculiar mixture of chaos and efficient fire-fighting prevailed. The dazed director of the refugee camp was wandering around aimlessly, and Wallander had to exert real pressure to get him to try to find out how many refugees should be at the camp and then
do a count. To his great surprise, it turned out that the Immigration Service's records were hopelessly confused. And the director couldn't help either. In the meantime a tractor dragged away the smouldering huts, and before long the fire-fighters had the blaze under control. The ambulance had taken only a few of the refugees to the hospital, most of them suffering from shock, although there was a little Lebanese boy who had fallen and hit his head on a rock.
Edler pulled Wallander aside. 'Go and get yourself patched up.'
Wallander nodded. His arm was stinging and burning, and he could feel that one leg was sticky with blood.
'I hate to think about what might have happened if you hadn't raised the alarm the moment the fire broke out,' said Edler.
'Why the hell do they put the huts so close together?' asked Wallander.
Edler shook his head. 'The boss here is starting to get tired. You're right of course - the buildings are too damn close.'
Wallander went over to Noren, who had just finished cordoning off the area.
'I want that director in my office first thing tomorrow morning,' he said.Noren nodded.'Did you see anything?' he asked.
'I heard a crash. Then the hut exploded. But no cars. No people. If it was set, then it was done with a delayed-action detonator.''Shall I drive you home or to the hospital?''I can drive myself. But I'd better go now.'
At the casualty ward, Wallander found that he had suffered more damage than he had supposed. On one forearm he had a large burn, his groin and one thigh had been cut by the glass, and above his right eye he had a big lump and several nasty abrasions. He had also bitten his tongue without being aware of it.
It was almost 4 a.m. by the time Wallander could leave the hospital. His bandages were too tight, and he still felt sick from the smoke.
As he left the hospital, a camera flashed in his face. He recognised the photographer from the biggest morning newspaper in Skane. He waved his hand to dismiss a reporter who appeared out of the shadows, wanting an interview. Then he drove home.
To his own great amazement he was actually feeling sleepy. He undressed and crawled under the bed covers. His body ached, and flames were dancing in his head. And yet he fell asleep at once.
At 8 a.m. Wallander woke because somebody was pounding a sledgehammer inside his head. He had once again dreamed of the mysterious black woman. But when he stretched out his hand for her, Sten Widenwas suddenly there with the whisky bottle, and the woman had turned her back on Wallander and gone off with Sten.
He lay still, taking stock of how he felt. His neck and arm were stinging. His head was pounding. For a moment he was tempted to turn to the wall and go back to sleep. To forget all about the investigation and the night's blaze.
He didn't get a chance to decide. He was interrupted by the ringing of the telephone. I don't feel like answering it, he thought.It was Mona.'Kurt,' she said. 'It's Mona.'He was filled with an overwhelming sense of
