was a devilish plan that would be able to kill us twice.'
'What did he mean by that?'
'I don't know.' She stood up quickly, as if she were suddenly scared of going any further. 'I can offer you a cup of tea,' she said. 'I'm afraid I don't have any coffee.'
'I'd love a cup of tea,' Wallander said.
She disappeared to the kitchen and Wallander tried to decide the most important questions to ask next. He was sure that she was being honest with him, but he still didn't know what she and Upitis thought he could do to help them. He doubted he'd be able to fulfil the expectations they had of him. I'm just a simple police officer from Ystad, he thought. What you people need is a man like Rydberg – but he's dead, like the major. He can't help you.
She came back with a teapot and cups on a tray. There must be somebody else in the flat, he thought – the water couldn't possibly have boiled as quickly as that. Wherever I go there's a hidden guard keeping watch on me, and I understand very little of what's really going on.
He could see she was tired.
'How long can we go on?' he asked.
'Not much longer. My house is bound to be under observation -1 can't stay away too long, but we can continue here tomorrow night.'
'I'm invited to Colonel Putnis's then.'
'I understand. What about the following night?'
He nodded, took a sip of tea (which was weak), and continued putting his questions. 'You must have wondered what Karlis meant by the drug-smuggling ring killing twice,' he said. 'You must have discussed it with Upitis, surely?'
'Karlis once said that you can use anything at all for blackmail purposes,' she answered. 'When I asked what he meant by that, he said it was something one of the colonels had told him. Why I remember that particular detail, I have no idea. Maybe because Karlis was very quiet and withdrawn at the time.
'Blackmail?'
'That was the word he used.' 'Who was going to be blackmailed?' 'Latvia.'
'Did he really say that? A whole country could be subjected to blackmail?' 'Yes. If I weren't certain, I wouldn't say it.' 'Which of the colonels had used the word 'blackmail'?' 'I think it was Murniers, but I'm not sure.' 'What did Karlis think of Colonel Putnis?' 'He said Putnis wasn't among the worst.' 'What did he mean by that?'
'He observed the law. He didn't take bribes from just anyone.'
'But he did take bribes?' 'They all do.' 'Not Karlis, though?' 'Never. He was different.'
Wallander could see she was starting to get restless. The rest of his questions would have to wait.
'Baiba,' he said – and that was the first time he used her first name – 'I want you to think over everything you've told me this evening. The day after tomorrow I might ask you the same questions again.'
'Yes,' she said. 'All I do is think.'
For a moment he thought she was going to cry, but she regained her self-control and got to her feet. She drew a curtain hanging on one wall back to reveal a door, which she opened. A young woman entered, smiled and began to clear away the tea things.
'This is Inese,' Baiba Liepa told him. 'You've been to visit her this evening. That's your explanation if you're asked. You met her in the nightclub at the Latvia Hotel, and she's become your lover. You don't know exactly where she lives, only that it's on the other side of the bridge. You don't know her second name as she's only your lover for the few days you're in Riga. You think she's a filing clerk.'
Wallander listened open-mouthed. Baiba Liepa said something in Latvian, and Inese struck a pose for him.
'Remember her face,' Baiba Liepa said. She'll be collecting you the day after tomorrow. Go to the nightclub after 8 p.m., and you'll find her there.'
'What's your own alibi?'
'I went to an organ concert, then visited my brother.' 'Your brother?'
'He was the one driving the car.'
'Why did you put a hood over my head when I went to meet Upitis?'
'His judgement is better than mine – we didn't then know if we could trust you.'
'What do you really think I can do to help?'
'See you the day after tomorrow,' she said evasively. 'We have no time to lose.'
The car was at the gate. She didn't say a word during the drive back to the city centre. Wallander suspected she was crying. When they dropped him not far from the hotel, she shook his hand. She muttered something in
Latvian, and Wallander scrambled out of the car, which disappeared in a flash. He was hungry, but even so he went straight up to his room. He poured himself a glass of whisky then lay down on the bed, under the cover. He could think only of Baiba Liepa.
It was after 2 a.m. before he undressed and got into bed. In his dreams, someone was lying at his side. It wasn't his 'lover' Inese, but somebody else, someone the colonels directing his dreams never allowed him to see.
Sergeant Zids collected him the next morning at exactly 8 a.m. At 8.30 a.m. Colonel Murniers called in at his office.
'We think we've found Major Liepa's murderer,' he said.
Wallander looked at him in astonishment.
'You mean the man Colonel Putnis has been interrogating these last couple of days?'
'No, not him. He's no doubt a slimy criminal who's also involved in some way or other – but we've got another man. Come and see!'
They went down to the basement. Murniers opened the door to an antechamber with a two-way mirror on one wall. Murniers beckoned to Wallander, inviting him to take a look.
The room behind the mirror had bare walls, a table and two chairs. On one of the chairs was Upitis. He had a dirty bandage on his forehead. He was wearing the same shirt he'd had during their night-time conversation in the unknown hunting lodge.
'Who is he?' Wallander asked, without taking his eyes off Upitis. He was afraid his shock might betray him. On the other hand, maybe Murniers knew already.
'He's a man we've had our eyes on,' Murniers said. 'A failed academic, poet, butterfly collector, journalist. Drinks too much, talks too much. He's spent quite a few years in prison, for all kinds of offences. We've known for some time that he was involved in serious crime, although we could never prove it. We had an anonymous tip suggesting he might have something to do with Major Liepa's death.' 'Is there any proof?'
'Needless to say, he doesn't confess to anything at all -but we have evidence as significant as a voluntary confession.'
'What?'
'The murder weapon.'
Wallander turned to look at Murniers.
'The murder weapon,' Murniers repeated. 'Perhaps we should go up to my office so that I can give you the background to this arrest. Colonel Putnis ought to be there as well by now.'
Wallander followed Murniers up the stairs. He noticed the Colonel was humming to himself. Somebody's been leading me up the garden path, he thought, horrified. Somebody's been leading me up the garden path – but I don't know who. I don't know who, and I don't know why.
CHAPTER 12
Upitis was charged. When the police searched his flat they found an old wooden club with strands of hair stuck to it. Upitis didn't have an alibi for the night of Major Liepa's murder. He claimed he was drunk, had been with some friends, but couldn't remember whom. In the course of the morning Murniers sent out a squad of officers to question people who might have been able to supply Upitis with an alibi, but nobody remembered having seen or been visited by him. Murniers expended an enormous amount of energy on the search, while Colonel Putnis seemed more inclined to wait and see what developed.
