left the building early that morning without saying where he was going. Akeson and Bjork came into the conference room just as Wallander had decided he could not wait for them any longer. Without mentioning the fact that he had done a deal with Strom, he described their exchanges at the house in Svartavagen. The listlessness that had characterised recent sessions with the team was noticeably reduced, even though Wallander could read the doubt in his colleagues' faces. He felt a bit like a football manager trying to convince his players that they were about to enter a boom period even though they had lost every match for the last six months.
'I believe in this,' he said in conclusion. 'Strom can be very useful to us.'
Akeson shook his head. 'I don't like it,' he said. 'The success of this investigation now seems to depend on a security guard who's been kicked out of the police force, but is nevertheless cast as our saviour.'
'What choice do we have?' Wallander said. 'Besides, I can't see that we're doing anything illegal. He was the one who came to us, not the other way round.'
Bjork was more scathing. 'It's out of the question. We can't use a disgraced police officer for a grass. There would be a major scandal if this went wrong and the media got on to it. The National Police Commissioner would have my guts for garters if I gave you the go-ahead.'
'Let him carve me up instead,' Wallander said. 'Strom is serious. He wants to help. As long as we do nothing illegal, we're hardly risking scandal.'
'I can see the headlines,' Bjork said. 'They're not nice.'
'I see different headlines,' Wallander said. 'Something about two more murders the police haven't been able to solve.'
Martinsson could see that the discussion was getting out of hand, and intervened. 'It seems a bit odd that he didn't want anything in return for giving us a bit of help,' he said. 'Can we really believe that his being upset at having lost his job is sufficient reason for him to start helping the police whom he hates?'
'He hates the police, no doubt about that,' Wallander said. 'But I still think we can trust him.'
You could have heard a pin drop. Akeson poked at his upper lip, wondering what he ought to think. 'Martinsson's question - you didn't answer it,' he said.
'He didn't ask for anything in return,' Wallander said, lying through his teeth.
'What exactly do you want us to do?'
Wallander nodded in the direction of Nyberg, who was sitting next to Hoglund. 'Sten Torstensson was killed by bullets that were probably from a Bernadelli pistol. Nyberg says that's a rare weapon. I want Strom to find out whether one of those bodyguards has a Bernadelli. Then we can go to the castle and make an arrest.'
'We can do that anyway,' Akeson said. 'People carrying guns, no matter what make they are, illegally resident in this country, that's good enough for me.'
'But what then?' Wallander said. 'We arrest them. We deport them. We've put all our eggs in one basket and then dropped it. Before we can point to those men as possible murderers we have to know whether either of them has a gun that could be the murder weapon.'
'Fingerprints,' Nyberg said. 'That would be good. Then we can run a check with Interpol and Europol.'
Wallander agreed. He had forgotten about fingerprints.
Akeson was still poking at his upper lip. 'Is there anything else you have in mind?' he asked.
'No,' Wallander said. 'Not at the moment.'
He knew he was walking a tightrope and could fall at any moment. If he went too far, Akeson would put a stop to any further contact with Strom, or at the very least hold things up. So Wallander did not mention everything he intended to do.
While Akeson continued to think the matter over, Wallander looked across at Nyberg and Hoglund. She smiled. Nyberg nodded almost imperceptibly. They've understood, Wallander thought. They know what I'm thinking. And they're with me.
At last Akeson stopped arguing with himself. 'Just this once,' he said. 'But this once only. No more contact with Kurt Strom in future without first informing me. I'll want to know what you intend asking him before I approve of any more contributions from that gentleman. You can also expect me to say no.'
'Of course,' Wallander said. 'I'm not even sure there will be any more times.'
When the meeting was over Wallander took Nyberg and Hoglund into his office.
'I could tell that you had read my thoughts,' he said when he had shut the door. 'You didn't say anything, so I take it you agree with me that we should go a bit further than I led Akeson to believe.'
'The plastic container,' Nyberg said. 'If Strom could find a similar one at the castle, I'd be more than grateful.'
'Exactly,' Wallander said. 'That plastic container is the most important thing we've got. Or the only thing, depending on how you look at it.'
'But how is he going to be able to get away with it if he does find one?' Hoglund said.
Wallander and Nyberg exchanged looks.
'If what we think is true, the container we found in Gustaf Torstensson's car was a substitute,' Wallander said. 'I thought we could give it back and replace it with the right one.'
'I should have thought of that,' she said. 'Not thinking fast enough.'
'I sometimes reckon it's Wallander who thinks too fast,' Nyberg said quietly.
'I need it in a couple of hours,' Wallander said. 'I shall be seeing Strom again at 3.00.'
Nyberg left, but Hoglund stayed behind. 'What did he want?' she asked.
'I'm not sure,' Wallander said. 'He said he wanted a certificate to say that he wasn't a bad police officer, but I think there's more to it than that.'
'What?'
'I don't know yet, but I have my suspicions.'
'And you don't want to say what your suspicions are?'
'I'd rather not just yet. Not until I know.'
Nyberg came to Wallander's office with the plastic container just after 2.00. He had put it inside two black rubbish bags.
'Don't forget the fingerprints,' Nyberg said. 'Anything at all.. . glasses, cups, newspapers.'
Half an hour later Wallander put the container on the back seat of his car and set off for Sandskogen. The rain was coming in off the sea in squalls. When he got out of his car Strom was in the doorway, already in uniform. Wallander carried the black rubbish bags into the red house.
'What uniform's that?' he said.
'Farnholm's own uniform. I've no idea who made it up.'
Wallander took the container out of the plastic bags. 'Have you seen this before?' he said.
Strom shook his head.
'There's an identical one somewhere at the castle,' Wallander said. 'There could be more than one. I want you to exchange this for one of them. Can you get into the main building itself?'
'I do my rounds every night.'
'You're quite sure you've never seen this before?'
'Never. I wouldn't even know where to start looking.'
Wallander thought for a moment. 'Is there a cold-storage room anywhere?'
'In the cellar.'
'Look there. And don't forget the Bernadelli.'
'That'll be more difficult. They always have their weapons with them, probably they take them to bed too.'
'We need Tolpin and Obadia's fingerprints. That's all. Then you can have your certificate. If that's what you really want.'
'What else would I want?'
'I believe what you really want is to show that you're not as bad a police officer as a lot of people think.'
'You're wrong,' Strom said. 'I have to think about my future.'
'It was just a thought.'
'Same time tomorrow,' Strom said. 'Here.'
'One more thing,' Wallander said. 'If anything goes wrong I'll deny all knowledge of what you're doing.'
