Wallander got to his feet. 'Right now I'm going to excuse myself for 20 minutes so I can run home and change my shirt.'
Ebba came into the room with a plate full of sandwiches. 'If you give me your keys, I'll go and get it for you,' she said. 'It's no bother.'
Wallander thanked her but declined her offer. He needed to get away, if only for a short while. He was about to leave the room when the phone rang. Hoglund answered and immediately gestured for him to stay in the room.
'It's the Ludvika police,' she says. 'That's where one of Ake Larstam's sisters lives.'
Wallander decided to stay. He looked around for Ebba, but she had left. Martinsson took over the call from Ludvika, while Hoglund called Isa Edengren's parents. Wallander stared down at his coffee stain. Martinsson hung up.
'Berit Larstam,' he said. 'She's 47, an unemployed social worker. She lives in Fredriksberg, wherever that is.'
'That's where the weapons were stolen,' Wallander said. 'Maybe Larstam was visiting his sister at the time.'
Martinsson waved a small piece of paper at him, then dialled the number.
Wallander felt he was no longer needed for the moment. He looked for Ebba in reception, but couldn't see her, so he returned to the conference room.
'Axel Edengren, the father, has promised to come in,' Hoglund said. 'I think we can expect a pompous arse who doesn't think much of the police.'
'What makes you say that?'
'He lectured me at length about how incompetent we were. I almost lost my temper.'
'That's what you should have done.'
Martinsson ended his conversation. 'Ake Larstam visited her about once every three years. They weren't particularly close.'
Wallander stared at him with surprise. 'Is that all?'
'What do you mean?'
'Didn't you ask her anything else?'
'Of course I did, but she asked if she could return my call later. She was in the middle of something.'
Wallander was starting to get irritable, and Martinsson was on the defensive. Tension filled the air. Wallander left and went to reception. Ebba was there.
'I think I will ask you to get it for me after all,' he said, handing her the keys. 'There should be a clean shirt in the cupboard. If not, you'll have to take the cleanest one you find from the hamper.'
'I'll take care of it.'
'Can anyone give you a ride?'
'I have my trusty old Volvo,' she said. 'You haven't forgotten about it, have you?'
Wallander smiled. He watched her as she walked out the front doors. He thought again about how hard these last few years had been on her. He returned to the conference room and apologised to Martinsson for his bad temper. They continued their work.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
Ebba still wasn't back with his shirt by the time Axel Edengren arrived at the station. Wallander started wondering what was taking so long. Was she having trouble finding a clean shirt? Wallander felt somewhat ill at ease as he walked out to reception to greet Axel Edengren. Not so much because of the large coffee stain on his chest as because of his recollection of the strange way in which the Edengrens had treated their daughter. Wallander wondered what kind of man he was about to meet, and for once the reality matched his expectations. Axel Edengren was a big, powerfully built man, with a spiky crew-cut and intense blue eyes. He was one of the largest men Wallander had ever seen, and there was something unappealing about his bulk. His handshake was dismissive. As Wallander showed him to his office, he felt as though he was being followed by a bull about to skewer him with his horns. Axel Edengren started speaking before they sat down.
'You were the one who found my daughter,' he said. 'What brought you to Barnso in the first place?' He used the polite form of the Swedish 'you' in addressing Wallander.
'Please feel free to use the informal 'you' with me,' Wallander said.
Edengren's reply was swift and unexpected. 'I prefer to use the polite form of address with people I don't know, and whom I plan to meet only once. What were you doing in Barnso, Inspector?'
Wallander felt a spark of anger, but he didn't think he had the energy to wield his usual authority.
'I had reason to believe Isa had gone there. And it turned out I was right.'
'I've heard about the sequence of events. I can't believe you allowed it to happen.'
'I didn't let anything happen. If I had had even the slightest inkling of what was about to happen, I would have done everything in my power to prevent it. I assume that goes for you too, not only in the case of Isa, but with Jorgen.'
Edengren flinched at the sound of his son's name. It was as if he had been knocked to his knees while running at top speed. Wallander took the opportunity to turn the conversation around.
'We're pressed for time, so let me simply express my condolences for what happened. I met Isa several times and thought she was a nice young woman.'
Edengren was about to say something, but Wallander pressed on. 'There's a berth at the marina here in Ystad that has been rented in Isa's name.'
Edengren regarded Wallander with suspicion. 'That's a lie.'
'No, it's quite true.'
'Isa doesn't have a boat.'
'That's what I thought. Do you have a berth here?'
'No, my boats are in a marina in Ostergotland.'
Wallander had no reason to doubt him. 'We think someone else rented the berth in your daughter's name.'
'Who would that be?'
'The person we believe killed your daughter.'
Edengren stared at him. 'Who is that?'
'His name is Ake Larstam.'
There was no reaction. Edengren didn't recognise the name.
'Have you arrested him?'
'Not yet.'
'Why not? You believe he killed my daughter, don't you?'
'We haven't managed to locate him. That's why we asked you to come down. We're hoping you can make our task easier.'
'Who is he?'
'For security reasons I can't give you all the information right now. Let's just say he's been working as a postman for the past couple of years.'
Edengren shook his head. 'Is this some kind of joke? The postman killed my daughter?'
'Unfortunately it's no joke.'
Edengren was about to ask him something else, but Wallander stopped him. The moment of low energy had passed.
'Did Isa have any contact with the sailing club that you know of? Did any of her friends have boats?'
Edengren's answer came as a surprise. 'Not Isa, but Jorgen did. He had a sailing boat. In the summer he kept it in Gryt. He sailed all around Barnso. The rest of the year it was kept down here.'
'But Isa never used the boat?'
'Only with her brother. They got along well together, at least most of the time.'
For the first time Wallander sensed something like sorrow in his voice. There was nothing to read on the surface, but Wallander thought there was probably a volcano of feelings locked up inside his enormous body.
