But remarkably enough, he was a master of making ships in bottles, despite the fact that you’d have thought his hands shook far too much for that. I’ve never had the time to attempt anything of the sort until I came here to the island.’
‘A nameless island,’ said Wallander.
‘I call it Blue Island. It has to be called something. Blue Moon and Blue Ridge are already taken.’
They sat down at the table again. By means of some kind of unspoken agreement they had each made it clear to the other that sleep could wait. They had begun a conversation that needed to be continued. Wallander realised that it was his turn now. Hakan von Enke was waiting for his questions. He started with what he considered the beginning.
‘When you celebrated your seventy-fifth birthday,’ Wallander began, ‘you wanted to talk to me. But I’m still not clear about why you chose to talk about those events with me rather than somebody else. And we never really got to the point. There was a lot I didn’t understand. I still don’t understand it.’
‘I thought you should know. My son and your daughter, our only children, will spend the rest of their lives together, we hope.’
‘No,’ said Wallander. There was some other reason, I’m sure. And I have to say that I was very upset to discover you haven’t been telling me the whole truth.’
Von Enke looked at him in incomprehension.
‘You and Louise have a daughter,’ Wallander said. ‘Signe, who leads a sort of life at Niklasgarden. So you see, I even know where she is. You’ve never said anything about her. Not even to your son.’
Hakan von Enke was staring at him. He had stiffened in his armchair. This is a man who is not often caught off guard, Wallander thought. But right now he is really on the spot.
‘I’ve been there,’ Wallander went on. ‘I’ve seen her. I also know that you visited her regularly. You were even there the day before you disappeared. We can choose to keep on not telling the truth, to turn this conversation into something that doesn’t clarify but merely makes what is unclear even more obscure. It’s our choice. Or rather, your choice. I’ve already made mine.’
Wallander eyed von Enke, wondering why he seemed to be hesitating.
‘You’re right, of course,’ said von Enke eventually. ‘It’s just that I’m so used to denying Signe’s existence.’
‘Why?’
‘It was for Louise’s sake. She always felt strangely guilty about Signe. Despite the fact that Signe’s handicaps weren’t caused by something that went wrong during childbirth, or by something Louise had done or eaten or drunk while she was pregnant. We never spoke about Signe. As far as Louise was concerned, she simply didn’t exist. But she existed for me. I was always tormented by not being able to say anything to Hans.’
Wallander said nothing. It suddenly dawned on von Enke why.
‘You told him? Was that necessary?’
‘I would have regarded it as shameful if I hadn’t told him he had a sister.’
‘How did he take it?’
‘He was upset, which is understandable. He felt cheated.’
Von Enke shook his head slowly.
‘I’d made a promise to Louise, and I couldn’t break that promise.’
‘That’s something you have to talk to him about yourself. Or not. Which leads me to an entirely different question. What were you doing in Copenhagen a few days ago?’
Von Enke’s surprise was genuine. Wallander felt that he now had the upper hand; the key was how to exploit that in order to make the man on the other side of the table tell the truth. There were still a lot of questions to be asked.
‘How do you know I’ve been in Copenhagen?’
‘I’m not going to answer that question at the moment.’
‘Why not?’
‘Because the answer is of no significance. Besides, I’m the one asking the questions now.’
‘Am I suppose to interpret that to mean I’m now being subjected to a police interrogation?’
‘No. But don’t forget that you have subjected your son and my daughter to incredible stress and strain since you went missing. To tell you the truth, I’m furious when I think about how you’ve behaved. The only way you can keep me calm is to give honest answers to my questions.’
‘I’ll try.’
‘Did you make contact with Hans?’
‘No.’
‘Did you intend to?’
‘No.’
‘What were you doing there?’
‘I went to withdraw some money.’
‘But you said just now that you hadn’t been in touch with Hans. As far as I’m aware, he oversaw your and Louise’s savings.’
‘We had an account with Danske Bank that we kept control of ourselves. After I retired I did some consultancy work for the manufacturers of a weapons system for naval vessels. They paid in US dollars. Obviously, some tax evasion was involved.’
‘What kind of sums are we talking about?’
‘I can’t see how that could be of any relevance. Unless you intend to report me for tax evasion?’
‘You’re suspected of more important things. But answer the question!’
‘About half a million Swedish kronor.’
‘Why did you choose to have an account in a Danish bank?’
‘The Danish krone seemed stable.’
‘And there was no other reason for going to Copenhagen?’
‘No.’
‘How did you get there?’
‘By train from Norrkoping. I went there by taxi. Eskil, whom you’ve met, took me to Fyrudden. And he picked me up when I came back.’
Wallander found no reason to doubt what he had heard, at least for the time being.
‘And Louise knew all about your undeclared money?’
‘She had the same access to the account as I did. Neither of us had a bad conscience. We both thought that Swedish taxation rates were disgracefully high.’
‘Why did you need the money now?’
‘Because I’d run out of cash. Even if you live frugally, you’re always spending money.’
Wallander left Copenhagen for the time being and returned to Djursholm.
‘There’s one thing I’ve been wondering about that only you can answer. When we were standing in the conservatory, you noticed a man in the street, behind my back. I’ll admit that I’ve spent ages wondering about this. Who was it?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘But you seemed worried when you noticed him.’
‘I was scared.’
The admission came out like a roar. Wallander was on his guard. Perhaps being on the run for such a long time had, after all, taken its toll on the man sitting opposite him. He decided to tread carefully.
‘Who do you think it was?’
‘I’ve already said I don’t know. And it’s not important. He was there to remind me. That’s what I think, at least.’
‘Remind you of what? Don’t make me drag every answer out of you.’
‘Somehow or other Louise’s contacts must have realised that I suspected her. Maybe it was she herself who told them I’d discovered her. It wasn’t the first time I’d had the feeling I was being watched. But the other occasions were not as clear-cut as that one at Djursholm.’
‘Are you saying that somebody was shadowing you?’
