Roseanna

E: Three or four weeks ago.

B: What did you do before that?

E: Nothing particular.

B: Where did you do nothing particular?

E: What?

B: Where were you living before you signed on the Finnish boat?

E: With a friend in Gothenburg.

B: How long did you stay in Gothenburg?

E: A few days. Maybe a week.

B: And before that?

E: At my old lady's, my mother's.

B: Were you working then?

E: No, I was sick.

B: What was wrong with you?

E: I was just sick. Felt bad and bad a fever.

B: Where did you work before you were sick?

E: On a boat.

B: What was the name of the boat?

E: The Diana.

B: What kind of job did you have on the Diana?

E: Fireman.

B: How long were you on the Diana?

E: The whole summer.

B: From…?

E: From the first of July until the middle of September. Then they lay off. They put the boat up, too. They only run in the summer. Back and forth with a bunch of corny tourists. Damn dull. I wanted to sign off the tub but my buddy wanted to stay on, and anyway, I needed the cash.

After that strain on his oratorical powers, Eriksson seemed completely exhausted and sank even further down in his chair.

B: What's your buddy's name? What was his job on the Diana?

E: Fireman. There were three of us at the engine. Me, my buddy and the engineer.

B: Did you know any of the other crew members?

Eriksson bent forward and put out his cigarette in the ash tray. 'What the hell kind of an examination is this,' he said, i and threw himself back in his chair. 'I haven't done any- j thing. Here I've gone and gotten a job and some damn cops come and…'

B: You will answer my questions. Did you know any of the other crew members?

E: Not when I started. I only knew my buddy then. But you get to meet the others later. There was a guy who worked on the deck that was kind of fun.

B: Did you meet any girls on the trips?

E: There was only one gal who was anything at all but she went around with the cook. The rest of them were old bags.

B: The passengers then?

E: We didn't see much of them. I really didn't meet any girls.

B: Did you work in shifts, the three of you in the engine room?

E: Yes.

B: Do you remember if anything unusual happened at any time during the summer?

E: No, what do you mean, unusual?

B: If any one trip was different from the rest. Didn't the engine break down at some point?

E: Yes, that's right. A steampipe broke. We had to go into Soderkoping for repairs. It took a hell of a long time. But that wasn't my fault.

B: Do you remember when it happened?

E: Just after we'd passed Stegeborg.

B: Yes, but which day did it happen?

E: Who the hell knows. What kind of damn nonsense is this? It wasn't my fault that the engine broke down. Anyway,

I wasn't working then. It wasn't my shift.

B: But when you left Soderkoping? Was it your shift then?

E: Yes, and before that too. All three of us had to work like hell to get the barge going again. We worked all night and then we worked the next day, the engineer and I.

B: What time did you go off the shift during the day?

E: The day after Soderkoping? Quite late in the afternoon, I think.

B: Then what did you do when you were free?

Eriksson looked emptily at Martin Beck and didn't answer.

B: What did you do when you had finished working that day?

E: Nothing.

B: You must have done something? What did you do?

(The same empty look.)

B: Where was the boat when you were free?

E: I don't know. At Roxen, I think.

B: What did you do when you got off the shift?

E: Nothing, I told you.

B: You must have done something. Did you meet anyone?;

Eriksson looked bored and stroked his neck.

B: Think about it. What did you do?

E: What a lot of garbage. What do you think anyone can do on that damned tub? Play football? The boat was right out in the middle of the water. Now listen, the only things'; you could do on that tub were eat and sleep.

B: Did you meet anyone that day?

E: Sure, I met Brigitte Bardot. How the hell can I know if I met anyone. It was a few years ago.

B: Okay. We'll start over. Last summer, when you were working on the Diana, did you meet anyone or any of the passengers?

E: I didn't meet any passengers. We didn't get to meet the passengers anyway. And even if we had, I wasn't interested. A bunch of snotty tourists. The hell with them.

B: What's the name of your buddy who also worked on the Diana?

E: Why? What's this all about anyway? We didn't do anything.

B: What's his name?

E: Roffe.

B: First name and last name.

E: Roffe Sjoberg.

B: Where is he now?

E: He's on some German boat. I don't know where the hell he is. Maybe he's in Kuala Lampur. I don't know.

Martin Beck gave up. He turned off the tape recorder and j got up. Eriksson began to stretch slowly to get out of his chair.

'Sit down,' roared Martin Beck. 'Sit there until I tell you to get up.'

He called in to Ahlberg who stood in the doorway five seconds later.

'Get up,' said Martin Beck, and went out of the room ahead of him.

When Ahlberg came back to his office Martin Beck was sitting beside his desk. He looked up at him and shrugged his shoulders.

'Let's go and eat now,' he said. 'I'll try again later.'