'Baited him,' said Martin Beck.
No one answered.
'He had the knack even then,' said Martin Beck. 'But he had learned a lot since then.'
'By the way, did you ask Hammar about that?' Kollberg said suddenly. 'I mean about what Stenstrom did last summer when we went through unsolved cases.'
'Yes,' Martin Beck replied. 'But I drew a blank. Stenstrom had discussed the matter with Hammar, who made one or two suggestions - which ones he didn't remember, but they were ruled out by age. Not because the cases were too old but because Stenstrom was too young. He didn't want anything that had happened when he was a boy of ten running around playing cops and robbers in Hallstahammar. At last he decided to look into that disappearance case that you too were working on.'
'I never heard anything from him,' Kollberg said.
'I suppose he just went through what was written.'
'Probably.'
Silence, and Melander was again the one to break it Getting up he said, 'Hm, where have we got to?' 'Don't quite know,' said Martin Beck.
'Excuse me’ Melander said and went out to the toilet When he had closed the door, Kollberg looked at Martin Beck and said, ‘Who's going to see Asa?'
'You. It's a one-man job and of us two you're best fitted for it'
Kollberg made no answer.
'Don't you want to?' Martin Beck asked.
'No, I don't But I will all the same.'
'This evening?'
'I have two matters to attend to first One at Vastberga and one at home. Call her up and say I'll be along about seven thirty.'
An hour later Kollberg entered his flat at Palandergatan. The time was five o'clock, but outside it had already been dark for a couple of hours.
His wife was busy painting the kitchen chairs in a pair of faded jeans and a checked flannel shirt It was his, and discarded long ago. She had rolled up the sleeves and tied it carelessly around her waist. She had paint on her hands and arms and feet, and even on her forehead.
'Strip,' he said.
She stood quite still with the brush raised. Gave him a searching look.
'Is it urgent?' she asked mischievously. 'Yes.'
She grew serious at once.
'Must you go again?'
'Yes, I have an interrogation.'
She nodded and put the brush in the paint can. Wiped her hands.
'Asa,' he said. 'It's going to be tricky in every way.'
'Do you need a vaccination?'
'Yes.'
'Mind you don't get paint all over you,' she said, unbuttoning the shirt.
20
Outside a house on Klubbacken in Hagersten a snowy man stood looking thoughtfully at a scrap of paper. It was sopping wet and was coming apart; he had difficulty in making out the writing in the whirling snow and the dim light from the street lamps. However, it seemed as if he had at last found the right place. He shook himself like a wet dog and went up the steps. Stamped energetically on the porch and rang the doorbell. Knocked the wet white flakes off his hat and stood with it in his hand as he waited for something to happen.
The door was opened a few inches and a middle-aged woman peeped out She was wearing a cleaning smock and apron and had flour on her hands.
'Police,' he said raucously. Clearing his throat, he went on, 'Detective Inspector Nordin.'
The woman eyed him anxiously.
'Can you prove it?' she said at last 'I mean ...'
With a heavy sigh, he transferred his hat to his left hand and unbuttoned his overcoat and jacket Took out his wallet and showed his identification card.
The woman followed the procedure with alarm, as if expecting him to take out a bomb or a machine gun or a condom.
He kept hold of the card and she peered at it shortsightedly through the crack in the door.
'I thought detectives had badges,' she said doubtfully.
'Yes, madam, I have one,' he said gloomily.
He kept his badge in his hip pocket and wondered how he would get at it without laying down his hat or putting it on his head.
'Oh, I suppose this will do,' the woman said grudgingly. 'Sundsvall? Have you come all the way from the north to talk to me?'
'I did have some other business in town as well.' 'I'm sorry, but you see ... I mean...' she faltered. 'Yes, madam?'
'I mean you can't be too careful nowadays. You never know...'
Nordin wondered what on earth he was to do with his hat. The snow was lying thickly and the flakes were melting on his bald head. He could hardly go on standing with the identification card in one hand and his hat in the other. He might want to note something down. To replace the hat on his head seemed the most practical but might appear impolite. It would look silly putting it down on the steps. Perhaps he ought to ask if he might go inside. But then the woman would be faced with a decision. She would have to answer yes or no, and if he had judged her rightly, such a decision might take a long time.
Nordin came from a part of the country where it was customary to invite all strangers into the kitchen, offer them a cup of coffee and let them warm themselves by the stove. A nice, practical custom, he thought. Perhaps it wasn't suitable in big cities. Collecting his thoughts, he said, 'When you called you mentioned a man and a garage, didn't you?'
'I'm awfully sorry if I disturbed you ...'
'Oh, we couldn't be more grateful.'
She turned her head and looked in towards the flat, almost dosing the door as she did so. She was evidently worried about the ginger snaps in the oven.
'Delighted,' Nordin muttered to himself. 'Deliriously happy. It's almost unbearable.'
The woman opened the door again and said, 'What did you say?'
'Er, that garage -' 'It's over there.'
He followed her gaze and said, 'I don't see anything.' 'You can see it from upstairs,' the woman said. 'And this man?'
'Well, he seemed funny. And now I haven't seen him for a couple of weeks. A short, dark man.'
'Do you keep a constant watch on the garage?'
'Well, I can see it from the bedroom window.'
She flushed. What have I done wrong now, Nordin wondered.
'Some foreigner has it. All sorts of queer characters hang about there. And what I'd like to know is —'
It was impossible to know whether she broke off or went on talking in such a low voice that he couldn't catch the words.
'What was strange about this short, dark man?'
'Well... he laughed.'
'Laughed?'
‘Yes. Awfully loud.'
'Do you know if there's anyone in the garage now?' 'There was a light on not long ago. When I went up and had a look.'
Nordin sighed and put on his hat
'Well, I'll go and make inquiries,' he said. 'Thank you, madam.' ‘Won't you ... come in?' 'No thanks.'
