V Did he say anything about what he intended to do? How did you assess his state of mind?
H He said he was having trouble sleeping. He didn’t know whether or not he should tell his wife.
V Did you give him any advice?
H No. What could I say?
V Did you think he was unbalanced during these telephone calls?
H Not really unbalanced. Worried and tense, more like.
V Do you know if he had much contact with the girl?
H They’d talked things over. He’d tried to persuade her to have an abortion. He’d offered to help her out financially.
V And what did she say to that?
H She stuck to her guns, it seemed. She wanted to have the baby.
V And what about the financial side?
H I don’t know.
V You don’t know?
H No.
V All right. When you heard what had happened, that the girl had been found dead on the railway line, how did you react then?
H I was shocked, naturally.
V Yes, naturally. We were all shocked. Were you surprised as well?
H Of course I was surprised. It was horrendous.
V So you hadn’t expected that development?
H No, of course I hadn’t. He must have taken leave of his senses. It’s horrendous.
V Do you think it’s surprising that he took leave of his senses?
H /No reply/
V I’ll ask you again. Bearing in mind all the circumstances, do you think it’s surprising that Arnold Maager took leave of his senses?
H I don’t know. Perhaps not.
V Thank you, herr Heller. That will be all for now.
25
For a brief moment — just a fraction of a second — she thought he was going to hit her.
But nothing happened. Not even a gesture. But the very fact that such an image appeared in her mind’s eye must mean something, of course. Not necessarily that he was that type of man — somebody who would start using his fists when he’d run out of words: but something nevertheless. A suspicion? A warning?
Or was it just a distorted figment of the imagination? A projection of her own dodgy emotional life?
In any case, it stayed there. And would continue to stay there, she knew that even before the moment had passed.
‘You did what?’ he snarled through gritted teeth.
‘I left it up there and took a taxi instead,’ she said.
‘You left my car up there in the forest? Without arranging for anybody to see to it?’
She shrugged. He’s got a point, she thought. I wouldn’t be exactly pleased in those circumstances either.
‘A Trabant,’ she said. ‘I didn’t think it was worth bothering about.’
He ignored that comment. Drummed with his fingers on the table, and stared above her shoulder. The skin over his cheeks became taut.
‘So now what?’ he said.
‘I’ll sort it out,’ she said with a sigh. ‘If it’s so damned important for you to have a car at your disposal, maybe you could hire one for the time being. I’ll pay. Unfortunately a lot of other things have happened, and I haven’t time to worry about such trivia at the moment.’
He allowed a few seconds to pass before he asked.
‘What exactly has happened?’
‘Maager has gone missing. Things were hectic, and I didn’t have an opportunity of looking for a garage just then.’
‘Gone missing? Why?’
‘I’ve no idea. He hasn’t been seen at the home since Saturday.’
‘So both the father and the daughter are missing now?’
‘So it seems.’
‘Do the police know about it?’
Moreno took a sip of juice and made to stand up.
‘If they do, they haven’t got round to doing anything about it yet,’ she said. ‘Those layabouts up at Sidonis reported it a few hours ago. Despite the fact that he’s been gone for two days. No, I really must talk to Vrommel and Vegesack about this — it’s high time for them to wake up now.’
Mikael leaned back and looked at her with a trace of a smile on his lips. She wasn’t sure how to interpret it.
It was rather easier to interpret what he said.
‘So, Inspector Moreno is back on duty now, is she?’
Moreno leaned back and thought for two seconds.
‘I’m moving out this evening,’ she said. ‘Thank you for the last few days here.’
His smile seemed to freeze, but before he had a chance to say anything she had stood up and left the table.
‘I’ll sort your car out as well,’ she said over her shoulder. ‘Hire a car and spend time on the beach until you get it back!’
Why don’t I even feel sorry for him? she thought when she had turned the corner. Is it because I’m becoming a bitch?
‘Yes, I’d heard about that,’ said Constable Vegesack, looking sombre. ‘It’s a damned nuisance that they’ve left it for so long before reporting it. Not that I know what we can do about it, but things are not made any easier when you’re two days behind even before you’ve started.’
‘The most important thing is not what we can do about it,’ said Moreno, ‘but what has happened.’
Vegesack frowned and felt for the knot of his tie which, for once, wasn’t there. He was wearing a marine blue tennis shirt and thin cotton trousers in a slightly lighter shade — absolutely right for the weather and the time of year, and Moreno wondered in passing if the return of his girlfriend had anything to do with his outfit. She hoped so — and hoped that the bags under his eyes were also connected with her presence. In the way he had indicated a few days previously.
‘Okay,’ he said. ‘What do you think’s happened, then?’
Moreno cast a glance at the half-open door before replying.
‘Where’s the chief of police?’
‘He’s on the beach,’ said Vegesack. ‘Something has happened. We’ll come to that later.’
Moreno nodded.
‘I hope you don’t mind my poking my nose into this business?’
‘Why should I do that? Everybody has a right to decide how to spend their own holidays.’
She decided not to investigate how large a dose of irony there was in that remark. Not just now, at least.
‘Either Maager has run away,’ she said, ‘or something has happened to him. What do you reckon is most likely?’
