‘Hi, this is Patrik Hedstrom. I actually wanted to talk to Sanna. Okay, I understand. But could you go and ask her a question for me? It’s important. Ask her if the blue dress she found was her size. Yes, I know it’s an odd question. But it would be a big help if you could ask her. Thanks.’
Patrik waited, and after about a minute Sanna’s sister, Agneta, was back on the line.
‘Oh, really? Okay. Good. Thanks a lot. And say hi to Sanna.’ Patrik ended the conversation with a pensive look on his face.
‘The blue dress was Sanna’s size.’
‘And?’ said Martin. He seemed to be speaking for everyone.
‘That’s a little odd, considering that Christian’s mother weighed more than three hundred pounds. So the dress must have belonged to someone else. Christian lied to Sanna when he told her it was his mother’s.’
‘Could it have belonged to Alice?’ said Paula.
‘That’s possible. But I don’t think so. There must have been another woman in Christian’s life.’
Erica glanced at the clock. It was turning out to be a long workday for Patrik. She hadn’t heard from him since he’d left the house that morning, but she hadn’t wanted to bother him by phoning. Christian’s death must have caused utter chaos at the station. Patrik would come home when he could.
She hoped that he wasn’t still mad at her. He’d never been truly angry with her before, and the last thing she wanted was to disappoint or upset him.
Erica ran her hand over her stomach. It seemed to be growing uncontrollably, and sometimes she felt such a dread of what was to come that she could hardly breathe. At the same time she was longing for it. Such ambiguous emotions: joy and concern; panic and anticipation. Everything blissfully mixed up together.
Anna must be feeling the same way. Erica felt guilty that she hadn’t been very receptive to listening to her sister talk about her own pregnancy. She had been so caught up in her personal situation. Yet after everything that had happened with Lucas – Anna’s former husband and the father of her two children – plenty of emotions had probably been stirred up now that she was pregnant. And with a new man in her life. Erica was ashamed by how selfish she’d been, talking only about her own feelings and worries. She would phone Anna tomorrow morning and suggest having coffee together, or maybe taking a walk. Then they’d have time for a proper chat.
Maja came over and crawled on to her lap. She looked tired even though it was only six o’clock, which was two hours before her bedtime.
‘Pappa?’ said Maja, pressing her cheek against Erica’s stomach.
‘Pappa will be home soon,’ said Erica. ‘But you and I are both hungry, so I think we should make ourselves some dinner. What do you say to that, sweetie? Shall we have a girls’ dinner tonight?’
Maja nodded.
‘How about Falu sausage and macaroni? With lots of ketchup.’
Maja nodded again. Her mamma knew just what to serve for a girls’ dinner.
‘So how should we do this?’ said Patrik, pulling up a chair to sit next to Annika.
It was pitch-dark outside, and everybody should have left for home long ago, but no one was even thinking of leaving the station. Except for Mellberg, that is, who had gone out the door about fifteen minutes earlier, whistling to himself.
‘Let’s start with the public records, even though I doubt we’ll find anything. I went through them before, when I was checking on his background, and I really can’t believe that I missed anything.’ Annika sounded apologetic, and Patrik patted her on the shoulder.
‘I know that you’re a perfectionist when it comes to doing research, but oversights can happen to anyone. If we look through the files together, maybe we’ll see something that you missed the first time. I think that Christian must have lived with a woman when he was in Goteborg – or at least had a relationship with someone. Maybe we can find something that will help us find out who that might have been.’
‘Let’s hope so,’ said Annika, turning the computer screen so that Patrik could see it too. ‘But as I said, he had no previous marriages.’
‘What about children?’
Annika typed something on the keyboard and then pointed at the screen.
‘No, he’s not listed as the father of any children other than Melker and Nils.’
‘Shit,’ said Patrik, running his hand through his hair. ‘Maybe it’s a stupid theory. I don’t know why I have such a strong feeling that we’ve missed something. The answer has to be somewhere in these files.’
He got up and went into his own office. He sat there for a long time, staring at the wall. The ringing of his phone abruptly interrupted his brooding.
‘Patrik Hedstrom.’ He could hear how discouraged his voice sounded. But when the man on the phone introduced himself and then explained why he was calling, Patrik sat up straighter in his chair. Twenty minutes later he rushed into Annika’s office.
‘Maria Sjostrom!’
‘Maria Sjostrom?’
‘Christian was living with a woman in Goteborg. Her name is Maria Sjostrom.’
‘How did you…?’ said Annika, but Patrik went on without answering her question.
‘There’s also a child. Emil Sjostrom. Or rather, there was a child.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘They’re dead. Both Maria and Emil are dead. And there’s an unsolved homicide investigation.’
‘What’s going on?’ Martin came rushing in after hearing Patrik shouting in Annika’s office. Even Gosta moved faster than usual to appear in the doorway, crowding inside with the others.
‘I’ve just talked to a man named Sture Bogh. He’s a retired police detective in Goteborg.’ Patrik paused for effect before he continued. ‘He read in the paper about Christian and the threats he’d received, and he recognized the name from one of his investigations. He thought he might have information that could prove useful to us.’
Patrik told his colleagues about his conversation with the former detective. In spite of all the years that had passed, Sture Bogh had never been able to forget those tragic deaths, and he gave Patrik a precise summary of the important facts in the case.
Everyone was left gaping when they heard Patrik recount what the detective had told him.
‘Can we get hold of the case documents?’ asked Martin eagerly.
‘It’s a little late for that now. I think it would be difficult,’ said Patrik.
‘No harm in trying,’ said Annika. ‘I have the number for the Goteborg police right here.’
Patrik sighed. ‘My wife is going to think that I ran off to Rio with some buxom blonde if I don’t get home soon.’
‘Phone Erica first, and then we’ll try to get hold of someone in Goteborg.’
Patrik gave in. None of them looked as though they wanted to leave, and he didn’t want to either – not until they’d done as much as they could.
‘Okay, but the rest of you need to go do something else while I make the calls. I don’t want you leaning over my shoulder.’
He went into his own office, closed the door, and phoned home first. Erica was very understanding. She and Maja had already eaten dinner together. Suddenly Patrik had such a longing to be home with his two girls that he almost felt on the verge of tears. He couldn’t ever remember feeling so tired. But he took a deep breath and tapped in the number Annika had given him.
At first Patrik didn’t notice that someone had answered. ‘Hello?’ said a voice on the line, and he jumped, realizing that he was supposed to say something. He introduced himself and explained what he needed. To Patrik’s surprise, his colleague in Goteborg was remarkably friendly and accommodating, offering to try to locate the investigative materials.
Patrik hung up, crossing his fingers. After waiting only about fifteen minutes, the phone rang.
‘Really? You did?’ Patrik could hardly believe his ears when his colleague said that they’d located the file. Patrik thanked him profusely, asking him to put the file aside. He’d make arrangements to collect the materials the next day. In the worst-case scenario, he’d drive to Goteborg himself, or maybe he could get the station to pay for a courier delivery.
Patrik remained sitting at his desk after putting down the phone. He knew that the others were in their offices,
