The Stone Cutter

anything to do with her murder, but we have to start somewhere, don't we?'

Martin nodded and then pointed at the papers in front of him. 'I've checked through the reports we've received about sex crimes in recent years, and there's nothing that really matches. A few reports of offences committed against children by a close family member, but we had to drop the charges because of lack of evidence. We do have one conviction in such a case. You probably recall the father who assaulted his daughter, don't you?'

Patrik nodded. There were few cases that left such a horrid taste in his mouth. 'Torbjorn Stiglund, yeah, but he's probably still in prison, isn't he?'

'Yes, I rang and checked. He hasn't even been out on any furloughs. So we can cross him off the list. As to the rest, they're mostly rapes, but against adults; and then there are a few cases of molestation, also against adults. By the way, a familiar name popped up there.' Martin pointed at the binder that Patrik had last seen on his own desk, but which now lay before his colleague. 'I hope you don't mind that I took the Florin family binder from your office.'

Patrik shook his head. 'No, of course, that's quite all right. And I presume you're alluding to Lilian's complaints against Morgan Wiberg?'

'Yes, she claims that he was sneaking about outside their house and tried to peep in on several occasions when she was changing her clothes.'

'Yeah, I read that,' Patrik said wearily. 'But I honestly don't know how to view all these reports. None of the claims seem to have any basis in reality. They're mostly accusations coming from both sides and a particularly effective way to waste police time and resources.'

'I'm inclined to agree with you. But we can't close our eyes to the fact that there's a potential Peeping Tom in the house next door. You know, sex crimes often start with just that sort of activity,' Martin said.

'I know, but it still seems pretty far-fetched. Suppose that what Lilian Florin says is true – which I strongly doubt. It is a grown woman that Morgan was trying to see naked, after all. There's nothing to suggest that he would have any sexual interest in children. Besides, we don't even know if Sara's murder began with a sexual offence. Nothing from the post-mortem indicates that. But it could be worthwhile to check out Morgan more closely. Have a talk with him, at least.'

'Do you think there's any chance I could come with you?' Martin said eagerly. 'Or are you starting to prefer Ernst?'

Patrik grimaced. 'No, that day will never come. As far as I'm concerned, you're welcome to come along. The question is what Mellberg will say about it.'

'Well, we can at least ask. I think he's been a bit calmer the past few days. Who knows, maybe he's mellowing out in his old age.'

'I doubt it,' Patrik said with a laugh. 'But I'll go find out if he'll agree to the plan. We could head over there this afternoon. I've got some paperwork to catch up on first.'

'Fine with me. Then I can finish up with this stuff too,' Martin said, pointing at the stack of reports. 'I hope to have a complete report ready by then. But as I said, don't expect too much; there doesn't seem to be anything that matches.'

Patrik nodded. 'Just do the best you can.'

Gosta had almost dozed off in front of his computer. Only the thud of his chin hitting his chest kept him awake enough that he hadn't completely floated off to dreamland. If only I could put up my feet for a while, he thought. If he could just take a little nap, he'd be ready to plunge into the work later. Like in Spain. People down there understood the value of taking a siesta. But not in Sweden, that's for sure. Here you had to plod through an eight- hour workday while keeping your enthusiasm high and your motivation to work at its peak. What a terrible country he lived in.

The shrill ring of the telephone gave him a start.

'Damn,' he said. His mood didn't improve when he recognized the phone number on the display. What did that old biddy want now? Then he reminded himself that he ought to have a bit more sympathy considering what had happened. So he vowed to be patient and then picked up the receiver.

'Gosta Flygare, Tanumshede police station.'

The voice on the other end was agitated, and he had to ask her to calm down so that he could hear what she wanted to say. It didn't seem to help, so he repeated: 'Lilian, you have to talk a little slower, I can barely understand what you're saying. Now take a deep breath and repeat what you just said.'

That finally seemed to work, and she started over from the beginning. Gosta raised his eyebrows as he listened. This was an unexpected turn of events. After reassuring her repeatedly he got her to hang up at last. He grabbed his jacket and went into Patrik's office.

'Hey, Hedstrom.' Gosta hadn't bothered to knock, but Patrik was working with his office door open, and in Gosta's opinion it was his own fault if people just walked right in.

'Yes?' Patrik asked.

'I just had a call from Lilian Florin.'

'You did?' Patrik repeated, his interest aroused.

'Something seems to be going on out there. She claims that Kaj assaulted her.'

'What the hell are you saying?' Patrik swivelled in his chair so that he was face to face with Gosta.

'Yeah, she claims that he came home a little while ago andstarted yelling and screaming, and when she tried to get him to leave, he started punching her.'

'That sounds totally crazy,' said Patrik incredulously.

Gosta shrugged. 'That's what she told me, anyway. I promised we'd come over right away.' He held up his jacket demonstratively.

'Yes, of course,' said Patrik, jumping up from his chair and grabbing his own jacket from the coat rack in the corner.

Twenty minutes later they were back at the Florins' house. Lilian opened the door as soon as they knocked and let them in. As soon as they stepped over the threshold she began wildly waving her arms about.

'Do you see what he did to me?!' She pointed at a slight flush on her cheek and then pulled up the sleeve of her blouse and showed them a red mark on her upper arm. 'If he doesn't go to jail for this, then…' She was working herself up even more, and she seemed to have a hard time talking from sheer outrage.

Patrik placed a soothing hand on her uninjured arm and said, 'We're going to take a closer look at this, I promise you. By the way, have you had a doctor examine you?'

She shook her head. 'No, do I have to? He hit me in the face and grabbed my arm hard, but I don't think there are any serious injuries,' she admitted reluctantly. 'Although maybe you need proof in the form of photographs?' Lilian's face lit up for a moment before Patrik was compelled to quash that hope.

'No, that won't be necessary now that we've had a chance to look at it ourselves. We'll go over and have a talk with Kaj. Then we'll decide how to proceed later. Is there anyone you can call to come over?'

Lilian nodded. 'Yes, I can ask my friend Eva.'

'Good. I think you ought to ring her. Then put on a pot of coffee and try to take it easy for a while. This is all going to work out, you'll see.' Patrik tried to sound reassuring, but to be honest I here was something in her histrionic behaviour that bothered him. Something didn't feel right.

'Shouldn't I file a formal complaint? Fill out some forms?' asked Lilian hopefully.

'We'll deal with that later. First of all, Patrik and I will have a little talk with Kaj.' Gosta sounded unusually authoritative, but Lilian wouldn't settle for vague promises.

'Don't tell me that you intend to drop the matter, because you're too lazy to intervene when a defenceless woman is subjected to such a horrible attack. Because I don't plan to shut up, that's