Still Waters (Sandhamn Murders Book 1) (20 page)

T
UESDAY, THE FOURTH WEEK

C
HAPTER
46

There was a thick mist lying in the Sandhamn Gap. Between Telegrafholmen in the north and Sandön in the south lay a sound that formed the natural passage into Sandhamn from the mainland. The sound was extremely deep, but barely sixty yards across at its narrowest point. It was only just wide enough for the ships that passed during the day.

The fog had rolled in overnight, transforming the beautiful evening sky of the previous day to a billowing mass of cloud. When Nora woke she could hear the faint sound of the foghorn at Revengegrundet lighthouse in the distance, a sure sign of poor visibility. Its mournful echo gave sailors a fixed point by which to navigate. Each lighthouse used the first letter of its name in Morse code as its signal.
A
for Almagrundet,
R
for Revengegrundet, and so on, helping those at sea to find their way if they had gone astray in the fog.

Ever since Nora had gotten lost many years ago in an evening mist just off Sandhamn, she had held a deep respect for the weather. She had been heading over to Skanskobb, a little island opposite the Trouville jetty that was the finish line for some of the sailing races. It was only about one nautical mile from the Yacht Club marina, if that. She was supposed to be helping out for a few hours in the Round Gotland Race, a major annual event.

In spite of the fact that she knew the waters around Sandhamn like the back of her hand and had sailed out to Skanskobb countless times in the past, she missed the island completely and suddenly saw a lighthouse looming ahead of her. She had passed Skanskobb and was about to crash into Svängen, the caisson lighthouse to the south of Korsö. If she hadn’t ended up there, she could well have carried on out into the Baltic. After that she had never underestimated the difficulty of navigating in fog.

Nora looked at the digital clock. The red numbers told her it was six fifteen. Too early to get up, too late to go back to sleep. She had slept poorly over the past few nights. The atmosphere at home was still tense, though not quite as bad as it had been.

After a great deal of thought, she had decided to go to the meeting at the recruitment agency the following day. She had concluded that there was no point in discussing the matter with Henrik again; it would be better to have the meeting before she brought it up once more.

She slid out of bed and pulled on a pair of jeans and a top, along with a pair of old sailing boots she’d had since she was a teenager. The rubber had begun to crack up the sides, but they were easy to slip into. Then she put on an old sailing jacket that someone had once left behind and grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl.

The air was fresh, and a fine damp mist immediately covered her face. The silence was absolute, every sound deadened by the thick fog. She couldn’t even hear the cry of a single gull. When she looked out over the sea, she couldn’t see a thing.

The familiar contours of the islands off Sandhamn had been swallowed up by the gray dampness. Beyond the edge of the jetty the world became nothing but mist, a ghostly horizon with neither a beginning nor an end. Nora pulled up her hood and pushed her hands deep into her pockets, then strode off across the sand and into the forest.

The soft moss and heather combined to form a springy mat that gave as she walked. Only her footprints in the drifts of pine needles covering the path bore witness to her progress. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

There wasn’t a soul in sight.

Total peace and quiet.

After a long walk through the forest she emerged on the northwestern side of the island. There were only a few isolated houses, set in large tracts of land covered in pine trees and blueberry bushes. This was in sharp contrast to the tiny plots in the village, where most of the space was given over to flower beds.

The wind soughed gently in the tops of the tall pines. The fog seemed to have lifted slightly; visibility was better, and she could just see the water’s edge.

Nora turned to the right and followed the narrow forest track leading back to the village. As she passed the little churchyard surrounded by a simple white fence, she impulsively opened the gate and stepped inside. She stood there contemplating this tranquil place.

Sandhamn’s churchyard had been established during the great cholera epidemic in the 1830s. Many of the graves were beautiful and elaborate, made of marble and granite. Some were overgrown with lichen, the inscriptions eroded to the point where it was almost impossible to read them. The gravestones could provide a great deal of information about the population in years gone by and about how people had made a living in those days. Every stone carried the name and occupation of the person who was buried there. Many master pilots and customs officers had been laid to rest here, often beside a faithful wife, whose name was always below that of her husband.

Nora recognized many of the surnames; they were families who still owned property on the island, houses that had been passed down from one generation to the next. They were often made up of sections of older houses that had been transported to Sandhamn from other islands.

There was an air of peace about this place, which lay just behind the beach at Fläskberget. The graves were surrounded by sand, its surface covered in needles and cones. Here and there the ground was crisscrossed by the gnarled roots of the pine trees, which gave the impression of an irregular pattern laid out at random, like a skewed chessboard.

A beautiful laburnum tree had been planted next to the modest grave belonging to Avén, the former lighthouse keeper who had been responsible for the lighthouse on Korsö for the latter part of the nineteenth century. People said he was a real gardener, who created an unparalleled display of flowers during his time on the island, with rose bushes and flower beds wherever you looked.

Nora wandered slowly among the graves. She had always loved the atmosphere in this churchyard and the feeling of stillness that came over her whenever she visited.

Up in the left-hand corner there was a memorial grove to commemorate those who had not been laid to rest in a grave of their own. A heavy black chain fenced off the area, and beside the great anchor in the sand there were fresh flowers and candles. For a moment she wondered who had put them there; perhaps it was some kind soul thinking of poor Kicki Berggren, who had recently lost her life on Sandhamn, or a resident wishing to honor the memory of a relative lost long ago.

Nora stopped at the Brand family grave, the resting place of every member of Signe’s family who had passed away since the churchyard was established. The last name on the large gravestone was Helge Brand, Signe’s brother, who had died of cancer at the beginning of the nineties.

Nora didn’t have very clear memories of Helge. He had left the family and spent many years abroad and at sea. By the time he returned home to Sandhamn, he was already marked by the illness that would take his life. Signe cared for him in their childhood home until the end. She had refused to let him go to the hospital, insisting that she could care for him better than strangers.

Nora bowed her head as a mark of respect and slowly walked away, lost in thought.

People’s lives could turn out so differently. One minute out on the seven seas, the next marked by death. Helge Brand had returned to Sandhamn as his life neared its end, while Kicki Berggren had been on the island for such a short time when she died. And Krister Berggren was already dead when he reached the island. None of them could have foreseen what a short time they had left to live.

Would they have done anything different if they had known what was coming?
Nora wondered.
Would they have appreciated life more if they had sensed how quickly their time was running out?

In a moment of ice-cold clarity Nora realized she wasn’t prepared to compromise simply to appease Henrik. The injustice of the way in which her own wishes had been casually waved aside caused her physical pain. The anger at not being taken seriously felt like a solid lump in her chest. Never before had Henrik spelled out so clearly what really mattered.

She was so preoccupied that she stumbled over a tree root sticking out of the sand and almost lost her balance. The fog had come down once more, and she could taste the fine drops of rain on her tongue. She decided the boys could miss their swimming lessons today. In this weather they might as well sleep in.

C
HAPTER
47

Margit and Thomas walked out into the police station parking lot to drive to Stavsnäs, where they would catch the morning boat to Sandhamn. Even though it was only nine thirty, the blazing sun had transformed the interior of the Volvo into something resembling a Finnish sauna. A wave of heat struck them as they opened the doors.

Thomas started the engine, and as he put the car into reverse, he turned to Margit. “Do you remember what work those two property owners on Sandhamn did? I meant to look, but something came up.”

“I can’t remember. I should have checked.”

Thomas pulled out onto the highway heading for Stavsnäs. As they were approaching Strömma, his cell phone rang, and Thomas switched to speakerphone. The sound of Kalle’s voice filled the car. He had new information about the rat poison that had killed Kicki.

“I finally reached somebody at Anticimex, the pest-control firm. Nobody at the hospital in Huddinge was willing to say anything definite, even though I’ve spoken to several different people. They all referred me to some guy who’s a clinical pharmacologist, but of course he’s on vacation abroad and isn’t answering his phone.”

“So what did Anticimex say?” Margit broke in.

“He was very dubious about the idea that someone could die from warfarin. He said anyone who consumes rat poison must either be blind or unusually ready to die. Rat poison consists of quite large granules, usually colored green or blue to show they’re dangerous.”

Margit leaned forward to speak into the phone, which was in a dock below the windshield. “What else did he say?”

“The amount you would need to consume to produce a fatal effect is more or less the equivalent of an entire meal. You have to ingest a significant amount for it to be dangerous.”

“It doesn’t seem credible that a person could consume that much without noticing anything,” Thomas said.

“Exactly,” Kalle said. “And another thing: it usually takes a couple of days to work, according to Anticimex. The idea is that the rats leave the house, so they don’t die down in the basement. Nobody wants to find rotting rat corpses in their house.”

Margit gave Thomas a look as she digested the information. “I presume we can rule out the possibility that Kicki tried to take her own life by eating rat poison,” she said. “If someone wants to commit suicide, there are plenty of ways that are quicker and simpler; a handful of sleeping tablets and a bottle of whisky usually does the job in no time.” She let out a cynical little laugh; it was a typical coping mechanism among police officers, to deal with unpleasant matters by using dark humor.

Thomas quickly changed the subject. “Kalle, can you check the professions of those two homeowners on Sandhamn? I was in a rush and forgot.”

“Hang on.” There was the sound of rustling paper as Kalle went through his notes. “Pieter Graaf is an IT consultant, and Philip Fahlén has his own company supplying equipment for catering facilities.”

Margit whistled. “Catering facilities—that means restaurants. I’m just wondering if Philip Fahlén supplies more than kitchen equipment to his clients.” She glanced at her watch. “It’s high time we had a chat with those two gentlemen.”

They arrived on Sandhamn after nearly an hour. Sometimes the ferries sailed directly from Stavsnäs to Sandhamn, which took no more than thirty-five minutes, but sometimes it seemed as if they were intent on calling at every single jetty in the southern archipelago. This time they had dropped off passengers on Styrsvik, Mjölkkilen, and Gatan before they reached their destination, but now the harbor opened out in front of them.

Thomas and Margit waited patiently in the line of families and day-trippers. They handed over their tickets and finally disembarked.

People were waiting on the pier to meet the new arrivals. Children and teenagers leaned on their bicycles as they ate Popsicles. Over by the kiosk, several people were going through the newspaper. In his peripheral vision Thomas could see that some of the headlines still featured the murders. And yet the harbor looked more or less the same as usual.

Except that it was quieter. With fewer boats.

Once ashore, they quickly set off for the western side of the island, where both Graaf and Fahlén lived. As soon as Thomas had looked at the map showing all the properties on Sandhamn, he knew exactly which houses they were.

They took the lane to the south of Strindbergsgården; it led into the heart of the village and through the old quarter. On the way they passed a little house painted Falu red, which reminded Thomas of a gingerbread house. Everything was extremely well maintained but in miniature. The garden extended no more than two yards around the property. The flag was flying, and the whole of the south-facing wall was covered in trellises weighed down with heavy bunches of luscious blackberries, in spite of the fact that it was only July. Pretty pots packed with plants were arranged by the fence; a tiny wooden deck area had been squeezed into one corner, and there was just room for a table and two chairs next to a compact woodshed with gray lichen on the roof.

It looked like an advertisement for summer in Sweden.

They cut across Adolf Square, the place where the traditional midsummer celebrations were held. The maypole was still standing, although it was somewhat yellow in comparison to what it must have looked like a few weeks earlier. One of the houses in the square had a climbing rose covering the entire wall; it looked like a pink firework spreading in all directions. There didn’t seem to be a single house where the beds weren’t full to bursting with glorious blooms.

Thomas wondered whether Sandhamn enjoyed some kind of microclimate that was particularly good for perennials. Either that, or all the people on the island must spend all their time tending their gardens. Watering alone must take forever.

He turned to Margit. “Have you been to Sandhamn before?”

“Yes, but it was a long time ago. My daughters have been over here a few times with their friends; it seems to be a popular place with teenagers. Bertil and I haven’t been here for ages. Not since one summer twenty years ago, when the whole place was packed with wasted teenagers. It was indescribable. Drunken adolescents staggering around and not an adult in sight.”

“I know what you mean,” Thomas said. “When I was with the maritime police I picked up one or two who needed a lift home. But I think the situation has improved in recent years. These days most places are closed on Midsummer’s Eve, and there aren’t as many places to camp either.”

“That must have had an effect.”

“You can’t imagine. One year when the weather was really bad, a group of kids actually broke into the police station so they’d be taken into custody. A kind of reverse outreach activity, if you like.” Thomas laughed at the memory.

They continued quickly toward Västerudd. On the way, Thomas took a small diversion to point out Nora’s house and to explain that his godson’s family lived there.

“What a beautiful gate,” Margit said. “I haven’t seen that sun pattern before.”

“I think Nora’s grandfather made it. She inherited the house from her grandparents about ten years ago, and that gate has been there for as long as I can remember.”

“It’s exactly right.” Margit nodded. “It’s good when people preserve a craftsman’s work like that.”

“Perhaps we could stop by and say hello when we’re finished,” Thomas said. “It would be nice to see Simon if we have time.”

Margit nodded.