The Dead of Summer (17 page)

Cautiously, he opened the car door and got out. He kept to the edge of the woods as he made his way back and then stopped behind some trees and bushes where he had a good view.

Two young men came out of the house carrying something that looked like a washing machine. A third man was waiting next to the van and helped them load it inside. Then they went back into the house and returned with a full-size stainless-steel refrigerator.
Good God
, thought Knutas.
They’re going to empty the house of all the appliances
. Nervously, he fumbled in his pocket for his mobile and punched in Jacobsson’s number. He swore when he heard her voicemail start up. He tried Wittberg. The same result. What bad luck. Was everybody unavailable just because it was Sunday? The day of the week shouldn’t matter, since the whole investigative team was still supposed to be working. He punched in the number for the criminal division. Kihlgård answered in his usual hearty manner, although it was obvious that he was eating something and his mouth was full.

‘Kihlgård.’

‘Hi, it’s me, Knutas.’

‘Hi, Knutie.’

‘I’m out at one of the job sites that Peter Bovide’s company is working on. They’ve built a luxury home on Furillen, and right now there’s a gang out here taking away all the appliances.’

‘Why are you whispering?’

‘Because I’m standing only a few yards away.’

‘OK. Are you alone?’

‘Yes, unfortunately. And I don’t have my gun with me, so I don’t dare intervene.’

‘No, don’t do that, for God’s sake. Who exactly is out there?’

‘Three young guys with earrings and tattoos. I think they might be Finns, or possibly from the Baltics.’

‘Where did you say this house is?’

‘It’s on Furillen, right across from the old factory that’s now a hotel.’

‘Furillen – what sort of place is that?’

‘An island, damn it,’ Knutas hissed. ‘I’m not planning to draw you a road map. Talk to the others, but you’ve got to get out here, and be bloody quick about it.’

‘Sure. Stay where you are, and we’ll leave right away.’

‘Do that, but use unmarked cars and no sirens. And ring me when you’re driving across the bridge to the island. You have to wait for my go-ahead before you can drive past the hotel, because they’ll be able to see you from there. The building site is right across the road.’

‘OK. We’re leaving now. Did you say how many there are? And do you think they’re armed?’

‘Shit!’

‘What is it, Knutie?’

‘Someone’s coming. I’ll ring you later.’

Knutas cut Kihlgård off. One of the men was heading straight for his hiding place. With his heart in his mouth, Knutas waited to see if he was going to be discovered. The lanky man had a shaved head, and his bare chest was covered with tattoos. A knife was sticking out of the back pocket of his shorts.

Knutas kept his eyes tensely fixed on the young man. If he moved a muscle, his hiding place would be found.

He cast a glance at the others. They were still bringing things out of the house.

The next second, Knutas realized what was about to happen. The man reached inside his trousers, and was obviously about to take a piss, only a couple of yards away. Knutas bowed his head and stared at the ground, silently praying that he wouldn’t be seen.

Then his mobile rang.

EVEN THOUGH JOHAN had felt so awful about sleeping with Madeleine Haga, he had ended up in bed with her again. On Saturday night, the whole group had gone to Munkkällaren restaurant. There he had run into several other journalist colleagues who were on the island, and the evening had ended with a little post-party gathering at Johan’s one-bedroom flat. Madeleine stayed after the others had left. When he opened his eyes the next morning, he had felt even worse than the first time, if that was possible, and all he wanted to do was get out of his flat. He suggested having breakfast at a café on Stora Torget.

They drank lattes, ate croissants and read the morning papers. The conversation was halting and revolved around innocent topics such as the lack of fresh information and how they should go about following up on the story.

‘If nothing new happens today, I’ll be forced to go back home,’ said Madeleine with a sigh. ‘And just when I’m having such a good time here on Gotland.’

She gave Johan a coy look as she rubbed his shin with her sandal.

Johan didn’t know how to respond. He smiled awkwardly and pulled out his mobile to check to see if Knutas had tried to call. Johan had rung the superintendent several times during the weekend, but without result. Normally, Knutas called him back.

As Johan looked at the incoming calls on his mobile, he was surprised to see Emma’s number. She’d rung him at 3.14 in the morning. And someone had picked up, but it wasn’t him. He glanced at Madeleine, who was intently reading the paper. He noticed that she had croissant crumbs at the corner of her mouth.

‘Did you happen to answer my mobile?’

No reply. She kept on reading as if she hadn’t heard him.

‘Hey, Maddie.’ Johan leaned forward and raised his voice. ‘Did you happen to answer a call that came in on my mobile?’

She looked up.

‘What? Oh, right. It rang early this morning while you were in the shower. I forgot to mention it. You were so hot when you came out of the bathroom that I had other things on my mind.’

A crumb fell from her lips and landed in her coffee cup without her noticing.

‘Who was it?’

‘It was Emma. I’m sorry, Johan,’ she said politely. ‘I just forgot.’

‘What did she say?’

‘She wanted to talk to you. I told her that you were in the shower, and then she hung up.’

Johan jumped to his feet.

‘Why didn’t you say anything? It could have been important – maybe Elin’s sick, or something like that.’

‘You don’t have to get so upset,’ she said sullenly. ‘I can’t help it if she hung up on me.’

Without another word, Johan left the table. He was furious. What the hell was Emma going to think? The truth, of course. That he’d been to bed with another woman. He punched in Emma’s number as he stomped off towards Adelsgatan. At the same time, he glanced at his watch. It was eleven fifteen and the sun was shining. No answer on her mobile either. She was probably at the beach with Elin. They both loved going there. Suddenly he felt on the verge of tears. How could he have been such an idiot?

He quickly made up his mind and ran the whole way to the Swedish TV building. That’s where his car was parked.

He jumped in and drove away from Visby, taking the road out to Roma.

KNUTAS PRESSED HIS body against the wall of the house, straining to make sure that his panting wouldn’t be heard.

He’d flung his mobile as far away as possible when the tattooed man had been surprised by the ring tone. It was lucky for Knutas that the guy was already in the middle of taking a leak; that gave him a head start.

The man yelled to his companions, and the three of them immediately spread out to search the woods. Knutas, who was hiding behind a tree, decided the best thing to do would be to head back towards the house. He’d managed to sound the alarm, and his colleagues were on their way. It was just a matter of keeping out of sight until they arrived.

He hesitated only a second before he emerged from the woods and ran as fast as he could across the yard. He kept close to the house as he crept further away, the whole time keeping his eyes fixed on the woods. The gravel crunched under his feet. Just a little further. His mouth was dry, and he was trying to slow down his breathing.

He caught sight of a patio door that stood ajar. Swiftly, he slipped inside the living room and then dashed up the stairs in a few bounds to reach the next floor. There he suddenly found himself standing in what looked like a studio, with a high ceiling and an enormous circular window facing the sea. All of a sudden he heard the front door open downstairs. Shit. They were back already.

He didn’t dare move. Frozen in place, he listened to at least two men moving around below. They exchanged a few words in their incomprehensible language. At any moment they might decide to come upstairs. Did the floor creak? His stomach turned over as he lifted one foot with the greatest caution. For several seconds he held it up in the air before he dared set it down again. Keeping his weight evenly distributed, Knutas soundlessly moved towards what looked like the door to a bedroom. He had noticed earlier that it had a balcony, so maybe it would be possible to climb down from there.

Doors opened and slammed below as they searched for him. He wondered how much time had passed since he’d spoken to Kihlgård on the phone. Ten minutes? Fifteen? It would take a while before the police reached the isolated island. He was on his own.

Suddenly he heard someone coming up the stairs. The door to the bedroom was open slightly; two more steps and he was inside. He could hardly believe his eyes when he saw that he had found a good place to hide and that the room also had a big wardrobe fastened to one wall, with sliding frosted-glass doors. He stepped inside and slid the door shut, hoping that no one would hear him, then waited tensely. A strong smell of paint filled his nostrils. It was stuffy inside the wardrobe, and the heat was almost unbearable. He took short, shallow breaths in order to save on oxygen.

Only a few seconds later he heard quick footsteps approaching. Someone was inside the room now; a man’s voice muttered something, and then there was the sound of the door to the balcony being opened. Footsteps tramped on the wooden deck, shouts to someone who was apparently outside the house, further away.

Thoughts of Lina and the kids flew through Knutas’s mind. A flash of fear raced through his body. Was he a hair’s breadth from death?

That was all Knutas had time to think before the door to the wardrobe slid abruptly open.

THE STREET WAS silent and deserted. It was so hot that the air shimmered. An elderly woman was slowly heading along the road, taking her dog for a walk. Otherwise nothing moved in the idyllic residential area. Johan parked his car outside the house. The garden was resplendent, but the grass was much too high. Last summer he had been the one who mowed the lawn. That was when Elin was a newborn, and he was the happiest man in the world. It felt like so long ago. Like a whole different life.

He quickly walked up the front path. The patio furniture was out, and the hammock was in place, but it didn’t look as if anyone had used it in a while. The house looked empty even though the pram stood on the porch. Perhaps she wasn’t home after all? Maybe she hadn’t taken the pram when they went to the beach.

He rang the bell and listened to it echoing inside. Waited nervously and tried to peer through the kitchen window, but he didn’t see anyone.

He rang the bell again. Now he heard the sound of shuffling footsteps. Slowly, someone turned the deadbolt inside. A fly was making its way up the door jamb. He stared at the painted sign: ‘Home of Emma, Filip, Sara and Elin.’

One name is missing
, he thought.

Finally Emma opened the door.

‘Hi,’ he said.

How small she looked, as if she’d shrunk in the wash. She made no motion to let him come in.

‘Where’s Elin?’

He glanced uneasily at the hall behind her.

‘She’s asleep.’

‘Can I come in?’

‘No.’

She folded her arms.

‘Please let me come in. I’ve driven all the way here from town just to see you.’

‘Why? What possible reason could you have for coming to see me?’

‘What’s the matter?’ he asked hesitantly.

‘“What’s the matter?”’ she repeated. ‘There’s nothing in particular going on with me – the question is, what’s going on with you? You’ve got a new girlfriend, right? So what do you and I have to do with each other any more? Nothing.’

‘Take it easy.’

He tried to step inside, but Emma blocked his way. She stared at him with a cold expression, and her voice changed into a snarl.

‘You’re not welcome to set foot in this house ever again! Do you hear me? And from now on, you can pick Elin up at the day-care centre or at some other neutral location, because you’re not welcome here. I don’t want to have anything more to do with you!’

Anger flashed through Johan’s mind. Everything that he’d had to endure descended on him all at once.

‘Damn it all,’ he snapped as he stepped forward, forcing her to retreat into the hall. ‘Calm down. Is it really so strange that I’d sleep with somebody else? You’ve pushed me away, treated me like I have the plague. And why did you do that, Emma? Why? Because a mentally ill man kidnapped our daughter? Was I the one who took her away? Did I have anything to do with what happened? No, but apparently you think I was to blame for the whole thing! And why do you think that? Oh right, it’s because I was just doing my fucking job! Do you really think, in your wildest imagination, that I would do anything that might harm Elin? Or you, for that matter?’

Looking frightened, Emma backed her way into the kitchen, unprepared for the strength of his reaction. She’d never seen Johan so angry.

‘Well, let me tell you one thing, Emma. I’m sick and tired of longing for you, tired of hoping that everything will turn out all right. I’ve had enough. For three years I’ve done everything in my power to bring us together, but what good has it done? I can’t do it any more. So just go ahead and sit here in this house feeling sorry for yourself.’

Emma couldn’t look at him any more. She sank down on to a chair and turned away. She held her hands over her ears and closed her eyes tight in order to shut him out. She intended to sit there like that until he finished what he was saying and left. The only thing she wanted was for him to disappear. For some strange reason, she felt perfectly calm inside. It was as if all her thoughts had now been confirmed. That it was over between them, it was definitely over. Once and for all. When Johan finally left, slamming the door behind him, she was still sitting in the same position.

And she stayed like that for a very long time.

THE YOUNG MAN stared at him in astonishment.

‘Who are you?’ he asked in English.