‘Interesting.’ Kjell cocked his head. ‘I’ve checked up on this incident, and there are several things that are a bit… odd.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘First, there is no such report in the police files. And second, there were no African students enrolled in the same degree programme as you. In fact, there were no African students whatsoever at Göteborg University when you were studying there.’
Kjell watched as Holm’s Adam’s apple rose and fell.
‘You’re wrong. I remember the whole thing quite clearly.’
‘Isn’t it more likely that your views stem from the place where you grew up? I have information indicating that your father was a fervent Nazi sympathizer.’
‘I can’t comment on what my father’s views might have been.’
A quick glance at his watch showed Kjell that he had only five minutes remaining. He felt a mixture of annoyance and satisfaction. The interview hadn’t produced any concrete results, but it had been a pleasure to knock Holm off balance. And he wasn’t planning to give up. This was merely round one of the fight. He was going to keep digging until he found something that would bring John Holm down. He might need to meet with him again, so it would be better to wind up the interview now with a question that had nothing to do with politics. He smiled.
‘I understand that you were a pupil at the boarding school on Valö when that family disappeared. I wonder what really happened back then.’
Holm glared at him and then abruptly got to his feet. ‘The hour is up, and there are a lot of things demanding my attention. I assume that the two of you can find your own way out.’
Kjell’s journalistic instincts had always been good, and Holm’s unexpected reaction pushed his brain into overdrive. There was something related to this topic that Holm didn’t want him to know about. Kjell could hardly wait to get back to the editorial office and start poking around to find out what it might be.
‘Where’s Martin?’ Patrik looked at his colleagues seated around the table in the station’s kitchen.
‘He called in sick,’ said Annika, sounding evasive. ‘But I have his report on what he found out about the finances and insurance.’
Patrik glanced at her but didn’t ask any questions. If Annika didn’t want to tell them what she knew, they’d have to resort to torture to get anything out of her.
‘And I have the old investigative materials here,’ said Gösta, pointing at several thick manila folders on the table.
‘That was fast,’ said Mellberg. ‘It usually takes ages to find things in the archives.’
There was a long pause before Gösta replied. ‘I had them at home.’
‘You keep archival materials in your house? Are you out of your mind, man?’ Mellberg jumped up from his chair, and Ernst, who had been lying at his feet, sat up with his ears pricked. He barked a few times but then decided that everything seemed calm enough, and he lay back down.
‘Once in a while I review the files, and it got to be too much trouble, running to the archives every time. Besides, it’s just as well I already had the files out – otherwise we wouldn’t have them here now.’
‘How bloody stupid can you be!’ Mellberg went on, and Patrik could see that it was time to intervene.
‘Sit down, Bertil. The important thing is that we have access to the material. We can discuss any disciplinary measures later.’
Mellberg grumbled something but reluctantly complied. ‘Have the techs started work yet?’
Patrik nodded. ‘They’re breaking up the entire floor and collecting samples. Torbjörn has promised to contact us as soon as he knows anything.’
‘Can anyone tell me why we should be wasting time and resources when the statute of limitations has already expired?’ said Mellberg.
Gösta glared at him. ‘Have you forgotten that somebody tried to burn the place down?’
‘No, I haven’t. But I don’t see any reason to believe that one case is linked to the other.’ He pronounced each word with exaggerated care, as if trying to provoke Gösta.
Patrik sighed again. They were both acting like kids.
‘You’re the one who decides, Bertil, but I think it would be a mistake not to look a bit closer at what the Starks discovered yesterday.’
‘I’m aware of your opinion in the matter, but you’re not the one who has to answer to the higher-ups when they want to know why we’re squandering our meagre resources on a case that is past its expiry date.’
‘If it’s connected to the arson, as Hedström thinks, then the disappearance of the family is relevant,’ Gösta stubbornly insisted.
For a moment Mellberg sat in silence. ‘Okay, then we’ll spend a few hours on it.’ He gestured for Patrik to continue.
Patrik took a deep breath. ‘All right. Let’s start by looking at what Martin found out.’
Annika put on her reading glasses and peered at the report. ‘Martin didn’t find any discrepancies. The summer camp is not heavily insured – quite the contrary. So the Starks wouldn’t get a large sum in the event of a fire. As far as their personal finances are concerned, they have a lot of money in the bank from the sale of their house in Göteborg. I assume that the money is going to be used for the renovation and all their daily expenses until they get their bed and breakfast up and running. In addition, Ebba has a business registered in her name. It’s called My Angel. Apparently she makes angel jewellery in silver and sells the pieces online, but the income is negligible.’
‘Good. We won’t drop that aspect of the investigation entirely, but at least it seems we can rule out insurance fraud. Then we have yesterday’s discovery,’ said Patrik, turning to Gösta. ‘Could you tell us how the house looked when the police searched it after the family disappeared?’
‘Sure. You can also see for yourselves – here are the original photographs,’ said Gösta, opening one of the file folders. He took out a stack of yellowing photos and handed them around. Patrik was surprised. In spite of their age, the pictures of the crime scene were of excellent quality.
‘In the dining room there were no clues as to what happened,’ said Gösta. ‘The family had begun to eat their Easter lunch, but there was absolutely nothing to indicate any sort of struggle had taken place. Nothing was broken, and the floor was clean. Take a look if you don’t believe me.’
Patrik did as he said, studying the photos carefully. Gösta was right. It was as if the family had simply stood up in the middle of lunch and left. He shivered. There was something ghostly about the table with the half-eaten food still on the plates and the chairs neatly pushed into place around the table. The only thing missing was the people. And the discovery under the floorboards cast a whole new light on the scene. Now he understood why Erica had devoted so many hours to trying to find out what was behind the mysterious disappearance of the Elvander family.
‘If it’s blood, can we determine whether it belonged to the family?’ asked Annika.
Patrik shook his head. ‘That’s not my field of expertise, but I doubt it. I reckon the blood is too old to do that kind of analysis. About the best we can hope for is confirmation whether it’s human or not. Besides, we have nothing to compare it with.’
‘Ebba is still alive,’ said Gösta. ‘If the blood came from Rune or Inez, maybe they could work up a DNA profile and see if it matches Ebba’s.’
‘Possibly. But I think that blood breaks down very quickly, and too many years have gone by. Regardless of the results of the blood analysis, we need to find out what happened on that Easter weekend. We need to transport ourselves back in time.’ Patrik set the photographs on the table. ‘We’ll have to read through all the interviews that were done with people connected to the boarding school and then have another talk with them. The truth is out there somewhere. A whole family can’t simply disappear. And if it’s confirmed that we’re dealing with human blood, then we have to assume that a crime was committed in that room.’