Unperturbed, Holm told Mellberg, ‘That’s an issue our opponents have chosen to misinterpret completely. I could give you a detailed explanation, but I assume that’s not why you’re here.’
‘No, as I said, we’re here to talk about the events that occurred on Valö in 1974. Right, Bertil?’ Patrik quickly jumped in. He fixed his eyes on Mellberg, who paused for a few seconds before nodding reluctantly.
‘I’ve heard rumours that something happened out there,’ said Holm. ‘Have you found the family?’
‘Not exactly,’ said Patrik evasively. ‘But someone tried to burn down the house. And if they’d succeeded, then the daughter and her husband might have been burned alive.’
Holm sat up straighter in his chair.
‘The daughter?’
‘Yes, Ebba Elvander,’ said Patrik. ‘Or Ebba Stark, as she is called now. She and her husband have taken over the place and are in the process of renovating it.’
‘I’m sure it needs it. From what I’ve heard, it’s practically derelict.’ Holm turned to gaze towards Valö, which was right across the gleaming water from where they were sitting.
‘But you haven’t been out there in a long time?’
‘Not since the boarding school was closed down.’
‘Why not?’
Holm threw out his hands. ‘There simply wasn’t any reason for me to go out there.’
‘What’s your view of what happened to the family?’
‘I suppose my guess is as good as anyone’s, but I really have no idea.’
‘But you do have a little more insight than most people,’ Patrik persisted. ‘You lived with the family, and you were there when they disappeared.’
‘That’s not strictly true. Some of the other pupils and I were out fishing. We were shocked when we came ashore and found two police officers there. Leon was furious. He thought that strangers were abducting Ebba.’
‘So you don’t have any theories? You must have thought about it over the years.’ Mellberg sounded sceptical.
John Holm paid no attention to him. Instead he turned to Patrik and said, ‘Just to clarify: we didn’t actually live with the family. We went to school there, but there were strict boundaries between the pupils and the Elvander family. For instance, we were not invited to their Easter lunch. Rune was very careful to keep us at a distance, and he ran that school like a military operation. That was why our parents loved him as much as we hated him.’
‘Did the students stick together, or were there conflicts among you?’
‘There were plenty of arguments. It would have been strange if there weren’t, in a school full of teenage boys. But nothing serious.’
‘What about the teachers? What did they think of the headmaster?’
‘Those wimps were so scared of him that they probably didn’t dare have an opinion. At least we never heard them say anything about him.’
‘Rune’s children were roughly the same age as you back then. Did you spend any time with them?’
Holm shook his head. ‘Rune wouldn’t have stood for that. Although we did see quite a lot of his oldest son because he was a kind of assistant at the school. A real shithead.’
‘It sounds as if you had rather strong feelings about some of the family members.’
‘I detested them. All the boys at the school did. But not enough to kill them, if that’s what you’re thinking. It’s part of being a teenager to rebel against authority.’
‘What about the other Elvander children?’
‘They mostly kept to themselves, else they’d have been in trouble. Same for Inez. She was in charge of all the cleaning, laundry, and cooking. Rune’s daughter, Annelie, also helped out a lot. But as I said, we weren’t allowed to interact with them, and there may have been a reason for that. Lots of the boys were real jerks, pampered and spoiled all their lives. I assume that’s why they ended up at that school. Their parents finally realized that they’d raised lazy, useless individuals, so they tried to rectify the situation by sending their sons to Rune.’
‘Your own parents weren’t exactly destitute.’
‘They had money,’ said Holm, with emphasis on the word ‘had’. Then he fell silent to show that he had no intention of discussing this subject. Patrik let it go, but he made a note to follow up with a check on Holm’s family background.
‘How is she?’ Holm asked suddenly.
It took a second for Patrik to understand who he meant. ‘Ebba? She seems fine. As I said, she’s fixing up the house.’
Again Holm gazed out at Valö. Patrik wished he could read the man’s thoughts.
‘Well, thank you for your time,’ Patrik said, standing up. Clearly Holm had told them all he was going to for the time being, but that had been enough to make Patrik more curious than ever about what had gone on at the boarding school.
‘Yes, thanks. I realize that you’re a very busy man,’ said Mellberg. ‘And by the way, I wanted to say hello on behalf of the woman I live with. She’s from Chile. Emigrated here in the seventies.’
Patrik tugged at Mellberg’s arm to get him to leave. With a strained smile, Holm closed the gate after them.
Gösta was planning to slip unnoticed into the station, but he didn’t get far.
‘Did you oversleep? That’s not like you,’ said Annika.
‘The alarm didn’t go off,’ he said, not daring to meet her eye. Annika could see right through lies, and he wasn’t comfortable keeping secrets from her. ‘Where is everybody?’
Not a sound could be heard from the corridor, and Annika seemed to be all alone at the station. Only Ernst emerged from the hall when he heard Gösta’s voice.
‘Patrik and Mellberg went out to have a talk with John Holm, so Ernst and I are holding down the fort. Aren’t we, old fellow?’ she said, scratching the big dog behind the ear. ‘Patrik was wondering where you were. So you’d better practise that story about the alarm clock a little more before he gets back.’
She gave him a long look. ‘Maybe if you tell me what you’ve been up to, I can help so you won’t get caught.’
‘I haven’t a clue what you’re talking about,’ said Gösta, but he knew he was defeated. ‘Well, okay, but first I need a cup of coffee.’
He headed for the kitchen, and Annika followed.
‘All right, tell me,’ said Annika once they were both sitting down.
Reluctantly Gösta told her about his agreement with Erica. Annika laughed.
‘You’ve certainly got yourself into a mess this time. You know what Erica’s like – give her an inch and she’ll take a mile! Patrik is going to be furious when he finds out.’
‘I know,’ said Gösta, squirming. He knew she was right, but at the same time, this was important to him. And he was smart enough to understand why. It was for her sake that he was doing it – the girl that he and Maj-Britt had failed.
Annika had stopped laughing and was studying him with a serious expression.
‘This means a lot to you, doesn’t it?’
‘Yes, it does. And Erica can help. She has a mind like a steel trap. I know that Patrik won’t approve of me getting her mixed up in the case, but it’s her job to dig out facts from the past, and that’s exactly the skill that we need right now.’
Annika didn’t say anything for a moment. Then she took a deep breath.
‘Okay. I won’t tell Patrik. On one condition.’
‘What’s that?’
‘You keep me informed about what the two of you come up with, and I get to help where I can. I’m not bad at digging for facts myself.’
Gösta looked at her in surprise. This was not at all what he’d expected.
‘Agreed. But as you said, there’ll be hell to pay if Patrik finds out.’
‘We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. So how far have you got? What can I do?’
Relieved, Gösta told her about his conversation with Erica that morning.
‘We need contact details for all of the pupils and teachers at the school. I’ve got an old list, but by now a lot of it is out of date. We can use it as a starting point though. And some of the individuals had unusual surnames, so it’s possible somebody at their old address will know where to find them.’