Junk-Olle straightened up and folded his arms. ‘I told Officer Henry about it.’
‘What? You mean Henry knew that these things were here?’ said Gösta. In fact, it wasn’t the first time that Henry had neglected to pass on vital information, but there was no use getting angry with someone who was no longer alive to defend himself.
Patrik examined the boxes. ‘There should be enough room in the car for them, don’t you think?’
Gösta nodded. ‘If necessary, we can fold down the back seats.’
‘All I can say is, it’s about time,’ laughed Olle. ‘It’s taken over thirty years for you to come and fetch this stuff.’
Gösta and Patrik glared at him but refrained from replying.
‘What are you going to do with all these things you’ve got here, Olle?’ Gösta couldn’t help asking. Personally, he felt almost panic-stricken at the sight of so much stuff. His small house might not be particularly modern, but he was proud of keeping it neat and clean. He was not about to turn into one of those old hoarders who wade around through a lot of rubbish.
‘You never know what might come in handy one day. If everybody was as thrifty as me, the world would be a different place. You can count on that.’
Patrik leaned down and tried to lift one of the boxes but gave up with a groan.
‘We’re going to have to carry it together, Gösta. It’s too heavy.’
Gösta gave him an alarmed look. A pulled muscle could ruin his entire golf season.
‘I’m not supposed to lift anything heavy. Because of my back.’
‘Come on, give me a hand.’
Realizing that further excuses would be pointless, Gösta reluctantly bent his knees and picked up one side of the box. Dust tickled his nose and he sneezed several times.
‘Bless you,’ said Junk-Olle, smiling broadly and revealing that three of his upper teeth were missing.
‘Thanks,’ said Gösta. Muttering complaints, he helped Patrik place the boxes in the boot of the car. At the same time he was filled with anticipation. Maybe there was something in the boxes that would give them a much-needed lead. Even better was the thought of telling Ebba that they’d found her family’s belongings. If he hurt his back, it would be worth it.
For a change he and Carina had decided to sleep in. He’d worked late the night before, and he felt he deserved a few extra hours in bed.
‘My God,’ said Carina, putting her hand on his shoulder. ‘I’m still sleepy.’
‘Me too, but who said we had to get up?’ Kjell snuggled closer, pulling her towards him.
‘Mmm… I’m too tired.’
‘I just want a hug.’
‘Oh right. And you think I’d believe that?’ she said, but she began sensually stroking his neck.
Kjell’s mobile rang shrilly from the pocket of his trousers, which were hanging at the foot of the bed.
‘Don’t answer that.’ Carina pressed closer to him.
But the mobile kept on ringing, and finally he couldn’t stand it any longer. He sat up, grabbed his trousers, and took out the phone. The display said ‘Sven Niklasson’ and he fumbled with the buttons to take the call.
‘Hello? Sven? No, not at all, I wasn’t asleep.’ Kjell glanced at the clock. It was past ten. He cleared his throat. ‘Did you find out anything?’
Sven talked for a long time, and Kjell listened with growing astonishment. His only comment was an occasional mumbled ‘uh-huh’. He could see Carina studying his face as he lay down on his side, resting his head on one arm.
‘I can meet you at Malöga,’ he finally told Sven. ‘I appreciate the fact that you’re letting me in on this. Not every colleague would be so accommodating. Have the Tanum police been informed? Göteborg? Well, that’s probably better, considering the situation. Yeah, they held a press conference yesterday, and they’ve got their hands full with that investigation. I assume you’ve heard most of the details from your reporter who was there. We’ll talk more when I pick you up. See you soon.’
Kjell was practically out of breath as he ended the call. Carina smiled at him.
‘I’m guessing something big is going on if Sven Niklasson is coming here.’
‘You won’t believe it.’ Kjell got out of bed and began to get dressed. He was no longer the least bit tired. ‘You won’t believe it,’ he repeated, although mostly to himself this time.
Quickly Erica stripped the bed in the guest room. Ebba had left. She wanted to take the research about her relatives with her, but Erica had asked if she could make copies for her instead. She should have thought of doing that before.
‘Noel! Stop hitting Anton!’ she shouted towards the living room without bothering to check who was the cause of all the ruckus. No one seemed to listen to her as the crying escalated.
‘Mamma! Maaammaaa! Noel’s hitting Anton,’ yelled Maja.
With a sigh Erica put down the bed linens. She felt an almost physical need to be allowed to finish a task without being interrupted by shrieking children demanding her attention. She needed time to herself. She needed to be allowed to be an adult. Nothing was more important in her life than the children, but sometimes it felt as if she had to sacrifice everything that she personally wanted to do. Even though Patrik had taken a few months of paternity leave, she’d been the one who was in charge, making sure that everything functioned smoothly. Patrik helped out a lot, but that was the key phrase: he helped out. And when one of the kids was sick, she was the one who had to push back her deadline or cancel an interview so that Patrik could go to work. She did her best to fight it, but she was beginning to feel bitter about the fact that her needs and work always came last.
‘Stop it, Noel!’ she said, pulling him away from his twin brother, who lay on the floor, sobbing. Noel immediately began crying too, and Erica felt guilty because she’d grabbed his arm so hard.
‘Stupid Mamma,’ said Maja, glaring at Erica.
‘Yes, your mother is stupid.’ Erica sat down on the floor and took the sobbing twins into her arms.
‘Hello?’ said a voice from the front hall.
Erica gave a start but then realized who it was. There was only one person who would come into the house without bothering to ring the bell.
‘Hi, Kristina,’ she said, getting to her feet with an effort. The twins abruptly stopped crying and ran to their grandmother.
‘Orders from the boss. I’m supposed to take over here,’ said Kristina, wiping the tears from the boys’ cheeks.
‘Take over?’
‘You have to go over to the station,’ said Kristina, looking as if this were obvious. ‘That’s all I know. I’m merely a retiree who’s expected to show up at a moment’s notice. Patrik phoned and asked me to come over here right away. It was lucky he found me at home. I might have had something important to do, who knows, or I might even have had a date or whatever it’s called these days, and I told Patrik that I’d do it this time, but otherwise I expect to be given more advance warning. I actually do have a life of my own, although you may think I’m too old for that.’ She stopped to catch her breath and glared at Erica. ‘What are you waiting for? Patrik said you needed to go over to the station.’
Erica still didn’t understand what was going on, but she decided not to ask any more questions. No matter what this was about, it would at least give her a brief respite, and that was exactly what she needed right now.
‘As I said to Patrik, I can only stay for the day because tonight Sommarkrysset is on, and I wouldn’t miss that show for the world. And before then I need to do the laundry and grocery shopping, so I can’t stay past five o’clock, because otherwise I won’t have time to get everything done, and I need to do a few things around the house too. I can’t constantly be at your beck-and-call, although Lord knows there’s plenty to do here.’
Erica slammed the door behind her and smiled. Freedom.