"What is the name of the firm of consultants?"
"They're called STRUFAB. I can't remember what the acronym stands for."
"Who was behind the firm?"
"It belonged to a division of the investment company Smeden, which is a listed company."
"Is there one principal owner?"
"As far as I know, both Volvo and Skanska had large shareholdings in Smeden at that time. It might be different now, though."
"We can come back to that," Wallander said. "Let's get back to the fraud. What happened?"
"We had a series of meetings in late summer and early autumn to put the finishing touches to the formation of the company. The consultants were very efficient and our lawyers gave them full marks, as did the financial supremos at the County Council. We even went so far as to propose that STRUFAB should be given a long-term contract by the council."
"Who were the individual consultants?"
"Egil Holmberg and Stefan Fjallsjo. On a few occasions a third one was there as well, but I'm afraid I've forgotten his name."
"And all of these people turned out to be swindlers?"
Oscarsson's reply surprised him.
"I don't know," he said. "The fraud was carried out in such a way that, in the end, it wasn't possible to put a finger on any one individual. Nobody was guilty. But the money had disappeared."
"That sounds pretty odd," Wallander said. "What actually happened?"
"We have to go back to the afternoon of Friday, August 14, 1992," Oscarsson said. "That's when the scam was set up, and carried out in a very short space of time. As far as we could determine with hindsight, it was all very carefully planned. We met the consultants in a conference room at the Finance Unit. We started at 1 p.m. and thought we'd be finished by 5.00. When the meeting started, Holmberg announced that he had to leave at 4.00, but that need have no effect on the meeting. At 1.55 the Finance Director's secretary came in to announce that there was an important phone call for Fjallsjo. I think it was said to be from the Ministry of Technology. Fjallsjo apologised and went out with the secretary in order to take the call in her office. She explained later that she intended to leave the room so that Fjallsjo could take the call in private and he told her that the call would last for at least ten minutes. What happened next we can't be absolutely sure, but we are clear on the outline. Fjallsjo laid the receiver on his desk - we don't know where the call came from, except that it wasn't from the Ministry of Technology. He then went from the secretary's office through the connecting door to the Finance Director's office, and authorised the transfer of four million kronor to a business account at Handelsbanken in Stockholm. It was described specifically as a consultancy fee. No counter-signature was required, so there was no problem. The authorisation referred to a contract number with the non-existent consultancy firm, which I seem to remember was called Sisyphus. Fjallsjo confirmed the transfer in writing, forging the signature of the Finance Director and using the appropriate form. Then he keyed his authorisation into the computer. He put the hard copy in the internal mail, then went back to the secretary's office, went on talking to whoever it was at the other end of the line, and hung up when the secretary returned. That was the end of the first stage of the fraud. Fjallsjo returned to the conference room. Less than a quarter of an hour had passed."
Wallander was listening intently. Because he was not making notes, he was fearful of forgetting details.
Oscarsson continued: "Just before 4.00 Holmberg made his apologies and left. We realised afterwards that he didn't leave the building, but went down to the next floor where the Chief Clerk had his office. I should perhaps mention that it was empty, because the Chief Clerk was attending our meeting. He didn't usually do so, but on this occasion the consultants had specifically asked for him to be present. In other words, the whole thing was meticulously prepared. Holmberg hacked into his computer, entered the invented contract number, and inserted an authorisation for a payment of four million kronor backdated a week. He phoned the Handelsbanken head office in Stockholm and requested payment. And then he sat back and waited calmly for the response. Ten minutes later Handelsbanken rang back to check. He took the call and confirmed the transaction. There was only one thing left to do: he called the County Council's own bank and authorised the payment, and then left the premises. Early the following Monday morning, somebody collected the money from Handelsbanken in Stockholm. The person was authorised by Sisyphus to sign on behalf of the company, and claimed to be called Rickard Eden. We have reason to believe that it was Fjallsjo who collected the money, using this alias. It was about a week before the fraud was discovered. The police were called in, and it did not take long to work out what must have happened. But there was no proof, naturally. Needless to say, Fjallsjo and Holmberg were vociferous in denying all knowledge. We severed all links with the consultancy firm, but we were unable to get any further. In the end, the Public Prosecutor wrote the whole thing off and we managed to hush it up. Everybody agreed that was what we had to do - apart from one person."
"Borman?"
Oscarsson nodded slowly. "He was most upset. We all were, of course, but Borman took it hardest. He seemed to take it personally because we weren't prepared to force the Public Prosecutor and the police to follow the case up. I suppose he took it so badly because he thought we'd failed in our duty."
"Did he take it badly enough to commit suicide?"
"I believe so."
Some progress, Wallander thought. But where does the firm of solicitors in Ystad fit in? They must be involved, in view of Borman's letters.
"Do you know what Holmberg and Fjallsjo are doing now?"
"Their consultancy firm changed its name. That's all I know. We warned county councils the length and breadth of the country about them, discreetly to be sure."
"You said that the consultancy firm was part of a bigger concern, an investment company. But you didn't know who owned it. Who was chairman of the board of Smeden?"
"From what I've read in the newspapers, Smeden has been transformed during the last year or so. It's been split up, several sectors have been sold off, and new elements have been acquired. It might not be going too far to say that Smeden has quite a poor reputation. Volvo have sold their shares. I forget who bought them. But somebody at the Stock Exchange could tell you."
"You've been a great help," Wallander said.
"You won't forget our agreement?"
"I never forget anything," Wallander said. "But tell me, did it ever occur to you that Borman might have been murdered?"
Oscarsson stared at him in evident unease.
"No," he said. "Never. Why on earth should I have thought that?"
"I was only asking," Wallander said. "Many thanks for your help. I might need to be in touch again."
Oscarsson stood on the steps, watching him leave. Wallander was now so exhausted he wanted nothing more than to lie down in the car and go to sleep, but he forced himself to think ahead. The natural thing would have been to return to Hoor, call Thomas Rundstedt out from his budget conference and ask him some quite different questions.