"So you don't have a closer relationship with Martina? That would be easy to assume, from looking at this."
"Absolutely not. Don't you understand that? I'm married and have four children. Besides, naturally I could never get mixed up with my students in that way."
Jacobsson tried a different tactic. "Could it be that Martina is in love with you?"
"I really don't think so."
"Has she given you any signs to that effect?"
"No."
"Maybe you've encouraged her in her work, and she misinterpreted what you said?"
"Of course that's possible, but not as far as I know, at any rate."
"Has anything happened between the two of you?"
"What do you mean by 'happened'?"
"Well, is there anything going on between you?"
"No. And now that's enough."
Mellgren was about to stand up, but Knutas took his arm to stop him.
"You haven't had a fight? Some sort of confrontation?"
"Let's drop this topic. I have exactly the same relationship with Martina as with all the others. No more, no less."
"Then what about someone else?" asked Jacobsson to ease the tension. "Do you know whether she's with someone else in the group?"
"I don't really keep tabs on their relationships with each other."
"You haven't noticed that she's had a fight with anyone?"
"No. Martina was as happy as always when I last saw her. I just hope that she turns up soon."
Jacobsson could see that they weren't going to get any further and changed the subject. She had become quite curious about what was going on around them.
"Could you tell us a little about this site and the excavation work?"
Mellgren sighed and leaned back in his chair, as if to collect himself after the assault on his integrity. Apparently he saw that Jacobs-son's interest was genuine, because as he began talking a new gleam appeared in his eye.
"The fields that you see all around here, which to the naked eye look like ordinary fields and meadows, conceal a Viking Age settlement extending over what we estimate to be a hundred and twenty thousand square yards. In other words, the area is huge. Excavations have been carried out here since the late eighties, and so far we've explored only a small section."
"How did you know that this would be an interesting area to excavate in the beginning?" asked Jacobsson.
"Several reasons. A farmer who was planting his crops discovered something glittering in the soil. It was a bracelet from the tenth century. In addition, the location of the church interested archaeologists." He pointed toward the lovely whitewashed Frojel Church, which stood on a hill. "It wasn't built in the middle of the parish where people live, like other churches. Instead it's on the edge of Frojel parish, near the sea. Archaeologists pondered that and came up with the idea that it was probably because there was a harbor down here that was very busy, with people coming and going, and so the church was built nearby. You can also tell from the color of the soil that people and animals have lived here. It's rich in phosphate, which manifests as a darker color in the soil. After the discovery of the bracelet in the field, we initiated some test digs, and that led to the discovery of traces of a trading site with a permanent settlement-rather like Birka on Lake Malaren on the mainland. We've found the remains of houses, several gravesites, a picture stone, coins, tools, and jewelry. Since we started excavating, we've found a total of thirty-five thousand artifacts."
Jacobsson whistled.
"From what time period?" asked Knutas.
"Mostly the Viking Age, meaning around a.d. 850 to 1050, but we've also found artifacts from the seventh century and the twelfth century, so altogether we're talking about a period of five hundred years."
"How do you know where to dig?"
"When we start an excavation, we decide on a specific area that we think is interesting. Then we divide it into various pits that are each twenty-four square yards, as you can see here."
The quadrants were marked off with string.
"Each participant is given several areas, and then we dig until we reach a depth of ten to twelve inches. That's necessary if we're going to find the artifacts at their proper location; everything above that has usually been disturbed by working the earth, by plowing, for instance. After we've dug down a ways, we slice off the earth, almost like using a cheese slicer, very carefully, half an inch at a time, so as to minimize the risk of disturbing anything. It takes a few weeks to reach the level where it starts getting interesting."
"I had no idea that you had found so much," said Jacobsson, fascinated. "Of course, we've all read and heard about the excavations, but I at least hadn't realized the extent of them until now."
"Good Lord," said Mellgren with a sigh, looking at Jacobsson with amusement. "Nowhere else in the world have there been as many Viking Age coins discovered, for instance, as here on Gotland. The island was in the middle of the trade route between Russia and the Continent, after all, and the islanders were masters at trading goods from various regions."
"What did they trade?" asked Jacobsson.
Knutas was beginning to get a tense look on his face. They weren't here to listen to a lecture on archaeology. They were here to find out facts that might help them locate Martina Flochten. He made a deliberate show of leaving the others to get a firsthand look at the area. Jacobs-son seemed completely captivated by Mellgren, hanging on every word he was saying. Knutas hadn't realized that Jacobsson was so interested in history. Yet another side of her that he knew nothing about.
He sat down on a bench that stood next to the area. Below him gaped a pit with a skeleton that lay completely exposed to the air.
It was incredible to think that he was sitting here looking down at the skeleton of a human being that hadn't seen the light of day for a thousand years. How many people had walked across this field since then? Even he felt a certain fascination with the whole thing.
So this was where Martina had sat, scraping away at the earth with the others a few days ago. Where in the name of heaven had she gone? Had she committed suicide? That seemed highly unlikely. She was so full of life, or at least that was the image she presented. Had she been the victim of an accident? She was apparently drunk. Maybe she had simply fallen into the water. So far they had only searched on land. Maybe it was that simple.
Knutas decided to bring in divers on the following day if Martina hadn't turned up.
In the car on their way back, Jacobsson was full of enthusiasm.
"Just think how fantastic that is, all the things they've found. It's unbelievable. I was allowed to hold an amber charm from the tenth century. Can you imagine that? In my next life I'm going to be an archaeologist, no doubt about it."
"At one point I thought we were going to spend all day there," muttered Knutas. "My stomach is completely empty. Don't you ever need to eat?"
"Don't be so grumpy. I thought it was incredibly interesting. We'll pick up some food along the way. What do you think about Mellgren and his relationship with Martina?"
"He seems sincere. I don't think he'd get himself mixed up with one of the participants in the course. It's not just his marriage that would be at stake, if you can use the word 'just.' He'd be risking his whole professional career."
"Maybe he's tired of his job," said Jacobsson matter-of-factly. "Maybe it's a form of self-destructive behavior, although it could also be unconscious. Maybe deep inside he wishes that the whole thing would go to hell."
"Another possibility is that he's fallen head over heels in love," suggested Knutas, who had a more romantic outlook than his colleague.
"Sure," she said, smiling, "but the one doesn't have to exclude the other."
Back at police headquarters they were stopped by Lars Norrby.