Peder was pleased to be the one taking the lead in the interview with the potential key witness. There had been a few shaky moments back there when he thought this witness was going to be given to Fredrika as well, but Alex had come to his senses, thank goodness, and entrusted the task to Peder.
Ingrid Strand was looking straight at him. So was his colleague Jonas. Peder stared back at them both.
He cleared his throat.
‘Sorry, where were we?’ he said, and looked up.
‘I don’t think we were anywhere,’ said the elderly lady sitting opposite him.
Peder smiled his lopsided smile, the one that generally made even the toughest old ladies melt. Ingrid Strand thawed a fraction.
‘I’m sorry,’ he said. ‘We’ve had an incredibly stressful day.’
Ingrid Strand nodded and smiled to show she accepted his apology. They could continue the conversation.
He took a furtive, appraising glance at Ingrid Strand. She looked nice. Like a safe, well-adjusted granny. Almost reminded him of his own mother. He immediately felt the pressure in his chest. He still hadn’t rung Ylva back. That permanently nagging, guilty conscience.
‘So you were sitting beside Sara and Lilian Sebastiansson on the train, across the aisle?’ he asked, because he had to start somewhere.
Ingrid nodded obligingly and sat up straighter.
‘Yes,’ she replied, ‘and I would very much like to explain why I haven’t been in touch sooner.’
Peder leant forward attentively.
‘We’d be very interested to know where you’ve been,’ he smiled.
Ingrid smiled back, but then the smile faded.
‘The thing is,’ she said quietly, lowering her eyes. ‘I’ve been with my mother; she’s very poorly. Well she’s quite old now, of course, no spring chicken. But she was taken ill without any warning, a few days ago, and that was why I had to come to Stockholm.’
Peder had worked out from her dialect that she couldn’t be from Stockholm.
‘We’ve lived in Gothenburg for nearly forty years, my husband and I, but my parents stayed here. Dad died last year and now Mum’s time seems to have come. My brother is with her at the moment. He says he’ll ring if there’s any change.’
Peder slowly nodded.
‘We’re terribly grateful to you for making the time to come in,’ he said patiently.
Jonas nodded in agreement and jotted something on his pad.
‘Oh, of course I wanted to come, once I heard what had happened. Yesterday, you see, I was with my mother virtually the whole time. I was scarcely out of her room, and I slept in the chair beside the bed. We thought it might all happen more quickly, you know, it felt that way. But then my brother came, as I said, and I went to sit in the room for the relatives, and the television was on. And then… well, then I heard the girl had gone missing and realized I ought to get in touch straight away. I was sitting right by her and her mother. I rang as soon as I could.’
A slight shiver ran through Ingrid’s body before she went on.
‘Maybe I should have realized something was wrong,’ she sighed. ‘I mean, I was talking to the little girl and her charming mother on the journey, after all. The girl fell asleep quite quickly, but I talked to her mother for longer. And I was certainly aware of her not coming back to her seat after we left Flemingsberg. But the conductor, the older one, came and stood with the child. I didn’t want to interfere; I thought he seemed so solid and “on top of things” as they say these days. And like I told you – I had other things on my mind.’
To make things easier for Ingrid Strand, Peder gave a nod of recognition.
‘Of course that’s how it is sometimes,’ he said gently. ‘Of course we all have other things on our mind.’
When Ingrid met his gaze, there were tears in her eyes.
‘It never occurred to me that she could come to any harm,’ she whispered. ‘The train stopped in Stockholm in the normal way, and we all got up to collect our things and get off. And the conductor, he never came back. I wondered if I ought to do something, but for some reason I felt they must have made arrangements for the little girl.’
Ingrid sighed and a tear rolled down her cheek.
‘I was just leaving the carriage when I saw she’d woken up. She looked round, still a bit dozy. She sat up in her seat and looked all round. And then he just came out of nowhere. All of a sudden I couldn’t see the girl any more, just his back view.’
Peder stared at her.
‘A man came up to her?’ said Jonas, who hadn’t spoken until now.
Ingrid Strand nodded and wiped her eyes.
‘Yes, he did. And he seemed so sure of what he was doing that I thought… I just assumed everything was all right. Because when I got out onto the platform, I saw her again.’
Peder sat motionless. His mouth felt dry.
‘The man was holding her in his arms,’ whispered Ingrid. ‘I saw them just outside the other door of the carriage, just as I got out myself. He was holding the girl, and she looked all relaxed. I thought that was good; it must be someone she knew who’d come to pick her up.’
Ingrid blinked a few times.
‘I only saw him from behind. He was tall. Tall and dark. Short hair, and he had a green shirt on, like the one my son-in-law wears when we’re at the cottage. And he was rubbing her back, like a parent would. I saw his hand; he had a big gold ring, a signet ring.’
Peder noted it all down. Was the man tall enough for them to assume he might take size 46 shoes?
‘I saw him whisper something in her ear,’ Ingrid Strand went on, her voice less shaky now, ‘ I saw him talking to her. And she was listening, even though she was hanging there so floppily in his arms.’
It all went quiet, totally quiet. Peder took slow breaths, in and out. Jonas shifted a little, and looked at him. If Ingrid had anything else to tell them, it would be best for neither of them to speak.
Her shoulders slumped and her face had a dejected look.
‘I really didn’t think there was anything wrong when I saw them,’ she said under her breath, and more tears came into her eyes. ‘It was so obvious the girl knew him. I thought he must be her father, in fact.’
Pia Nordh was waiting in Peder’s office when he got back. Peder stopped in the doorway and just stared at her. She had a faint smile on her lips, and Peder could feel his stomach somersault as she moved her head and her pale blonde hair crept towards her heart-shaped face.
‘Hi,’ she said.
‘Hi,’ answered Peder, coming into the room.
He looked around him in confusion. Shit.
‘I saw I had a missed call from you,’ said Pia, and smiled. ‘I must have picked up just as you ended the call.’
Yes, that was the plan.
Peder was too disconcerted to do anything; he just stood in the middle of the floor facing Pia. Hell, what now?
‘But maybe you’re busy right now?’ Pia ventured softly.
Way too softly.
Peder shook his head fiercely. He took several quick steps past Pia and sat down at a safe distance behind his desk.
He straightened his back. He cleared his throat. Control, Peder, control.
‘Yes, actually,’ he said in a rather too authoritative tone. ‘I’m working on an important case at the moment. Haven’t really got time to… you know, chat. No time for a coffee break just now, if I can put it that way.’
Peder knew he was laying it on thick. In the police, there was always an excuse for a coffee. Saying you had no time for a coffee break was tantamount to signalling you were faced with a very serious situation. Like the king getting shot, or Parliament being blown up by terrorists. But crimes like that would be dealt with by the security services, of course.
The security services. Just imagine getting a job there. Every policeman’s wet dream.