Before the Frost
- Автор: Манкелль Хеннинг
- Серия: Linda Wallander #1
- Год: 2004
- Язык: английский
- Год: The Harvill Press
- ISBN: 978-1-84343-113-8
- Переводчик: Ebba Segerberg
- Жанр: Полицейские детективы
Электронная книга - «Before the Frost». Краткое содержание книги:
He left Cleveland on May 19, 2001, flying to Copenhagen via New York. He arrived in Helsingborg on the south coast of Sweden late on the evening of the twenty-first. He paused for a moment after stepping onto Swedish soil. It was as if he had left all his memories of Jim Jones behind at last.
22
Wallander was looking for the number to the power company when the electricity came back on. A few seconds later they all gave a start as Henrietta and the dog walked in. The dog jumped up on Wallander with its muddy paws. Henrietta ordered him to his basket and he obeyed. She then threw his leash aside with fury and turned to Linda.
“I don’t know what gives you the right to enter my house when I’m not home. I don’t like people sneaking around.”
“If the power hadn’t gone out we would have walked right out again,” Wallander said. Linda could tell he was losing his temper.
“That’s not an answer to my question,” Henrietta said. “Why did you enter in the first place?”
“We just want to know where Anna is,” Linda jumped in.
Henrietta didn’t seem to listen to her. She walked around the room, looking carefully at her things.
“I hope you didn’t touch anything,”
“We haven’t touched anything,” Wallander said. “We simply have a few questions to ask and then we’ll be on our way.”
Henrietta stopped and stared at him.
“What is it you need to know? Please tell me.”
“Should we sit down?”
“No.”
This is when he explodes, Linda thought and closed her eyes. But her father managed to control himself, perhaps because she was there.
“We need to be in touch with Anna. She’s not in her apartment. Can you tell us where she is?”
“No, I can’t.”
“Is there anyone who would know?”
“Linda is one of her friends; have you asked her? Or maybe she doesn’t have time to talk to you since she spends all her time spying on me.”
This sent Wallander over the edge. He yelled so loudly even the dog sat up. I know all about that voice, Linda thought, the yelling. God knows, it’s one of the earliest memories I have.
“You will answer my questions clearly and honestly. If you refuse to cooperate, we will bring you down to the station. We need to locate your daughter because she may have some information regarding Birgitta Medberg.”
Wallander made a short pause before continuing.
“We also need to assure ourselves that nothing has happened to her.”
“And what could possibly have happened to her? Anna studies in Lund. Linda knows that. Why don’t you talk to her house-mates?”
“We will. Is there anyplace else she could be, in your opinion?”
“No.”
“Then we’ll move on to the question of the man who was in your house last night.”
“Peter Stigström?”
“Could you describe his hair for us?”
“I already have.”
“We can call on Peter Stigström in person, but perhaps you could humor us.”
“He has long hair, about shoulder-length. It’s dark brown, with some gray streaks. Will that do?”
“Can you describe his neck?”
“Good grief — if you have shoulder-length hair it covers your neck. How would I know what it looks like?”
“You’re sure of this?”
“Of course I’m sure.”
“Then I’ll thank you for your time.”
He got up and left, slamming the door behind him. Lindman hurried out after him. Linda was confused. Why hadn’t he confronted Henrietta with the fact that she had seen a man with short hair? As she got ready to leave, Henrietta blocked her path.
“I don’t want anyone coming in here when I’m gone. I don’t want to feel I have to lock the door every time I take the dog out. Is that clear?”
“Yes.”
Henrietta turned her back to her.
“How is your leg?”
“Better, thanks.”
“Maybe sometime you’ll tell me what you were doing out there.”
Linda left the house. Now she understood why Henrietta wasn’t worried about Anna, even though a terrible murder had been committed that intersected in some way with her daughter’s life. Henrietta wasn’t worried because she knew very well where Anna was.
Lindman and Wallander were waiting in the car.
“What is it she does?” Lindman asked. “All that sheet music. Does she write popular stuff?”
“She composes the kind of music no one wants to hear,” Wallander said.
He turned to Linda.
“Isn’t that right?”
“Something like that.”
A cell phone rang. They all clutched at their pockets. It was Wallander’s phone. He listened to the caller and checked his watch.
“I’ll be right there.”
“We’re heading out to Rannesholm,” he said. “Apparently new information has come in about individuals sighted in the area over the past few days. We’ll take you home first.”
Linda asked him why he hadn’t confronted Henrietta about the conflicting descriptions of Peter Stigström’s hair.
“I decided to sit on it,” he said. “Sometimes these things need time to ripen.”
Then they talked about Henrietta’s apparent lack of concern for her daughter’s safety.
“She knows where Anna is,” Wallander said. “There’s no other way to account for it. Why she’s lying is a mystery, though I expect we’ll find the answer sooner or later if we keep trying. But it’s not a top priority for us at this point.”
They drove on in silence. Linda wanted to ask about the investigation out at Rannesholm but felt it would be wiser to wait. They stopped outside the apartment on Mariagatan.
“Could you turn off the engine for a minute?” Wallander turned around so he could see Linda. “Let me repeat what I just said. I’m satisfied that no harm has come to Anna. Her mother knows where she is and why she’s staying away. We don’t have the manpower to investigate this any further. But there is nothing to stop you from going to Lund and talking to her friends there. Just do me a favor and don’t pretend to be a police officer.”
Linda got out and waved them off. It was only as she was opening the front door that she thought of something that Anna had said. Was it the last time before she disappeared? Linda scoured her memory but couldn’t put her finger on what it was.
The next day Linda got up early. The apartment was empty and her father had clearly not been home at all since the day before. She left shortly after eight. The sun was shining and it was unusually warm. Because she had plenty of time, she decided to take the coastal highway toward Trelleborg and turn up north to Lund once she got to Anderslöv. She listened to the news on the radio but there was nothing about Birgitta Medberg.
Then her cell phone rang. It was her dad.
“Where are you?”
“On my way to Lund. Why are you calling?”
“I just wanted to see if I needed to wake you up.”
“You didn’t have to do that. By the way, I saw you never made it home last night.”
“I slept a while at the manor. We’ve staked out a few rooms for the time being.”
“How is it going?”
“I’ll tell you later. Bye.”
She put the phone back in her pocket. She found the right street in inner-city Lund, found a place to park the car, and bought herself an ice cream. Why had her father called? He’s trying to control me, she thought.