Wallander noticed that she seemed sad. He felt relieved. He had never been able to get used to the task of notifying someone of a death.
“As colleagues you must have been close,” he said.
“Yes and no,” she said. “We were close, very close. But only when it came to work.”
Wallander wondered briefly if their collegiality had actually extended to more than that, and it made him feel an inexplicable pang of jealousy.
“I assume you must have an important matter to discuss with me, since you’re here after hours,” she said, handing Wallander a hanger.
He followed her into a tastefully arranged living room. There was a fire burning in the open fireplace. Wallander got the feeling that both the furniture and paintings were expensive.
“Can I get you anything?”
Whiskey, Wallander thought. I really need it.
“That won’t be necessary,” he said.
He sat down in a dark-blue sofa while she sat in a chair across from him. She had shapely legs. He became aware of the fact that she had noticed his gaze.
“I came straight from Falk’s office,” Wallander said. “He didn’t seem to have anything except a computer.”
“Tynnes was an ascetic. He wanted everything around him as pared back and minimalist as possible. It helped him work.”
“That’s my real reason for coming down here: to ask you what his work consisted of. What your work consisted of, I should say.”
“We worked together on some things, but not all the time.”
“Then let’s start by talking about what he did when he worked alone.”
Wallander regretted not having called Martinsson. There was a good chance he was going to get answers that he wouldn’t be able to understand.
It still wasn’t too late to call him, but for the third time this evening Wallander decided to let it go.
“I should warn you, I don’t know much about computers,” Wallander said. “You’ll have to be very clear, or I won’t be able to follow you.
She looked at him and smiled.
“That surprises me,” she said. “From your lecture last night I gathered that computers are a police officer’s best friend.”
“That doesn’t apply to me personally. Some of us still have to engage in the old-fashioned business of talking to people, not just running names through various databases. Or sending e-mail messages back and forth.”
She got up and walked over to the hearth, then bent down to adjust the logs. Wallander watched her, but quickly lowered his gaze when she turned around.
“What exactly do you want me to tell you? And why?”
Wallander decided to start with the second question.
“We’re no longer convinced that Falk died of natural causes, even though the autopsy report pointed fairly conclusively to a heart at tack.”
“A heart attack?”
Her surprise seemed genuine. Wallander immediately thought of the doctor who had come to see him.
“There was nothing wrong with his heart. Tynnes was in excellent shape.”
“That’s what I’ve heard. That’s one of the reasons we wanted to reevaluate the case. The question then becomes what else this could be. An attack, perhaps, or simply an accident.”
She shook her head doubtfully.
“Not an attack. Tynnes would never have let anyone get close enough for that.”
“What do you mean?”
“He was always on his guard. He often talked about how he felt vulnerable in public. So he was prepared, and I know he was quick on his feet. He was quite advanced in some martial art that I forget the name of.”
“He could split bricks with his bare hands?”
“Sort of.”
“So you believe it was an accident?”
“Yes, it had to be.”
Wallander nodded silently before continuing.
“There were additional reasons for my visit, but I think we’ll put those aside for now.”
She poured herself a glass of wine and carefully put it down on the armrest.
“I suppose you realize that makes me curious.”
“Unfortunately I can’t share any more information with you.”
That’s a lie, Wallander thought. I could tell her a lot more if I wanted. For some reason I’m enjoying having some power over her, however small.
She interrupted his thoughts.
“What else was it you asked me?”
“About his work.”
“Right. He was a highly accomplished developer of computer systems.”
Wallander waited for more.
“He designed computer programs for various businesses. Sometimes he just customized and improved existing systems. When I say he was highly accomplished, I mean it. He had several offers from important companies both in Asia and North America. But he always declined, even though it would have meant a great deal of money.”
“Why did he do that?”
A look of anxiety flitted across her face.
“I actually don’t know.”
“Did you ever talk about it?”
“He always told me about the offers he received, and the amounts of money they were offering. If it had been me, I would have accepted them on the spot. But not him.”
“And he never told you why?”
“He just didn’t want to. He didn’t think he needed to.”
“He must have had plenty of money.”
“I don’t think that was it. Sometimes he needed to borrow from me.”
Wallander frowned. He sensed they were nearing an important point.
“He didn’t say anything else?”
“No, nothing. He just didn’t need the extra work, he said. If I tried to keep asking, he inevitably cut me off. He could be quite aggressive at times. He set the limits, not me.”
What was the real motivation for saying no? Wallander wondered. It doesn’t make sense.
“What determined the kind of project you would work on together rather than individually?”
Her answer surprised him.
“The degree of tedium involved.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Some parts of our kind of work will always be somewhat tedious. Tynnes could be impatient, and he often parceled out the more mundane tasks to me so that he could turn his full attention to the most challenging and interesting parts of the project. Especially if it involved something on the cutting edge, something that hadn’tbeen addressed before.”
“And you accepted this arrangement?”
“You have to live with your own limitations. It was never as boring for me as for him. I didn’t have his extraordinary talents.”
“How did you first meet?”
“Until the age of thirty I was a housewife. Then I divorced and got an education. Tynnes gave a lecture in one of my classes. I was fascinated by him, and I asked if he had any work for me. At first he said no, but a year later he called me. Our first project was designing a security system for a bank.”
“And what did that involve?”
“Today money is transferred between accounts at an astonishing speed, between private persons and companies, between the banks of various countries, and so on. There are always people out there who want to disrupt these transfers for their own ends. The only way to thwart them is to stay a step ahead. It’s a constant battle.”
“That sounds very difficult.”
“It is.”
“It also sounds like a task that would be too big for a lone computer consultant in Ystad, however gifted.”
“One of the advantages of the new technology is that you can be in the middle of things no matter where you’re located. Tynnes was in constant contact with companies, computer manufacturers, and other programmers all around the world.”