Wallander went on to tell the group about the work that Robert Modin was undertaking with Falk’s computer. Neither Hansson nor Höglund made any comments about an unauthorized expert who had served time for advanced computer crime being brought in.
“I don’t really get this,” Hansson said when Wallander finished. “What do you think is in that computer? A confession? An account of everything that’s happened? A reason for all this?”
“I don’t know if there’s anything in there,” Wallander said simply. “But we have to know what Falk was up to, just as we have to find out who he was. I have the impression that he was a strange man.”
Hansson clearly doubted the value of spending so much time on Falk’s computer, but he didn’t say anything else. Wallander realized that the time had come to end the meeting. Everyone was tired and needed to rest.
“We have to continue in this same vein,” he started, then interrupted himself and turned in Höglund’s direction. “Whatever happened with Sonja Hökberg’s bag?”
“I forgot about that,” she said apologetically. “Her mother said she thought maybe an address book was missing.”
“Maybe?”
“I think she was telling the truth. Sonja Hökberg was a very private person. Her mother simply thought she remembered Sonja having a little black address book where she wrote down people’s phone numbers. In which case it was missing. But she couldn’t be sure.”
“If this is true, it’s an important bit of information. Eva Persson should be able to confirm its existence.”
Wallander thought for a while before continuing.
“I think we should reassign certain tasks,” he said. “From now on I want Höglund to concentrate entirely on Sonja Hökberg and Eva Persson. There has to be a boyfriend out there somewhere, someone who could give her a ride out of town. Keep looking for any information that can tell us who she was and what she did. Martinsson will keep Robert Modin in a good mood. Someone else can check up on Lundberg’s son — I can do that. And I’ll keep checking into Falk’s life. Hansson can be in charge of keeping things together. Keep Viktorsson informed of our activities, keep trying to locate potential witnesses, and keep trying to find possible explanations for how a body can disappear from a morgue. Last but not least, someone has to drive up to Vaxjo and speak with Eva Persson’s father. Just so we can cross that off the list.”
Wallander called the meeting to an end and they all stood up. Wallander got out as quickly as he could. It was already half past seven. Even though he had not had much to eat all day, he didn’t feel hungry. He drove back to Mariagatan and looked around before unlocking the front door.
He spent the next hour cleaning up the apartment and gathering all his laundry. Now and again he stopped in front of the television set and looked at the news. One segment caught his eye. An American general was interviewed about what future wars would look like. He explained that they would be carried out on computers. The time of ground troops would soon be over, or at the very least their role would be much smaller in the future.
That made Wallander think of something, and since it was still early he looked around for the phone number and sat down at the phone.
Erik Hökberg picked up almost at once.
“How’s the investigation going?” he asked. “We’re not doing too well here. We really need to know what happened to Sonja.”
“We’re doing as much as we can.”
“But are you getting anywhere? Who killed her?”
“We don’t know that yet.”
“I don’t know how it can be so hard to find someone who murdered an innocent girl — in a substation, of all places.”
Wallander didn’t answer.
“I’m calling you because I need to ask you a question. Did Sonja know how to use a computer?”
“Of course she did. Don’t all young people use computers nowadays?”
“Was she interested in computers?”
“She mainly surfed the web, I think. She was good at it, though I don’t think she knew as much technical stuff as Emil.”
Wallander couldn’t think of anything else to ask. He felt somewhat helpless. Martinsson should have been the one asking these questions.
“You must have been thinking about what happened,” he said. “You must be asking yourself why Sonja killed the taxi driver. And then why she in turn was killed.”
Erik Hökberg’s voice was close to breaking as he answered.
“I go into her room sometimes,” he said. “I just sit in there and look around. I don’t understand it.”
“How would you describe Sonja?”
“She was strong-willed. Not always an easy person to deal with. She would have done well in life.”
Wallander thought back to the room that had seemed frozen in time. The room of a little girl, not the person her stepfather seemed to be describing.
“Didn’t she have a boyfriend?” Wallander asked.
“Not that I know of.”
“Isn’t that strange?”
“How so?”
“She was nineteen years old. And good-looking.”
“She never brought anyone home.”
“What about phone calls? Did anyone call her a lot?”
“She had her own line. She asked for it when she turned eighteen. Her phone often rang, but I don’t know who was calling.”
“Did she have an answering machine?”
“I’ve checked it. There were no calls.”
“If anyone does call and leave a message, I’d like to get the tape.”
Wallander suddenly thought of the movie poster he had seen in the closet in Sonja’s room. It was the only object, apart from her clothes, that bore witness to the teenager who lived in the room, someone who was on her way to becoming an adult woman. He searched for the title in his mind. It was The Devil’s Advocate.
“Inspector Hoglund will soon be in touch with you,” he said. “She will ask a number of questions, and if you are serious about wanting us to find Sonja’s killer you’ll have to answer in as much detail as much as possible.”
“You don’t think we’ve been helpful enough so far?” Erik Hökberg asked angrily. Wallander didn’t blame him.
“No, on the contrary, I think you’ve being extremely helpful. I won’t keep you any longer.”
He hung up. The thought of the movie poster lingered in his mind. He looked at the time and saw it was nine-thirty. He dialed the number of the Stockholm restaurant where Linda worked. A distracted man with a heavy accent answered. He promised to get Linda. It took several minutes for her to come to the phone. When she heard who it was, she was furious.
“You know you can’t call me here at this time! This is when we’re the busiest. You’ll get me in trouble.”
“I know,” Wallander said apologetically. “I just had a quick question.”
“It had better be quick.”
“It is. Have you seen a movie called The Devil’s Advocate with Al Pacino?”
“Is that what this is all about? A movie?”
“That’s it.”
“I’m hanging up.”
Now it was Wallander’s turn to get angry.
“Can’t you at least answer my question? Have you seen it?”
“Yes, I have,” she hissed.
“What is it about?”
“Oh, my God! I don’t believe this.”
“It’s about God?”
“In a way. It’s about a lawyer who turns out to be the devil.”
“Is that it?”
“Isn’t that enough? Why do you need to know this, anyway? Are you having nightmares?”
“I’m in the middle of a murder investigation. Why would a nineteen-year-old girl have a poster of this movie on her wall?”
“Probably because she thinks Al Pacino is hot. Or else maybe she worships the devil. How the hell would I know?”