On Åkeson’s advice they had decided that they would continue to concentrate on Avanca themselves without worrying about running into conflict with the work being done by the fraud squads. Wallander also established that Höglund was the best qualified officer for this task. Nobody objected, and from that moment on she was no longer a raw recruit but a fully fledged member of the investigative team. Svedberg took over some of the work she had been doing before, including the efforts to obtain the flight plans of Harderberg’s aircraft. There was some discussion between Wallander and Åkeson about whether this was a sufficiently valuable source of information to warrant the effort. Wallander argued that sooner or later they would have to establish Harderberg’s movements, not least on the day Sten Torstensson died. Åkeson maintained that if it really did now seem likely that Harderberg was behind what had happened, he would have access to state-of-the-art resources and could be in contact with Farnholm Castle even if he were crossing the Atlantic in his Gulfstream, or in the Australian outback, where the financial experts claimed he had substantial mining interests. Wallander could see Åkeson’s point and was just about to cave in when Åkeson threw up his hands and said he had only been adding a personal point of view and did not want any obstacles in the way of work that was ongoing.
When it came to the recruitment of the stable girl Sofia, Wallander made a presentation that Höglund went out of her way to congratulate him on in private afterward. Wallander knew that not only might Björk and Åkeson protest, but that Martinsson and Svedberg might object to involving a complete outsider in the investigation. Without actually lying, although perhaps he was economical with the truth, Wallander explained that by chance they had acquired a source of information at Farnholm Castle, somebody Wallander happened to know, who was looking after the horses there. He provided this information more or less in passing, just as a tray of sandwiches had been delivered and nobody was listening with more than half an ear to what he was saying. He exchanged glances with Höglund, and could tell that she had seen through his tactic.
Afterward, when they had finished the sandwiches and aired the room, Wallander described how his apartment had been watched the previous night. He did not mention, however, that the man in the car had actually been inside his place. He was afraid that information would lead Björk to apply the brakes and put restrictions on what they could or could not do for security reasons. Svedberg was able to supply the astonishing news that the car was registered to a person who lived in Östersund and was the manager of a holiday camp in the Jämtland mountains. Wallander insisted that the man be investigated, the holiday camp as well. If Harderberg had interests in Australian mines there was no reason why he should not also be involved in a winter sports establishment in the north of Sweden. The meeting ended with Wallander telling them about his meeting with Ström. On hearing his account the room fell silent.
“That was the detail we needed,” Wallander said afterward to Höglund. “Police officers are practical people. The little fact that a car left Farnholm Castle before old man Torstensson began his final journey means that all the vague and obscure aspects of the sequence of events now have a little detail to rest on at last. If that is what happened, and it could very well have been, we’ve also got confirmation of the fact that Torstensson was murdered in a cold-blooded and well-planned operation. That means we know we’re looking for a solution to something where nothing is coincidental. We can forget accidents and dramatic passions. We know now where we don’t need to look.”
The meeting had ended in a mood Wallander interpreted as resolute determination. That was what he had been hoping for. Before Åkeson went home to bed he had joined in a discussion with Björk and Wallander. They talked about the press conference the following day. Wallander had urged that, without actually telling lies, they could maintain that they had a lead to follow, but that they could not yet give any details for reasons associated with the investigation.
“But,” Åkeson wondered, “how are you going to describe the lead without Harderberg realizing that it points to Farnholm Castle?”
“A tragedy arising from somebody’s private life,” Wallander said.
“That doesn’t sound particularly credible,” Åkeson objected. “It’s also a suspiciously thin basis on which to call a press conference. Make sure you’re fully prepared. You need to have detailed and definite answers to every likely question.”
Wallander drove home after the meeting.
He examined his telephone to see if there was any sign of a bug. He found nothing, but nevertheless decided that from now on he would not discuss anything to do with Harderberg on the phone from home.
Then he took a shower and changed his clothes.
He had dinner at the pizzeria on Hamngatan. Then he spent the rest of the evening preparing for the press conference. Now and then he went to the kitchen window and looked down into the street, but there was only his own car parked outside.
The press conference went more smoothly than Wallander had expected. The murder of the two lawyers was apparently not considered by the media to be of great public interest, and so there were not many newspapers represented, no television, and the local radio station only ran a short item.
“That should keep Harderberg calm,” Wallander said to Björk when the reporters had left the police station.
“Unless he can read our minds,” Björk said.
“He can speculate, of course,” Wallander said, “but he can’t be completely sure.”
When he got back to his office he found a message on his desk to phone Mr. S. Widén. He dialed the number and after it had been ringing for a very long time, Widén answered.
“You called,” Wallander said.
“Hi there, Roger,” Widén said. “Our friend called me a few minutes ago. She was in Simrishamn. She had something to say that I think might be of interest to you.”
“What’s that?”
“That her job is evidently going to be short-lived.”
“What does she mean by that?”
“It looks as if her employer is preparing to leave his castle.”
Wallander was struck dumb.
“Are you still there?” Widén said, eventually.
“Yes,” Wallander said. “I’m still here.”
“That was all,” Widén said.
Chapter 15
By the time Ove Hanson returned to work in Ystad on the afternoon of November 25, he had been away for more than a month. He had been in Halmstad attending a course on computerized crime-solving arranged by the National Police Board. After Sten Torstensson’s murder he had contacted Björk and asked if he should abandon the course and return to duty in Ystad, but Björk had told him to stay. That was when he first heard Wallander had come back to work. The same evening he had telephoned Martinsson from his hotel to check whether it could really be true. Martinsson had confirmed it, and added that personally he thought that Wallander seemed more energetic than ever.
Even so, Hanson had not been prepared for what was in store for him when he returned and paused outside the office he had been using while Wallander had been away. He tapped on the door and went right in without waiting to be asked, but almost jumped out of his skin at what he saw, and started to leave again immediately. Wallander was standing in the middle of the room holding a chair over his head, and staring at Hanson with a look on his face that could only be described as lunatic. It all happened very quickly and Wallander put the chair down, his expression returning to normal. But the image had burned itself into Hanson’s memory. For a long time afterward Hanson kept it to himself, and he wondered when Wallander would finally break down and go insane.