He walked on into the park. Traffic roared in the distance. Two young people walked by, wrapped tightly around each other. Wallander thought about Mona. It would probably work out. Soon they would take their trip to Skagen, and he would never again be late for a date.
Wallander stopped. Some people were sitting and drinking alcohol on a bench not far ahead. One of them was pulling on the leash of a German shepherd who wouldn’t lie still. Wallander approached them slowly. They didn’t appear to pay him any attention. Wallander couldn’t see that any of them had a sagging eyelid. But suddenly one of the men stood up on swaying legs in front of Wallander. He was very burly. The muscles swelled out under his shirt, which was unbuttoned over his stomach.
‘I need a tenner,’ he said.
Wallander had at first intended to say no. Ten kronor was a lot of money. Then he changed his mind.
‘I’m looking for a friend of mine,’ he said. ‘A guy with a sagging eyelid.’
Wallander had not expected a hit. But to his amazement, he received an unexpected reply.
‘Rune’s not here. The devil only knows where he’s got to.’
‘That’s the one,’ Wallander said. ‘Rune.’
‘Who the hell are you?’ the swaying man said.
‘My name is Kurt,’ Wallander said. ‘I’m an old friend.’
‘I’ve never seen you before.’
Wallander gave him a ten.
‘Tell him if you see him,’ Wallander said. ‘Tell him Kurt was here. Do you happen to know Rune’s last name, by the way?’
‘I don’t even know if he has a last name. Rune is Rune.’
‘Where does he live, then?’
The man stopped swaying for a moment.
‘I thought you said you were friends? Then you should know where he lives.’
‘He moves around a lot.’
The man turned to the others who were sitting on the bench.
‘Do any of you know where Rune lives?’
The conversation that followed was extremely confused. At first it took a long time to establish which Rune they were talking about. Then many suggestions were offered to where this Rune might live. If he even had a home. Wallander waited. The German shepherd next to the bench barked the whole time.
The man with the muscles returned.
‘We don’t know where Rune lives,’ he said. ‘But we’ll tell him that Kurt was here.’
Wallander nodded and swiftly walked away. Of course, he might be wrong. There was more than one person with a sagging eyelid. But still, he was sure he was on the right track. It occurred to him that he should immediately contact Hemberg and suggest that the park be put under surveillance. Maybe the police already had a man with a sagging eyelid on their records?
But then Wallander felt doubtful. He was proceeding too fast again. First he should have a thorough conversation with Hemberg. He should tell him about the name change and what Jespersen had said. Then it would be up to Hemberg to decide if this was a lead or not.
Wallander would wait to talk to Hemberg the following day.
Wallander left the park and took the bus home.
He was still tired from the stomach flu and fell asleep before midnight.
The following day Wallander woke up refreshed at seven o’clock. After noting that his stomach was completely restored to normal he had a cup of coffee. Then he dialled the number he had been given by the girl in reception.
His father answered after many rings.
‘Is that you?’ his father said brusquely. ‘I couldn’t find the telephone in all this mess.’
‘Why did you call the police station and introduce yourself as a distant relative? Can’t you damn well say that you’re my father?’
‘I don’t want anything to do with the police,’ his father answered. ‘Why don’t you come to see me?’
‘I don’t even know where you live. Kristina only explained it vaguely.’
‘You’re too lazy to figure it out. That’s your whole problem.’
Wallander realised the conversation had already taken a wrong turn. The best thing he could do now would be to end it as soon as possible.
‘I’ll be out in a few days,’ he said. ‘I’ll call first and get directions. How are you liking it?’
‘Fine.’
‘Is that it? “Fine”?’
‘Things are in a bit of disarray. But once I get that sorted out it will be excellent. I have a wonderful studio in an old barn.’
‘I’ll be there,’ Wallander said.
‘I won’t believe it until you stand here,’ his father said. ‘You can’t really trust the police.’
Wallander finished and hung up. He could live for twenty more years, he thought desperately. And I’m going to have him over me the whole time. I’ll never escape him. I may as well face that now. And if he’s bad-tempered now it will only get worse as he gets older.
Wallander ate some sandwiches with a newly regained appetite and then took the bus in to the station. He knocked on Hemberg’s half-open door shortly after eight. He heard a grunt in reply and walked in. For once Hemberg did not have his feet on the table. He was standing at the window, flipping through a morning paper. As Wallander walked in, Hemberg scrutinised him with an amused expression.
‘Mussels,’ he said. ‘You should watch out for them. They suck up everything that’s in the water.’
‘It could have been something else,’ Wallander said evasively.
Hemberg set the newspaper down and took his seat.
‘I need to talk to you,’ Wallander said. ‘And it will take longer than five minutes.’
Hemberg nodded at his visitor’s chair.
Wallander told him of his discovery, that Halen had changed his name a few years earlier. He noticed that Hemberg immediately became more attentive. Wallander went on and told him about his conversation with Jespersen, last night’s visit, and the walk in Pildamms Park.
‘A man named Rune,’ he concluded. ‘Who doesn’t have a last name. And has a droopy eyelid.’
Hemberg considered everything he had said in silence.
‘No person lacks a last name,’ he said thereafter. ‘And there can’t be that many people with droopy eyelids in a city like Malmo.’
Then he frowned.
‘I’ve already told you once not to act on your own. And you should have contacted me or someone else last night. We would have picked up the people you met in the park. With some thorough questioning and some time to sober up, people tend to remember more. Did you, for example, write down any of these men’s names?’
‘I didn’t say I was from the police. I said I was a friend of Rune’s.’
Hemberg shook his head.
‘You can’t do that kind of stuff,’ he said. ‘We act openly unless there are compelling reasons to the contrary.’
‘He wanted money,’ Wallander said, defending himself. ‘Otherwise I would simply have walked on by.’
Hemberg looked narrowly at him.
‘What were you doing in Pildamms Park?’
‘Taking a walk.’
‘You were not undertaking your own investigation?’
‘I needed some exercise after my illness.’
Hemberg’s face expressed strong disbelief.
‘It was, in other words, pure coincidence that made you choose Pildamms Park?’
Wallander did not reply. Hemberg got up out of his chair.
‘I’ll put some men on this development. Right now we need to proceed on the widest possible front. I think I had fixed on it being Halen who killed Batista, but you get it wrong sometimes. Then all you can do is strike it and start over.’
Wallander left Hemberg’s room and walked down to the lower floor. He was hoping to be able to avoid Lohman but it was as if his boss had been waiting for him. Lohman walked out of a conference room, a cup of coffee in his hand.