The Man Who Smiled (33 page)

In this investigation everything seems to have happened a long time ago, he thought, and yet it's only a few days since I threw the directory at the lawn and watched the garden explode.

She brought in the coffee, and he sat on the flower-patterned sofa.

"I didn't see a police car outside when I arrived," he said. "Sometimes they're here, sometimes they're not," Mrs Dunér said. "I'll look into it," Wallander promised.

"Is it really necessary?" she said. "Do you really think somebody is trying to harm me?"

"You know what happened to your employers. I don't believe anything else is going to happen, but we have to take all the precautions we can."

"I wish I could make sense of it all," she said.

"That's why I'm here," Wallander said. "You've had time to do some thinking. Often one needs to let a bit of time pass before things become clear, to let your memory warm up."

"I have tried. Day and night."

"Let's go back a few years," Wallander said. "To when Gustaf Torstensson was first offered the opportunity of working for Alfred Harderberg. Did you ever meet him?" No, never.

"You spoke to him on the phone?"

"Not even that. It was always one of the secretaries who called."

"It must have been a big deal for the firm to get a client like that."

"Oh yes, of course. We began to earn much more money than we'd ever done before. We were able to renovate the whole building."

"Even if you never met or spoke to Harderberg, you must have formed some idea of what he was like. I know you have a good memory."

She thought before answering. Wallander watched a magpie hopping about in the garden while he waited.

"Everything was always urgent," she said. "Whenever he called in Mr Torstensson, everything else had to be put to one side."

"Mr Torstensson must have discussed his client now and then," he said. "Told you about his visits to the castle."

"I think he was very impressed. And also fearful of making a mistake. That was very important. I remember him saying several times that mistakes were forbidden."

"What do you think he meant by that?"

"That if that happened Harderberg would go to another firm of solicitors."

"Weren't you curious about Harderberg, and about the castle?"

"I wondered what it was like, of course. But he never said much. He was impressed, but reticent. I remember he once said that Sweden should be grateful for all the things Dr Harderberg was doing."

"He never said anything negative about him?"

"Yes, he did, actually. I remember because it only happened once."

"What did he say?"

"I can tell you word for word. He said: 'Dr Harderberg has a macabre sense of humour.'"

"What do you suppose he meant by that?"

"I don't know. I didn't ask, and he didn't explain."

"When was this?"

"About a year ago."

"In what context did he say it?"

"He had just come back from Farnholm Castle. One of the regular meetings. I don't remember it having been anything out of the ordinary."

Wallander could see he wasn't going to get any further on that tack.

"Let's talk about something completely different," he said. "When a solicitor's at work, there's always a lot of paper around. But we hear from the representatives of the Bar Council that there's very little in the files concerning the work Mr Torstensson did for Harderberg."

"I was expecting that question," she said. "There were very special routines as far as work for Dr Harderberg was concerned. The only documents kept were the ones a solicitor regards as essential. We had strict instructions not to copy or save anything that wasn't absolutely necessary. Mr Torstensson took all the documents he worked on back to Farnholm Castle. That's why there's so little in the archives."

"That must have seemed very odd to you."

"The reason given was that Dr Harderberg's affairs were extremely sensitive. I had no reason not to accept that, so long as no rules were broken."

"I understand that Mr Torstensson gave financial advice," Wallander said. "Can you remember any details?"

"I'm afraid I can't," she said. "They were complicated agreements between banks and companies in all four corners of the world. It was generally one of Dr Harderberg's secretaries who typed the documents.

I was only rarely asked to type anything Mr Torstensson was going to take to Dr Harderberg. He typed up quite a lot of things himself."

"But he didn't do that for other clients?"

"Never."

"How would you explain that?"

"I assumed they were so sensitive that not even I was allowed to see them," she said frankly.

Wallander declined the offer of a top-up for his coffee.

"Can you remember noticing any mention of a company called Avanca in any of the documents you saw?"

He could see she was trying hard to remember.

"No," she said. "It's possible I saw it, but I don't remember it."

"Just one more question," he said. "Did you know about the threatening letters the firm received?"

"Gustaf Torstensson showed them to me," she said. "But he said they were nothing to worry about. That's why they weren't put in the archives. I thought he had thrown them away."

"Did you know that the man who wrote them, Lars Borman, was a friend of Gustaf Torstensson?"

"No, and I am surprised to hear it."

"They met through an icons club or society."

"I knew about the club, but I did not know that the man who wrote those letters was a member."

Wallander put down his coffee cup. "I won't disturb you any longer," he said, rising to his feet.

She remained seated, staring at him. "Haven't you any news at all to tell me?" she said.

"We don't know yet who committed the murders," Wallander said. "Nor do we know why they did it. When we know that, we'll know why somebody planted a mine in your garden."

She stood up and took hold of his arm. "You
have
to catch them," she said.

"Yes," Wallander said. "But it could take time."

"I have to know what happened before I die."

"As soon as there is anything to tell you, I'll be in touch straight away," he said, knowing that this could not have sounded very satisfactory to her ears.

Wallander drove to the police station and was told that Björk was in Malmö. So he went to Svedberg and asked him to find out why there was no proper protection at Mrs Dunér's house.

"Do you really think she's at risk?" Svedberg said.

"I don't think anything," Wallander said. "But more than enough has happened already."

Svedberg handed him a note. "There was a call from somebody called Lisbeth Norin," he said. "You can get her on this number. She'll be there until 5.00."

It was a number in Malmö, not Gothenburg. Wallander went to his office and dialled the number. An old man's voice answered. After a pause Lisbeth Norin came to the phone, and Wallander introduced himself.

"I happen to be in Malmö for a few days," she said. "I'm visiting my father, he's broken his femur. I checked my answering machine and heard you'd been trying to reach me."

"Yes, I'd be grateful for a word with you," Wallander said. "Preferably not over the phone."

"What's it about?"

"I have some questions in connection with a case we're investigating at the moment," Wallander said. "I heard about you from a Dr Strömberg in Lund."

"I have some free time tomorrow," she said. "But it will have to be here in Malmö."

"I'll drive over," Wallander said. "Would 10 a.m. suit you?"

"That will do fine."

She gave him the address in central Malmö.

Wallander wondered how an old man with a broken femur could get to answer the phone. Then he realised he was extremely hungry. It was already late afternoon. He decided to work at home. He had a lot of material on Harderberg's business empire that he had not yet read. He found a plastic carrier bag in a drawer and filled it with files. He told Ebba that he would be working at home for the rest of the day.

He stopped at a grocer's and bought some food, and went into a tobacconist's to buy five lottery scratch cards. When he got home he cooked himself some blood pudding and had a beer with it. He looked in vain for the jar of lingonberry jam he thought he had. Then he washed up and checked his lottery cards. No luck. He decided he had had enough coffee for one day and lay on his unmade bed for a little rest before starting to go through the files.

He was woken up by the telephone ringing. He looked at the clock by his bed. It was 9.10 p.m.

He picked up the phone and recognised Widens voice.

"I'm ringing from a phone box," he said. "I thought you'd like to know that Sofia got the job. She starts tomorrow."

Wallander was wide awake immediately.

"Good," he said. "Who gave her the job?"

"A woman called Karlén."

Wallander recalled his first visit to Farnholm Castle. "Anita Karlén," he said.

"A couple of cobs," Widén said. "Very valuable. That's what she'll be looking after. Nothing wrong with the wages either. The stables are small, but there's a one-room flat attached. I think Sofia has a much higher opinion of you now that she's had this opportunity."

"That's good," Wallander said.

"She's going to phone me in a few days' time. Just one problem: I can't remember your name."

Wallander also had to think hard before remembering. "Roger Lundin," he said.

"I'll write it down."

"I'd better do the same. Incidentally, better if she doesn't phone from the castle, tell her to use a call box the same as you're doing." "There's a telephone in her flat. Why shouldn't she use that?" "It could be bugged."

Wallander could hear Widén taking a deep breath at the other end of the line.

"I think you're out of your mind."

"I ought to be careful with my own phone, in fact," Wallander said. "But we keep a regular check on our police lines." "Who is this Harderberg? A monster?"

"He's a friendly, suntanned man who's always smiling," Wallander said. "He's also elegantly dressed. There are lots of ways a monster can look."

Pips were sounding at the other end of the line. "I'll call you "Widén said, then he was cut off.

Wallander wondered if he ought to phone Höglund and tell her what had happened, but decided not to. It was getting late. He spent the rest of the evening poring over the contents of the plastic carrier bag. At midnight he took out his old school atlas and looked up some of the exotic places to which the tentacles of Harderberg's empire reached. It was clear that it was a huge operation. Wallander also had a nagging worry that he was pointing the investigation and his colleagues in the wrong direction. Perhaps there was another solution to the deaths of the two solicitors after all.

It was 1 a.m. by the time he went to bed. It struck him that it was a long time since Linda had been in touch. On the other hand, he should have phoned her ages ago.

Tuesday, November 23 was a fine, clear autumn day.

He had taken the liberty of lying in that morning. He had phoned the station a little before 8.00 and told them he was going to Malmö. He had made coffee and stayed in bed for another hour. Then he had had a quick shower and set off. The address Norin had given him was near the Triangle in the centre of the city. He left his car in the multi-storey car park behind the Sheraton Hotel, and rang the doorbell at dead on 10.00. A woman of about his own age answered. She was wearing a brightly coloured tracksuit, and he wondered if he had got the wrong address. She did not fit the image he had of her after hearing her voice on the telephone, nor did it correspond to the general and no doubt prejudiced idea he had of journalists.

"So you're the police officer," she said cheerfully. "I'd expected a man in uniform."

"Sorry to disappoint you," Wallander said.

She invited him in. It was an old flat with high ceilings. She introduced him to her father, who was sitting in a chair with his leg in plaster. Wallander noticed the cordless telephone on his knee.

"I recognise you," the man said. "There was quite a bit about you in the newspapers a year or so ago. Or am I mixing you up with somebody else?"

"No, that was probably me," Wallander said.

"And something to do with a car that burned out on Öland Bridge," the man said. "I remember it because I used to be a sailor before the bridge was built, getting in the way of the ships."

"Newspapers exaggerate things," Wallander said.

"I remember you were described as an exceptionally successful police officer."

"That's right," the daughter said. "Now you mention it, I recognise Inspector Wallander from the photos in the papers. Weren't you on some television discussion programme too?"

"You must be mixing me up with somebody else."

"Let's go and sit in the kitchen," she said.

The autumn sun was shining through the high window. A cat was curled up asleep among the plant pots. He accepted the offer of a cup of coffee, and sat down.

"My questions are not going to be very precise," Wallander said. "Your answers are likely to be far more interesting. Let me just say that the Ystad police are currently investigating a murder, possibly two murders, and there are certain indications to suggest that the transportation and illegal selling of body organs might be involved. I can't say for certain if that is the case, and I'm afraid I can't go into any more detail for technical reasons associated with the case."

Why can't I express myself more simply? he wondered, crossly. I speak like a parody of a police officer. I sound like a machine.

"I see why Lasse Strömberg gave you my name," she said, and Wallander could tell that her interest had been aroused.

"If I understand it rightly you're doing work on this horrific traffic," he said. "It would be a big help to me if you could give me an overview."

"It would take all day to do that," she said. "Possibly all night as well. Besides, you'd soon find there was an invisible question mark behind every word I said. It's a gruesome activity that practically nobody has dared look into, apart from a handful of American journalists. I'm probably the only journalist in Scandinavia who's started digging into it."