Still Waters

“And even if he did,” Thomas said, “we still have no explanation as to why Jo

Thomas gazed at the sparkling blue waters of Nackafjärden through the window. It was a perfect day for sitting on the jetty with a cold beer, instead of drinking tepid coffee in a stuffy office.

With a huge effort he forced himself to gather his thoughts. “We’re getting nowhere fast,” he said. “We haven’t even managed to find the person Kicki Berggren allegedly spoke to outside the bakery. And if it was someone who was visiting for a few days, the chances of doing so are almost nonexistent.”

Margit took a sip of coffee. She ran a hand through her hair, which didn’t make her look the least bit better, then started rummaging through the pile of reports. “If your theory that Kicki was heading west on Sandhamn holds, then at least we have a limited area on which to focus. Plus Krister’s body was washed up on that side of the island,” she said as she skimmed the document in her hand.

Thomas picked up a large map showing every property on Sandhamn. He spread it out on the desk and drew a large circle around the northwestern section, from the bakery to the outermost point of Västerudd.

“There are approximately fifty houses inside this circle,” he said, carefully examining the map.

He got up and went out into the corridor to call Carina, who appeared in the doorway a minute later.

“I’m just wondering about that check on property owners on Sandhamn that we talked about on Friday,” he said. “Did you manage to find anything that matched the name the Mission House manager thought she remembered?”

Carina shook her head. “Sorry, no. The land registry office is closed on Fridays; they open at nine this morning, so I’m going to call them as soon as possible.”

She looked like an abandoned kitten, with her heart-shaped face and a little dimple in one cheek.

Thomas gave her an encouraging smile, and she seemed to relax.

“Don’t worry,” he said. “But let us know as soon as you find out anything. We’ll be here for quite some time.”

He was rewarded with a beaming smile. “I’ll come and tell you right away, I promise.”

“Try to find out which of them are permanent residents and which are summer visitors, if you can,” Margit said. “I have a feeling Kicki was looking for a summer visitor. I find it difficult to believe a resident would be involved in something like this. Small communities usually exercise a high level of social control. If someone is smuggling alcohol, I don’t see how you could run it from the archipelago. It would be very complicated, anyway.”

“Jo

“But we think he was working for somebody else, don’t we? And didn’t he do a lot of little jobs for summer visitors?”

Thomas figured as a carpenter, Jo

“How likely is it that Jo

Thomas had to admit that she could be right. “It’s possible.” He picked up a pen and doodled in his notebook as he tried to come up with something sensible. “We have no evidence Jo

Margit looked skeptical. “Most things seem to be a bit far-fetched in this case. Nothing has been straightforward so far.”

“I still think we should stick to the hypothesis that Jo

Margit had nothing to say. She took the top off a marker and went over to a flip chart in the corner. She drew two stick men and a stick woman side by side. Above them she wrote Known Facts. “The deceased were two cousins, plus one person previously unknown to them. None of them was married or had children. All three made little money. Two seem to lack any co

Thomas gazed at the flip chart. “Aren’t you going to write down that we don’t have a perpetrator either?” he said sarcastically.

Margit smiled. “I haven’t finished yet.” She picked up another marker.

  Cause of death: two drowned, one poisoned, violence a contributory factor. Residence: two lived in Stockholm, one on Sandhamn. Relationships: two knew each other very well, the third probably a passing acquaintance of one of them. Work: warehouse worker, croupier, carpenter.

When she had finished she took a step back and read through her summary. Then she went back to her seat and put down the marker. She rubbed her eyes and blinked a few times. She had reorganized the information they had, but it provided no fresh insights.

Thomas gazed at Margit’s notes. He chewed on a marker for a little while, then went over to the chart and carefully wrote Sex. He stood there for a moment, then added a question mark. “Try this. The murderer gives Kicki a bunch of rat poison, but he’s not sure it’s enough. On top of that, he doesn’t want to take the risk of her babbling about what she knows. So he tells Jo

Margit was looking intently at Thomas. “Perhaps Jo

“And when she wasn’t interested . . .”

“He lost his temper and hit her.”

“Not because he’d been told to, but because she turned him down.”

“And the desired result was achieved after all: Kicki died.”

“And everyone was happy.”

“Except perhaps Jo

Thomas couldn’t argue with that. “If we can track down Jo

“Very possibly. We need to carry on tracing Jo

Thomas yawned and put down the marker. “But what we really need to know is who Kicki was asking about. Let’s hope Carina’s inquiries get us somewhere. And soon.”

CHAPTER 44