Sighing, she reached for the next document on the pile: the technical analysis of the murder weapon. The stone bust had stood on the windowsill for years, but after the murder it had been found, stained with blood, under the desk. Forensics had checked for fingerprints and foreign substances, but all they could identify were traces of Erik’s blood, hair, and brain matter. She tossed the report aside and picked up the crime-scene photographs. She was impressed that Patrik’s wife had noticed what it said on the notepad: Ignoto militi… ‘To the unknown soldier.’ Paula hadn’t spotted it when she’d looked at the photos and, even if she had, she had to admit that she most likely wouldn’t have thought to check what the words meant. Erica had not only discovered the words, she had also managed to link them to other leads and possibilities, which had led them to Hans Olavsen’s body.
Paula set down the photograph and opened her notepad. Though they had narrowed it down to within a few days, they hadn’t managed to pinpoint the exact time of Erik Frankel’s murder. Paula wondered whether she might be able to figure out something more based on the dates that they had. She began drawing up a chronology of events, starting with Erica’s visit to Erik Frankel, Erik’s drunken parting with Viola, Axel’s trip to Paris, and the cleaning woman’s attempt to get into the house. She scanned through the documents, to find any information on Frans’s whereabouts during that period, but she found only the statements from his henchmen at Sweden’s Friends, all of whom swore Frans was in Denmark on the days in question. Damn it! They should have pressed Frans for more details while they had the chance. But given his criminal record he would no doubt have taken the precaution of equipping himself with documents that supported his alibi. Still, what was it Martin had said during the investigative review? There was no such thing as a watertight alibi…
Paula sat up with a start. A thought had occurred to her, and immediately she knew she was on to something. There was one thing that they hadn’t checked.
‘Patrik? Hi, it’s me – Karin. Do you think you could come over and help with something? Leif left this morning, and now there’s water pouring out of a pipe in the basement.’
‘Well, I’m no expert,’ said Patrik hesitantly. ‘But I suppose I could take a look, see if I can fix it without you having to call in a plumber.’
‘That’s great,’ she said, sounding relieved. ‘Bring Maja along if you like. She can play with Ludde.’
‘I’ll do that. Erica’s working, so I don’t want to bother her if I can help it.’
Fifteen minutes later, as he turned into the driveway to Karin and Leif’s house in Sumpan, he had to admit that it felt a bit strange, seeing the home where his ex-wife now lived with the man whose thrusting white backside he sometimes pictured in his mind. It wasn’t easy to forget the moment he’d caught his wife and her lover in the act.
Karin opened the door, holding Ludde in her arms, before Patrik even rang the bell. ‘Come in,’ she said, moving out of the way to let him through.
‘The rescue squad is here,’ he said teasingly as he set Maja down. She was immediately joined by Ludde, who took her hand and pulled her down the hall towards what appeared to be his room.
‘It’s down here.’ Karin opened a door leading to the basement stairs.
‘Will they be okay?’ asked Patrik nervously, glancing towards Ludde’s room.
‘They’ll keep themselves busy for a few minutes, no problem,’ said Karin, motioning for Patrik to follow her downstairs.
At the foot of the stairs she pointed to a pipe on the ceiling with a concerned expression on her face. Patrik went over to inspect it and then was able to reassure her.
‘Hmm… I think it’s an exaggeration to say that the water is pouring out. Looks more like condensation.’ He pointed to a few scanty drops of water on top of the pipe.
‘Oh, that’s good. I got so worried when I saw that it was wet,’ said Karin. ‘It’s really nice of you to come over. Could I offer you some coffee by way of a thank you, or do you need to get back home?’
‘Sure, we’re not on any schedule. Coffee would be nice.’ A short time later they were sitting in the kitchen, eating the biscuits that Karin had set on the table.
‘You weren’t expecting homemade biscuits, were you?’ she asked, smiling at Patrik.
He reached for an ‘oatmeal dream’ and shook his head as he laughed. ‘No, baking was never your strong suit. Or cooking in general, to be frank.’
‘Hey, how can you say that?’ said Karin, looking offended. ‘It couldn’t have been that bad. You used to like my meat loaf, at least.’
Patrik grinned wickedly and rocked his hand to indicate it had been so-so. ‘I just said that because you were so proud of it. But I always wondered whether I ought to sell the recipe to the home guard so they could use it for cannon fodder.’
‘Hey, watch it!’ said Karin. ‘Now you’re going too far!’ Then she laughed. ‘You’re right, though, cooking isn’t really my forte. That’s something Leif loves to point out. Of course, he doesn’t seem to think I’m much good at anything.’ Her voice broke and tears welled up in her eyes. Patrik impulsively put his hand over hers.
‘Are things that bad?’
She nodded, wiping her tears with a napkin. ‘We’ve agreed to separate. We had the world’s worst fight this weekend and realized that this just isn’t working. So he’s packed his bags and he’s not coming back.’
‘I’m so sorry,’ said Patrik, keeping his hand on hers. ‘
Do you know what hurts the most?’ she said. ‘The fact that I don’t really miss him. This was all a big mistake.’ Her voice broke again, and Patrik started to get an uneasy feeling about where this conversation was headed.
‘Things were so good between us – you and me. Weren’t they? If only I hadn’t been so damn stupid.’ She sobbed into the napkin as she grabbed hold of Patrik’s hand. Now he couldn’t very well take it back, even though he knew he should.
‘I know that you’ve moved on. I know that you have Erica. But we had something special. Didn’t we? Isn’t there a chance that we could… that you and I could…’ She couldn’t finish the sentence but just squeezed his hand harder, pleading with him.
Patrik swallowed but then said calmly, ‘I love Erica. That’s the first thing you need to know. And secondly, the picture you have of what our marriage was like is just a fantasy, something you’ve made up after the fact because you and Leif aren’t getting along. We had a good relationship, but it wasn’t anything special. That was why things turned out the way they did. It was just a matter of time.’ Patrik looked into her eyes. ‘And you know that too, if you just think about it. We stayed married mostly because it was convenient, not because of love. So in a way you did both of us a service, even though I wish that it hadn’t ended the way it did. But you’re fooling yourself right now. Okay?’
Karin started crying again, largely because she felt so humiliated. Patrik understood and moved over to the chair next to her, putting his arms around her and leaning her head against his shoulder as he stroked her hair. ‘Shhh…’ he said. ‘There, there… Things will work out…’
‘How can you be so… When I… just made such a… fool of myself?’ Karin stammered.
Patrik calmly continued stroking her hair. ‘There’s nothing to be ashamed of,’ he said. ‘You’re upset and not thinking very clearly at the moment. But you know that I’m right.’ He picked up his napkin and wiped the tears from her flushed cheeks. ‘Do you want me to leave, or should we finish our coffee?’ he asked.
She hesitated for a moment, but then said, ‘If we can overlook the fact that I just threw myself at you, then I’d like you to stay a little while longer.’
‘All right, then,’ said Patrik, moving back to the chair across from her. ‘I have the memory of a goldfish, so in ten seconds all I’ll remember are these delicious store-bought biscuits.’ He winked, reaching for another oatmeal dream.