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that. I think they both liked her equally.”
    “Was the interest mutual?”
    “I think Martina thought they were fun and nice as friends, but nothing more than that.”
    “How do you know that?”
    “It’s just a feeling.”
    “Are the two of them also staying at Warfsholm?”
    “Yes.”
    “Have you noticed any strangers hanging around the excavation site?”
    “Just the usual. People we know or one of the neighbors who drops by to talk for a while. Small groups of tourists show up several times a week, but they usually keep a safe distance away.”
    “As the leader of the course, do you have any idea who might have murdered Martina?”
    “No.”
    “I’ve asked you this question before, but I’m going to have to ask it again: What was your relationship with her?”
    “She was a student that I liked and respected, as a
student
,” said Mellgren in a sharp voice. “Of course there was nothing going on between us. I’ve already told you that.”
    “Where were you on Saturday night?”
    “I was actually out having a beer.”
    “Alone?”
    “Yes.”
    “Where?”
    “First at Donner’s Well and later at the Monk’s Cellar.”
    “Did you meet anyone you know?”
    “I always run into a few acquaintances.”
    “When did you get home?”
    “I don’t know. I didn’t look at my watch.”
    “But you must be able to say whether it was 9:00 P.M. or 3:00 A.M. ,” said Knutas impatiently.
    He was starting to be genuinely annoyed, and he wondered what a married father of four was doing out on the town alone on a Saturday night. Why wasn’t he home with his family if he hadn’t planned to meet someone?
    “I guess it was almost three.”
    “What’s your marriage like?” asked Knutas.
    Mellgren was slow to answer. His jaw visibly tightened.
    “You’ll have to excuse the question, but I need to ask it,” Knutas went on as he stared back at the man.
    “Things are fine between Susanna and me. Did she tell you otherwise?”
    Knutas raised his hand in protest. “Absolutely not. I was just wondering.”

 
    The room in which the press conference was going to be held was buzzing with life. The reporters were taking seats in the rows of chairs, and microphones were being set up on the podium at the front of the room. Up until now the police had declined to issue any statement, so everyone was very curious about what they were going to hear about the murder of the young archaeology student.
    The murmuring automatically stopped when Anders Knutas and Lars Norrby took their places up front.
    “Welcome to the press conference,” Knutas began. “The young woman who has been missing since Saturday, Martina Flochten, who was born in 1983, has been found dead outside of Vivesholm. That’s just outside of Klintehamn, approximately nineteen miles south of Visby on the west coast. There is no doubt whatsoever that she was murdered.”
    He glanced down at his notes.
    “The body was found at 5:45 A.M. by an individual who was out walking in the area. Many of you already know that Martina was born and raised in the Netherlands, but her mother was from Hemse here on Gotland. The mother died three years ago. Martina has lived in the Netherlands all her life. She came here in early June to take part in a course on archaeological excavation that is offered by the college. She had been on Gotland for a month before she disappeared on the night that a concert was held at Warfsholm. July third. We’ll now take questions.”
    “Can you tell us anything about how she was murdered?”
    “No.”
    “Why not?”
    “Because the investigation is ongoing.”
    “Was some sort of weapon used?”
    “Yes, but I don’t intend to say anything more on the subject.”
    “Was she sexually assaulted?”
    “We won’t know until an autopsy is performed on the body.”
    “When will that happen?”
    “The body was examined by the ME at the site this afternoon. Tonight it will be transported to the forensic medicine lab in Solna. The autopsy will be done in the next few days.”
    “Do you know how long she’s been dead?”
    “Not yet. The autopsy report will tell us that.”
    “Surely you must be able to say something about how long she’d been dead when she was found. Was it a matter of an hour? Or had she been dead since she disappeared?”
    “This much I can tell you: It was most likely that she’d been dead at least twenty-four hours.”
    “Is it a question of one killer, or were there more?”
    “We don’t know