Dark Angel (Anders Knutas 6)

don’t think I even took a sip.’
    ‘And then you parted and didn’t see each other again. Is that right?’
    ‘That’s right. I … do you mean that …?’
    ‘The drink was probably poisoned.’
    ‘So it was intended for me?’ Veronika pressed her hands to her chest. She looked stunned, and her voice shook as she went on: ‘So you’re saying that the murderer was after me right from the start? That Viktor died by mistake? That’s terrible!’
    ‘Why didn’t you tell us about this before, at the first interview?’
    ‘It simply didn’t occur to me. I’d forgotten all about it.’
    ‘You said that the last time you saw Viktor was when he took your drink and you went to the ladies’ room. Is that right?’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘So you didn’t see him again that night?’
    Veronika shook her head. Knutas didn’t take his eyes off her.
    ‘Then can you explain to me why the crime scene is practically covered with your fingerprints?’
    Veronika’s reaction was instantaneous and unexpected.
    She stared at him in dismay for several seconds before she shrieked: ‘Stop it! I can’t take this any more! I’m a fragile person. I can’t handle this sort of thing!’
    Tears poured out, and now she was wailing, not just crying. The woman’s unexpected outburst nearly frightened Knutas out of his wits.
    ‘All right, take it easy,’ he urged her, sitting down on the edge of the bed. ‘I’m not accusing you of anything. You must realize that we need to know exactly what happened.’ He patted her clumsily on the back.
    ‘First somebody kills the love of my life, then someone sneaks up and sets fire to my cabin, and now you’re trying to make me a suspect! There bloody well has to be a limit to what a person has to endure. There has to be a limit even for me!’
    ‘Come on now,’ said Knutas in his gentlest tone of voice. ‘I’m not accusing you, but you need to tell me what you were doing in that room. Did you find him there?’
    Veronika sniffed and coughed. The door opened and a nurse stuck her head in.
    ‘Everything all right in here?’
    ‘Yes, we’re fine.’ Knutas waved her away.
    The nurse cast an enquiring glance at Veronika, who nodded. That seemed to satisfy her, and she closed the door again.
    Knutas refilled Veronika’s glass with water from the small sink in the room. Then he tore off a piece of paper towel.
    ‘All right now,’ he murmured, as if speaking to a child. ‘Dry your tears and then let’s work this out, once and for all.’
    ‘OK,’ she whimpered. ‘I didn’t do anything. It’s just been too much to take.’
    ‘I understand.’
    He handed her the glass and she drank the water greedily.
    ‘Tell me what happened.’
    ‘At the end of the party – at the conference centre, I mean – I went to get my coat from the cloakroom, and then I looked around for Viktor. I got lost in the corridors but finally I found the room downstairs where we were supposed to meet. I went inside and saw a light coming from the lift a short distance away. The doors were open.’
    She covered her face with her hands, stammering out the words.
    ‘And there he was. Lying on the floor. Not moving. I went over, thinking that he was alive. His face was turned away. But when I got closer, I realized that he was dead.’
    ‘What did you do then?’
    ‘I panicked. I yanked open the nearest door and rushed home. I was terrified. I thought the murderer might still be in the room and would come after me.’
    ‘But you didn’t think about calling the police?’
    ‘I was drunk and exhausted. I wasn’t thinking straight. No one knew about our affair, and I couldn’t see why everybody should have to find out about it. And nothing could change what had already happened. My Viktor was dead.’
    ‘If what you’re telling me is the truth, it casts a whole new light on the case.’
    ‘What do you mean?’
    ‘The fire, your explanation of why your fingerprints were at the crime scene, and everything else. It strips away any suspicions we may have had about you.’
    ‘What do you mean? That I’m no longer a suspect?’
    ‘That’s right,’ said Knutas, puzzled to see that the woman lying in the bed suddenly seemed to cheer up. ‘In fact, I’d say you’re free and clear.’
    ‘Are you saying that you seriously thought I was behind all this? Responsible for killing the love of my life? The man I’d finally met after an entire lifetime of dealing with miserable jerks? Because that’s what you