The Double Silence (Andas Knutas 7)

road.’
    ‘Left? From where?’
    ‘We were staying in one of the cabins down by the sea, so she was heading back towards Fårö church and the ferry dock.’
    ‘Could she have left the island at that time?’
    A shadow passed over Håkan Ek’s face. Apparently that thought hadn’t occurred to him.
    ‘Left the island? Why would she do that? We were on holiday.’
    ‘Maybe she didn’t leave voluntarily.’
    ‘You mean she was abducted?’ he said, sounding angry. ‘Kidnapped?’
    ‘We can’t rule out anything at this point,’ said Knutas. ‘We need to keep all avenues open.’
    ‘Now wait a minute,’ Håkan objected. ‘I got a phone call and text messages from her.’
    ‘When was this?’
    ‘Several times during the evening. First around five o’clock, when she rang to say that she would be late because she’d run into an old schoolfriend and they were having a glass of wine at Kuten. I was supposed to save her a seat.’
    ‘I see,’ said Knutas with a new spark of interest in his eyes. ‘Did she tell you who this person was?’
    ‘No, actually she didn’t. But she referred to this schoolfriend as “he”, so it had to be a man.’
    ‘How did she sound?’
    ‘The same as usual. Cheerful.’
    ‘OK. What happened next?’
    ‘I had to switch off my mobile during the film. First there was a discussion with some of the actors, and then the movie lasted over three hours.’
    ‘So during what time was your mobile switched off?’
    ‘Between about seven and eleven o’clock, I think. I turned it on as soon as we came out of the cinema, and I saw that there was a new message. Something about the fact that she’d been called in to work and had to leave immediately for Arlanda. So she took a taxi to the airport and managed to catch the last plane to Stockholm. From there she was going to Bangkok on a flight that left at eleven, so she couldn’t get in touch with me until she landed in Bangkok.’
    ‘And you didn’t think any of this was odd?’
    ‘No. It’s not unusual for her to have to go to work when she’s on call. We knew that it might happen. And it wasn’t strange that she’d have to catch a long-distance flight, either. She’s always taking those kinds of flights – to Bangkok, New York, Tokyo, and places like that.’
    ‘What about this male childhood friend that she met?’
    ‘In hindsight it does seem like a strange coincidence, that he would turn up at the very moment that she disappeared. But at the time I didn’treact. The Bergman festival is the kind of event that attracts people from all over. Several of us have run into people that we haven’t seen in a long time. For example, I know that Andrea also met an old classmate.’
    ‘Also a man?’
    ‘No, it was a woman, actually. Whatever that has to do with things.’
    ‘Presumably nothing. But I can’t help wondering about this man. Did Stina say anything else about him?’
    ‘No. I was standing in the middle of the crowd before the film started. There were so many people around me that we just talked very briefly.’
    ‘Do you remember reacting to anything when you read her text message? Anything about the wording, I mean. How she expressed herself?’
    Håkan looked pensive.
    ‘No, I don’t think so.’
    Knutas leaned forward and fixed his eyes on the man, who seemed to have shrunk more and more as the conversation progressed.
    ‘Could you try to recall the text messages that you got? What did the messages say, and when did you receive them?’
    Silence filled the room. Håkan wrung his hands as he stared mutely at the floor.
    ‘I don’t really know. They were short. Nothing special. I don’t understand any of this. None of it makes any sense.’

THE NEXT DAY Knutas arrived at work even earlier than usual. It wasn’t even seven o’clock when he stepped through the door of police headquarters and said hello to the duty officer. He wanted to have an hour to himself in order to gather his thoughts and go over everything they’d done in the investigation so far. He couldn’t really think at home; he needed the quiet of his office.
    He opened the window and sank down on his old, worn desk chair, setting a cup of coffee in front of him. He pulled out the top desk drawer, got out his pipe, and then carefully filled it as he gazed out of the window. Even though it was early in the morning, people were walking or cycling past on the street. Cars with baggage tied to the roof also drove by, presumably headed