The Double Silence (Andas Knutas 7)

glance. It was Bovide’s killer who was still on the loose along with her husband somewhere in the world.
    ‘That’s one case we’re never going to forget.’
    ‘Thanks for reminding me,’ said Jacobsson tonelessly.
    They continued on in silence. At Fårösund they encountered a winding queue of cars long before they reached the ferry dock. People were patiently waiting in the heat, hoping to get on board. Knutas looked at his watch. It was nine fifty-five.
    They drove past the entire queue and stopped at the front of the line for Fårö. A short while later the ferry pulled up to the dock, and in five minutes they were on the other side. The change in the natural setting was instantly noticeable. More stone fences, more sheep, and more windmills. A more barren landscape. Here the dwarf pines were even more bent, and the coastline was closer. The shores were covered with stones, areasof
raukar
, and scattered expanses of sandy beach – all of which was reminiscent of islands in the South Pacific. So far the island was free of any big hotel complexes, and most of it was relatively unexploited. No wonder that so many people took refuge there.
    The most developed area was the one they were on their way to see: Sudersand, which had cabins, campsites and restaurants near the long sandy shore. It was full of hustle and bustle. Families with small children headed to the beach, loaded down with picnic baskets, beach games and towels. There were large groups of teenagers on bicycles, and tourists as far as the eye could see. Knutas parked near the Carlsson pizzeria, where every outdoor table under the trees was fully occupied.
    The path where the handbag had been found led through the area over to the main road. Police tape was now keeping out the public. Even though there was no proof that Stina Ek had met with foul play, it was not a good sign that her bag had been found. At the same time, it was possible that she was the killer. In either case, the discovery of her handbag represented important evidence in the on-going homicide investigation.
    The ditch was on the side of the road and barely visible through the bushes and thickets. An excellent place to hide something, especially if someone was in a hurry, thought Knutas as they walked towards the site. The ditch was hidden by the thick vegetation, consisting of various types of reeds, shrubs and brush. The man who found the handbag had rather sheepishly admitted to the police that he’d gone over to have a pee and then caught sight of something shiny in the grass. Thinking that it might be something valuable, he had dug out the handbag, which lay underneath a lot of leaves and grass. Inside he found a purse containing cash and ID, along with the usual things that most women kept in their bags: tissues, lipstick, a pocket mirror, keys, a small hairbrush and a pocket diary. Erik Sohlman had confirmed that the ID belonged to Stina Ek.
    Four days had passed since anyone had seen her.
    Knutas squatted down and stared at the ditch.
    ‘So what the hell do you think?’
    ‘There are lots of possibilities,’ said Jacobsson. ‘Stina might have fallenvictim to the murderer, and if so, it seems reasonable to assume that it was the same perpetrator who killed Sam. Or she could be the one behind everything, and she got rid of her bag to try and throw us off the track.’
    ‘OK, but let’s consider the second option. Would she have left behind her cash, ID and keys, both to her house and car?’
    ‘No, you’re right. That doesn’t seem likely. The question is: What happened to her bicycle? I wonder if that part was a lie too.’
    ‘If so, she would have had to get a cab. They left their car at home because they got a lift with Sam and Andrea.’
    ‘Has anyone contacted the cab company?’
    ‘I haven’t, at any rate,’ said Jacobsson grimly. And she got out her mobile.
    It turned out that no taxi had picked up a customer on Fårö during that specific time period. And no one by the name of Stina Ek had checked in for a flight from the Visby airport.
    ‘It’s damn unlucky that we don’t have Håkan Ek’s mobile,’ grumbled Knutas.
    ‘But we can still find out a lot about his calls and texts from the mobile service,’ said Jacobsson.
    ‘Of course we can find out who sent a text message, and who it was sent to and at what time, but we can’t find out what the texts said. It’s strange that all of Stina’s valuables were still in her bag, except for her