The Double Silence (Andas Knutas 7)

stone, holding their mojitos in their hands.
    On the other side of the hedge, where the neighbours were having a dinner party, it was suddenly very, very quiet.

DURING THE AFTERNOON , the suspicion grew that Stina Ek was behind the murder of Sam Dahlberg. One of the crew members on the ferry thought he recognized her from the photos the police had shown him. He was almost positive that she had taken the Karlsö boat from Klintehamn on the evening before the others arrived on the island. He distinctly remembered that the rest of the group caught the nine-thirty boat on Sunday morning. The famous director Sam Dahlberg was with them, and that fact had not escaped notice. He was a well-known figure on the island.
    At the same time that Knutas wanted to devote all his energies to the investigation, he was also struggling with personal problems. For one thing, he was concerned about Karin Jacobsson and her search for her daughter. Karin had been looking so pale lately, and she seemed even thinner than usual. He noticed that she was frequently lost in her own thoughts. He thought she was so lovely, and on a few occasions he had felt an inexplicable tension between them when they happened to be alone together outside of work. There was
something
, which he couldn’t understand or control. But he quickly dismissed the feeling. He’d been in love with Lina for so many years that his feelings for his wife overshadowed everything else that had to do with the opposite sex. It worried him that Karin often haunted his thoughts. That was so unlike him. He had to see to it that he and Lina spent more time together. They needed to find their way back to each other. When he suddenly recalled that she’d mentioned something about taking a trip with a girlfriend at the end of the summer,he felt an immediate urge to talk to her. They could do something together instead. Just the two of them. Impatiently he tapped in her number on his mobile. She picked up after it rang four rings, sounding just as happy and cheerful as usual. He found that reassuring.
    ‘Hi. What are you doing?’
    ‘I’m lying in the sun in the garden, feeling lazy. It’s such beautiful weather.’
    Knutas looked out of the window. The summer was turning out to be marvellous after all the rain they’d had earlier in June.
    ‘Why don’t you come with me and the kids out to the country after we get back from Italy the third week of August?’
    For several seconds there was only silence on the other end of the line. He could hear her breathing. What was she doing? Trying to think of something to say? Knutas felt his temper rising.
    ‘But, Anders, we’ve already discussed this. You know that I’m going on a trip with Maria to make the documentary.’
    ‘What documentary?’
    ‘Come on. I’ve told you all about it. We’re going to Cape Verde to do a report on childbirth. It’s for the book that Maria is writing.’
    Knutas frowned. Cape Verde? Didn’t that sound awfully far away? An image of the football player Henke Larsson flashed through his mind. Wasn’t his father from there? Why on earth were they going there, of all places? He’d barely even heard of the country. At the same time Knutas remembered that Lina had told him something about the trip. But he hadn’t realized that the plans had been finalized.
    ‘Yes, but do you really have to go there during the summer holidays?’
    ‘Yes, we do. What’s so strange about that?’
    ‘And why do you have to be the one to help her with this book?’ he continued stubbornly. ‘Is she paying you anything?’
    ‘Cut it out. I don’t want to listen to this.’
    When Lina got angry or upset, her Danish accent was stronger than usual.
    ‘But why do you have to go there in August? Isn’t that the rainy season – loads of storms? Won’t it be miserable?’
    ‘Good God, Anders, we’re not off on holiday. We’re going to work, not lie on the beach. And by the way, I think the weather is good all year round. It’s in Africa, you know.’
    ‘But I still don’t understand why you have to go.’ Knutas couldn’t help hearing how plaintive he sounded.
    Lina sighed.
    ‘Have you listened to anything I’ve said? The book is about childbirth in various parts of the world. I’m going along to help the author gather factual information and then make comparisons with the situation in Sweden. I’m really looking forward to the trip. End of discussion. Bye.’
    She cut off the conversation with a click that