The Double Silence (Andas Knutas 7)

features. Her expression was inscrutable, impossible to interpret.
    Knutas needed to get in touch with Jacobsson.
    But before he picked up the phone, he leaned back and read through all the material one more time.

THE POLICE HAD gone to Andrea Dahlberg’s home, but she was away, visiting her children who were staying with their grandparents in the Stockholm archipelago. They had gone on a sailing expedition, and no one knew exactly where they were at the moment. The police got hold of a cousin who said that they’d planned to be away at least a week, and it would be hard to track them down.
    Jacobsson tried numerous times to get through on the mobiles belonging to various family members, but without success.
    Then she discovered that she had missed several calls from Knutas. She tried to ring him, but the line was busy. Oh well, it could wait. Right now she was fully occupied with the investigation, looking into this whole business about the swinger parties and what the significance might be. In addition, there was the discovery that Stina Ek had been pregnant, in her third month. DNA samples had been sent to the lab to determine who the father was, but Jacobsson was not at all convinced it was Håkan.
    The first person they managed to get hold of was Beata, and half an hour later the woman was sitting in an interrogation room at police headquarters. Her red hair was swept up in a loose knot on top of her head, with decorative ringlets framing her face. She was casually dressed in a denim skirt and an especially low-cut T-shirt. She looked self-conscious as she sat at the table across from Jacobsson.
    ‘Why am I here again? You’ve already questioned me numerous times. I was in the middle of baking. We’re having a big family party tomorrow.’
    ‘I’m sorry we had to interrupt your housewifely duties,’ said Jacobsson without a trace of sympathy.
    Beata Dunmar pursed her lips.
    ‘You’ve been asked to come here because some new information has come to light in the case, and we want to talk to you about it. We’ve learned that you and your group of friends have held swinger parties. Is that right?’
    Beata opened her eyes wide. She stared at Jacobsson for a long time, apparently feverishly trying to work out how to respond to what she’d just heard.
    Jacobsson remained silent, her eyes fixed on Beata, waiting for her to say something.
    ‘What do you mean?’ she finally managed.
    ‘Exactly what I said. We’ve heard that you and your friends have held swinger parties. You, John, Stina, Håkan, Sam and Andrea, along with another couple who moved away from the area. Sten and Monica.’
    Beata seemed to realize that the game was up. It would do her no good to deny the claim. She stared in shame at the table as she answered.
    ‘That’s true,’ she said in a low voice. ‘But only a few times.’
    ‘How many times exactly?’
    ‘Three.’
    ‘What happened during these parties?’
    Beata fidgeted a bit before replying.
    ‘The first time it started out as an ordinary party at Sam and Andrea’s house. Their children weren’t home, so we had the place to ourselves. We drank an awful lot of wine at dinner and everyone got very drunk. We went on drinking afterwards as we sat in front of their big fireplace in the living room. They have big, comfy sofas and armchairs, and we ended up sprawled all over them. Somebody started talking about a film they’d seen. I think it was
Ice Storm
. It took place in an American suburb, rather like our own, with educated and established people who knew each other well, much as we do. They held parties where they put their house keys in a bowl in the hall when they arrived. Later, after dinner, all the women would take out a set of keys and go home and have sex with theman whose keys they’d chosen. They had worked out some sort of system so that nobody would ever get her own husband.’
    ‘I see. So what happened then?’
    ‘First we joked about it. What if we did the same thing? Then someone started teasing John because he’s American. Saying things like: Is that how you do things where you’re from? And John jumped in and said that he’d always had the hots for Stina and wouldn’t mind exchanging keys with her. At first we were all a little shocked, but at the same time there was an excitement in the air, because it was obvious that he really meant what he’d said.’
    ‘And how did you react to that?’
    ‘I pretended this was news to me, even though I’d