The Double Silence (Andas Knutas 7)

mess would simply disappear.’
    ‘And did it?’
    Beata sighed.
    ‘No. I honestly don’t think so. We tried hard to pretend that everything was back to normal, that it wasn’t important. But certain things had definitely changed. That much was clear.’
    ‘In what way?’
    ‘Our friendships felt strained, as if we had to keep up the pretence at all costs. But I think everyone could feel how holes had begun to appear in the fabric of our relationships. Stina, especially, seemed to change afterwards. She withdrew more, and she stopped going for walks with us. Suddenly she started jogging instead. She seemed more involved with the kids and with her job.’
    ‘What about Sam? Did you notice any difference in him?’
    Beata shook her head.
    ‘No, not really.’
    ‘What about you?’
    ‘It didn’t bother me. I can separate sex from other kinds of relationships.’
    ‘But what about the fact that your husband was attracted to Stina? Didn’t that bother you?’
    ‘Not at all.’
    ‘You’ll have to excuse me, but I have a hard time believing that,’ Jacobsson persisted. ‘It didn’t upset you in the least?’
    ‘No. It was just a sexual attraction. Nothing more. And I can handle that.’
    Beata reached for the glass of water on the table. Jacobsson noticed that her hand was shaking. She dropped the subject for the moment.
    ‘What about Andrea? Do you know if she ever saw this man named Sten again?’
    ‘No, I really don’t think she did. He and Monica moved away and, as far as I know, nobody has heard from them since. Andrea was also terribly in love with Sam. She adored him beyond all reason, as if he were a Greek god. As if they never had any problems in their marriage.’
    ‘And yet she behaved that way at the party, with Sten?’
    ‘I think it was mostly to get Sam’s attention, to make him realize that other men desired her.’
    ‘Why would she feel the need to do something like that?’
    ‘Even though Andrea is sexy and attractive and she’s used to having men look at her, I think she compared herself too much to Stina. And, in her own eyes, she always fell short. Stina enchanted people. There was something magnetic about her eyes, and she radiated a charm that made men fall all over themselves. I think Andrea was jealous, and that’s why she gave in to Sten like that. It was a way of showing off, of saying: “See, I can do it too.” Both to Stina and to her husband.’
    Jacobsson shook her head. The whole thing sounded awfully naive. Was this really the way grown-up people behaved?
    ‘Do you think she’d noticed that Sam was attracted to somebody else?’
    ‘Maybe. Although I think his job took up most of his time.’
    ‘So what do you think about the murders? Do you have any idea who might have killed them?’
    ‘I’ve been thinking a lot about Sten and Monica. And in hindsight I think it was the two of them who initiated the whole thing. Or rather, he did. He was the one who urged us on.’
    ‘What’s their last name? Do you remember?’
    ‘They weren’t married. Her last name was Nordin, and his was … Oh, that’s right, it was Boberg. His name was Sten Boberg.’

BY TUESDAY ANDREA Dahlberg still hadn’t been in touch with the police, and the interview with Håkan Ek had produced largely the same information that they’d gleaned from Beata Dunmar. The police had of course mentioned Stina’s pregnancy to Håkan. He seemed genuinely surprised and claimed that he hadn’t known anything about it. Jacobsson was inclined to believe him; he seemed sincere.
    When it came to the parties, it sounded as if Beata and Håkan had discussed the matter. It was an experiment that had got out of hand, and everyone wanted to forget about it, even though that had proved hard to do. Naturally Håkan had noticed certain changes in Stina, and he’d already told the police about that. But as Håkan said, she was getting close to forty and had been thinking more than usual about her past. He’d said that life often caught up with a person at that age, and Jacobsson felt strongly affected by his words. That was exactly what had happened to her.
    At the same time, the police had finally received a concrete and tangible lead to follow. Wittberg had been in contact with Monica Nordin on the phone, and she told him that she and Sten had split up long ago. They had never been married, just lived together for about a year. First for a few months in central Stockholm, and then Monica’s job had