Unspoken

was the one who had provided Johan Berg with the information. Knutas was extremely annoyed that such an important witness refused to talk to the police. And it wasn’t because he’d been in trouble with the police. A search of police records had come up negative.
    When he entered the conference room half an hour later, Knutas noticed at once a sense of excitement in the air. Jacobsson and Kihlgård had gone through Dahlström’s papers over the weekend, and from the look on their faces, it was clear that they had found something that they were dying to share with their colleagues. Kihlgård had two big cinnamon rolls on a plate in front of him next to a big mug of coffee. He ate as he fiddled with the papers. Crumbs fell on the table.
    Knutas sighed. “Do the two of you have something to report?”
    “You better believe it,” said Kihlgård. “It turns out that Dahlström kept detailed records on his clients. We have a long list of names and dates, what he built, and how much he was paid.”
    “The work he did was much more extensive than we thought,” added Jacobsson. “He had been doing carpentry jobs for over ten years. His first job was in 1990. Some of the people who made use of Dahlström’s services are very well-known in Visby.”
    Everyone gave Jacobsson their full attention as she held up a list of names.
    “Would you believe—wait till you hear this—city council chairman and Social Democrat Arne Magnusson?”
    A gasp of surprise rippled through the room.
    “Magnusson?” said Wittberg, laughing. “That can’t be true! The guy who’s always defending high taxes and talking about how great it is to pay them? That’s too funny! He’s the worst moralizer in all of Visby.”
    “Yes, he’s always lobbying for the restaurants to close at one a.m. in the summertime and for smoking to be banned,” snickered Sohlman.
    “If this gets out . . . the journalists are going to have a field day.” Norrby threw out his hands.
    “A garden shed in 1997,” read Jacobsson from the list. “Five thousand kronor, paid under the table, along with several bottles of liquor. Can you believe it?”
    Knutas grew serious. “This is totally insane.”
    “Just wait. There are more surprises on the list,” said Jacobsson. “Bernt Håkansson, chief surgeon at the hospital, and Leif Almlöv, restaurant owner and your good friend, Anders!”
    “What the hell?” Knutas turned bright red in the face. “Is his name on there, too?”
    “A sauna in the country for ten thousand—that was a tidy sum.”
    There was a glint of mischief in Jacobsson’s eye. She was enjoying teasing him. Kihlgård looked equally pleased. They had certainly found something to entertain themselves. How nice for them.
    “At least he’s not alone. There are at least a dozen names.”
    “No one from here, I hope?” said Wittberg uneasily. “Don’t tell me that, for God’s sake.”
    “No, luckily there aren’t any police officers on the list. On the other hand, there is someone with your last name. Roland Wittberg. Are you related to him?”
    Wittberg shook his head.
    “Let me see,” said Knutas.
    He recognized a number of the names.
    “What are we going to do with this?”
    “To start with, we’ll check up on them and see if there are any other links to Dahlström,” said Jacobsson, snatching the list back.
    Knutas called Leif as soon as he was back in his office. He felt tremendously out of sorts.
    “Why didn’t you tell me that you had hired Dahlström?”
    Silence.
    “Are you there?”
    “Yes.”
    Knutas heard a deep sigh on the phone.
    “Why didn’t you say anything about the sauna?” Knutas persisted.
    “You know how it is with all the crooked dealings in the restaurant business. I thought that if it came out that I had hired an illegal worker for a private matter, then people would think I did the same thing at the restaurant. I would come under suspicion and the authorities would make life hell for me.”
    “Why didn’t you think of that before you let him build that sauna?”
    “I know it was really stupid. At the time things weren’t going well with the restaurant, and Ingrid kept nagging me about the damn sauna. That’s no excuse, but maybe it’s an explanation of sorts. I hope that I haven’t put you in an embarrassing situation.”
    “I’ll manage. Besides, there are others who have reason to be uneasy. We have a list of plenty of people who did the same thing. You wouldn’t believe your