Unspoken

loudspeakers were blaring Christmas carols, and later in the afternoon people would gather to dance around the big Christmas tree in the middle of the marketplace. A fat Santa was handing out sparklers to the children. Even the smallest shops were open on this Sunday, and they hadn’t seen so many people crowding onto the biggest shopping street, Adelsgatan, since high season last summer.
    No matter where they turned, they saw familiar faces. They stopped to talk with people on every street corner. All four of them were well-known in Visby—Knutas in his capacity as detective superintendent, Lina as a midwife, and the Almlövs as restaurant owners. They went into a café to have hot cocoa with whipped cream and saffron rolls.
    Knutas’s cell phone rang. It was Karin Jacobsson.
    “We’ve heard from Agneta Stenberg. She’s the girl who works at the same stable as Fanny Jansson, but she’s been away on vacation. She came home today, and she says that Fanny has a relationship with that man Tom Kingsley.”
    “What sort of proof does she have?”
    “I’ve asked her to come in and talk to us. I thought you might want to be here.”
    “Of course. I’ll be there in ten minutes.”
    Agneta Stenberg sat down on the sofa in Knutas’s office, across from Knutas and Jacobsson. Her dark suntan was accentuated by her white turtleneck sweater. How on earth has she managed to get such a tan in only one week? thought Jacobsson.
    Agneta got right to the point.
    “I think that they’re more than friends. I’ve seen them hugging and carrying on several times.”
    “Are you sure?”
    “Of course I am.”
    “What do you mean by ‘carrying on’?” asked Jacobsson.
    Agneta squirmed nervously. She looked embarrassed.
    “It’s the kind of things that you notice. They stood very close together. You could see him stroking her arm. Intimate gestures that only happen between people if something is going on. Do you know what I mean?”
    “Yes, we do,” said Knutas. “When did this start?”
    “They met on the stable hill and they’ve been talking to each other for a long time. It might have been in October that I noticed them hugging for the first time. It was near one of the outdoor stalls, a short distance away from the stable. It made me really uncomfortable, to tell you the truth. I mean, he’s at least twice her age.”
    “What makes you think that there was anything strange about it? They could just be friends, giving each other a hug.”
    “I don’t think so. When they caught sight of me, they let go of each other. And after that I’ve seen them hugging at other times.”
    “Did they do anything else?”
    “No, not that I saw.”
    “Have any of you talked about this at the stable?”
    “I mentioned it to a couple of people, but they thought it was probably just friendly hugging, that they were just friends.”
    “Why do you think they thought that?”
    “It’s because she’s so young. No one could imagine that a nice guy like Tom would be seeing her. Everybody thinks he’s so great.”
    “But you don’t?”
    “Oh sure, there’s nothing wrong with him, but that doesn’t mean that he might not be taking advantage of Fanny. She looks older than she is.”
    “Have you ever asked Fanny about her relationship with Tom?”
    “No.”
    “What about Tom?”
    “No. But maybe I should have.” She gave them a solemn look. “What do you think has happened to her?”
    Knutas’s expression was worried as he replied. “We don’t know,” he said. “We really don’t know.”
    Knutas called Tom Kingsley and asked him to come down to the station. He seemed reluctant but promised to be there within the hour.
    “Maybe Kingsley is the secret boyfriend,” said Knutas to Jacobsson as they had coffee and sandwiches while waiting for him to show up.
    “It’s possible,” said Jacobsson between bites. “But why didn’t he say anything about being close to her when we talked to him at the stable?”
    “Maybe he was ashamed. I would be if I was seeing a fourteen-year-old girl.”
    “If it’s true that they have a relationship, that alone would make him a suspect. If you’re thirty years old and you start having an affair with a fourteen-year-old, there’s something seriously wrong. That much is clear.”
    Tom Kingsley seemed nervous and tense when he at last showed up almost two hours later. He was wearing his stable clothes, and Knutas was bothered by the horse smell.
    “I’m sorry about my clothes,