MARIA HAD BEEN SITTING a long while at the kitchen table with Anders Ahlström’s mother. Julia stuck like glue to her grandmother and Maria had no decent opportunity to speak to the woman about the overhanging threat to the child. When they did not want to go back with her to the police station, Maria had shown them what an alarm unit looked like. Anders’s mother wasn’t interested. It was technical and complicated and she had no energy for learning anything new, not any more.
“I just can’t understand where Anders went. It makes you worried. I have to stay here in case he needs me. Am I also being accused of something? Otherwise I’d rather you just left.”
“Think about the girl,” Maria tried. There was a risk that Roy would want to hurt her, just as he’d hurt all the others to whom Anders had shown any kind of feeling.
“There’s no one who wants to harm her. Can’t you stop tormenting us now? It’s enough what you did to Anders, even though he’s innocent. I don’t want anything to do with the police! Just go!”
“Please, I’m begging you. Come with me. For the sake of the child!”
Anders’s mother opened the front door. “Out!”
Maria couldn’t force them, though she was sick with anxiety. Instead she went to Lummelunda again to try and get hold of Erika. She wasn’t at home now, either, and she still wasn’t answering her cell phone. Anders had taken quite a beating, but he’d refused to go to the hospital. The media had followed on the tail of the vigilantes group. Presumably he was keeping out of the way somewhere with Erika, but where? Maria made an attempt to find them in the cottage they’d rented in Ljugarn, but found out that there was another guest staying there. The more Per Arvidsson’s words sank in, the more certain she grew that Roy was after Anders and Erika. Maybe he also wanted to harm Julia. Did he see her as his sister or only as a rival? What places did Erika know about where one could get some peace and quiet?
Hartman came back. They reviewed the situation. There was frantic activity. Police officers on vacation were called in. Joakim was able to identify the men he’d met in Visby, who had been with Roy during the assault, by reviewing the grotesque photographs faxed over by the technicians. Maria wasn’t as sure – they had been masked. But their body types and length fitted. They were soon found on a list of missing persons. Hartman took on the duty of contacting dependants to ask them to identify the victims. It was a task no one envied him. Roy was still on the loose, and Anders and Erika had apparently gone underground. Not a good combination. At midnight, Hartman decided to go home and catch a few hours’ sleep. Police on duty were free to contact him whenever they wanted; he promised to keep his cell phone switched on.
“You need to rest as well, Maria. You’ll think more clearly if you do. There’s nothing more we can do right now. Roy Karlsson is wanted, his photograph will be on the front page of every newspaper tomorrow.”
Maria reluctantly followed his advice, went home and stood in the shower. Then she ate a couple of sandwiches in front of the television and drank a few strong cups of coffee. She called Erika again but the number was temporarily unavailable. Could they really be so sure that Erika would think primarily of the need Anders had for peace and quiet? When Erika was taken off duty the most urgent question in her mind had been whether Anders was guilty or innocent. A new thought popped up in Maria’s head – admittedly one that was fairly wild and farfetched. What if Erika intended to carry out some of her own police work, taking him to the crime scene where Isabel had been murdered? The more Maria thought about it, the more likely it seemed. Erika needed the truth if she was going to be able to live with Anders. Maria didn’t even give herself time to finish her coffee. On her way outside to the car she called central command and told them she was on her way to Fridhem Pension.