Firewall - By Henning Mankell & Ebba Segerberg Page 0,122

away. But then he controlled himself and decided he should throw the letter away. The meeting was doomed. She would be disappointed because probably she imagined him to be different.

Furthermore, he had no time for this. He was in the throes of the most complicated investigation he had ever led. He walked round the table a few more times. Then he realised the absurdity of ever having written to the dating agency. He took the letter, tore it into pieces and threw it in the bin. Then he sat down to think about the case. Before driving to the station, he put his laundry in the dryer. The first thing he did when he got to his office was write himself a reminder to collect his laundry when he went home. He met Nyberg striding down the corridor with a plastic bag.

"We're going to be getting some results in today," he said. "Among other things we've been cross-checking a number of fingerprints."

"Do you have a better idea of what happened in the engine room?"

"I don't envy the pathologist, I'll tell you that. The body was so crushed there wasn't a whole piece of bone in there. Well, you saw it, you know what it looked like."

"H枚kberg was probably already unconscious or even dead by the time she was thrown against the high-voltage wires," Wallander said. "Do you think that was the case with Landahl? If it was Landahl."

"Oh, it was him," Nyberg said.

"How do you know that?"

"He was identified by an unusual birthmark above one of his ankles. The parents have been contacted."

"Good. Then that's taken care of," Wallander said. "First H枚kberg, then her boyfriend."

Nyberg raised his eyebrows. "I was under the impression that you thought he had killed her? That could suggest he committed suicide. Although I admit it's a pretty horrendous way to die."

"There are other possibilities," Wallander said. "But the key thing for now is we've established who he was."

Wallander returned to his office. He had just taken off his coat and was beginning to regret having thrown Elvira's letter away when the phone rang. It was Holgersson. She wanted to see him straight away. He approached her office with a sense of dread. Normally he enjoyed his discussions with her, but ever since she had openly displayed her mistrust of him a week ago, he had been doing his best to avoid her. As he had anticipated, the atmosphere was far from relaxed. Holgersson was sitting at her desk and her trademark smile was forced. Even as he sat down, Wallander felt his anger bubbling up in anticipation of whatever was about to come his way.

"I'm going to get right to the point," she said. "The investigation into allegations made against you by Eva Persson and her mother is now under way."

"Who's in charge?"

"A man from H盲ssleholm."

"A man from Hassleholm? That sounds like the name of a bad television series."

"He's a highly regarded officer. I also need to inform you that you have been reported to the Justice Department ombudsman. And not just you. We have both been reported."

"Did you slap her too?"

"I'm responsible for the conduct of my officers."

"Who filed the report?"

"Persson's lawyer, Klas Harrysson."

"Thanks for letting me know," Wallander said and got up. He was furious now. The energy from the morning was draining from his body, and he didn't want it to go.

"I'm not finished."

"We have a homicide investigation on our hands."

"I spoke to Hansson earlier. I am aware of how it's going."

He said nothing about having talked to her, Wallander thought. Are all my colleagues going behind my back?

He sat down heavily.

"This is a difficult situation," she said.

"Not really," Wallander said, interrupting her. "What happened between Persson, her mother and me happened exactly as I told you. I haven't changed a syllable of my account of it since it happened. You should be able to tell that I don't flinch or get nervous when you press me on details. What makes me mad as all hell, however, is that you don't believe me."

"What do you expect me to do?"

"I want you to believe me when I tell you something."

"But the girl and her mother have a different story. And there's two of them."

"There could be a hundred of them and it wouldn't change an iota. You should believe me, not them. They have a reason to he."

"So do you."

"I do?"

"If you hit her without provocation."

Wallander got up a second time, this time more forcefully. "I won't even dignify that remark with an