Firewall - By Henning Mankell & Ebba Segerberg Page 0,125

there are no real problems. None of a technical nature, at any rate."

"What would those be?"

"Each country has its own set of laws and regulations governing trade. You would have to know what those are, unless you are operating illegally."

"Since there is so much money involved, the security measures must be damned stringent. Could they, do you think, be cracked?"

"I'm not the right man to answer those questions. But as a police officer you should know that anyone with a strong enough desire can do almost anything. What is it people say? If you really wanted to kill the President of the USA, you could do it. But I'm getting curious as to why you're asking me these questions."

"You impressed me as having a great deal of technical expertise."

"Only on the surface. The electronic world is so complicated and is changing so fast that I doubt there's anyone out there who understands it completely. Or who has control over it."

Wallander said he would be in touch with him soon. Then he went to the conference room. Hansson and Nyberg were there already. They were complaining about the coffee machine breaking down more and more often these days. Wallander nodded to them and sat down just as H枚glund and Martinsson arrived. Wallander had not yet decided whether to begin or to end by describing his meeting with Holgersson. He decided to wait. His hard-working colleagues were involved in a tough enough investigation as it was, and he shouldn't burden them more than was absolutely necessary.

They began by discussing the events surrounding Landahl's death. There were no eyewitness accounts. No-one had seen him on the ferry, no-one had seen him make his way to the engine room.

"I find it very strange," Wallander said. "No-one saw him, either when he paid for his cabin or anywhere on the ship. No-one saw him enter the restricted area leading to the engine room. It makes no sense."

"He must have travelled with someone," H枚glund said. "I spoke to one of the engineers before I got here and he said it would have been impossible for Landahl to squeeze himself into the propeller shaft on his own."

"So he must have been forced into that position," Wallander said. "Which means that now we have two people who managed to find their way into the engine room without being seen. And one who made his way back. We can draw a conclusion from this, which is that Landahl must have gone willingly with this person. If he had been dragged there someone would be bound to have noticed, and it would have been hard for the killer to force Landahl down those ladders."

They talked through various aspects of the case until 6 p.m., at which time Wallander decided that they were no longer being productive. Everyone was worn out. Wallander decided not to mention his conversation with Holgersson. He simply didn't have the energy.

Martinsson went back to Runnerstr枚ms Torg. Hansson brought up the point that Modin should probably be compensated in some way. Nyberg yawned. He still had oil under his fingernails. Wallander talked for a few more minutes with Hansson and H枚glund in the corridor. They assigned some of the tasks that remained. Then Wallander went to his office and closed his door.

He stared at the phone for a long time without understanding his hesitation. Finally he dialled Elvira's number.

She answered after the seventh ring. "Lindfeldt."

Wallander put the phone down, waited a few minutes, and then dialled her number again. This time she answered immediately. He liked the sound of her voice.

Wallander said who he was and they chatted for a few minutes. It was apparently quite windy in Malm枚, more so than in Ystad. Elvira also complained that many of her colleagues at work were coming down with colds. Wallander agreed. Autumn was always a difficult time that way. He was recovering from a sore throat himself.

"It would be nice to get together sometime," she said.

"I'm not a big believer in dating agencies," he said, regretting it as soon as the words left his mouth.

"It's really no better or worse than any other way to meet people," she said. "We're both adults, after all."

Then she said another thing that surprised him. She asked him what he was doing that evening. She suggested that they meet in Malm枚. I can't, Wallander thought. This is far too fast and I have work to do, but then he said yes. They agreed to meet at 8.30 p.m. in the Savoy