Firewall - By Henning Mankell & Ebba Segerberg Page 0,149
there was no other car. He walked to the house and round its outer buildings, but it was all thoroughly secured. What am I doing here? he wondered. If there's no car, then there's no Robert either. But something drove him on towards the fields. He went to the right, where he knew he would find the small meditation garden. A bird squawked nearby. The fog made it impossible to judge distances. He reached the ring of stones that bordered the garden. He could hear the sea clearly now. No-one was there and no-one seemed to have been there either. He got out his phone and called H枚glund. She was in Sandhammaren. No sign of Modin's car there either.
"The fog is very localised," she told him. "Air traffic is normal at Sturup. A bit north of Br枚sarp everything is clear."
"I don't think he's gone that far," Wallander said. "He's still in the area, I'm sure of it."
He ended the conversation and started back. Suddenly something caught his attention. He listened. A car was approaching. He concentrated intensely. Modin had gone off in a Golf. But the engine noise of this car was different. He loaded the shotgun. Then he pressed on. The engine stopped. Wallander waited. A car door was opened, but not closed. Wallander was sure it was not Modin. Perhaps it was a caretaker coming to see to the place. Or to find out who it was who had just arrived, to make sure it was not a burglar. Wallander thought about getting closer, but his instinct warned him not to. What it was, he couldn't say. He left the path he was on and made a wide circle back, heading towards the far end of the car park. From time to time he stopped. I would have heard someone unlock the door and enter the house, he thought. But it's too quiet out there. Much too quiet.
He was directly behind the house. He took a few steps back and it disappeared into the grey fog. Then he walked towards the car park. He climbed over the fence with some difficulty. Then he slowly reconnoitred the car park. It was harder than before to see his way. He thought that it was probably a bad idea to get too close to Martinsson's car. Better to go round it. He stayed close to the fence so he wouldn't lose his bearings.
He stopped when he had reached the entrance. There was the car. Or rather, the van. At first he wasn't sure what it was, but then it dawned on him: it was a dark blue Mercedes van.
He took a few quick paces back into the fog and listened. His heart was beating fast. He undid the safety catch on the shotgun. The driver's door was standing open. He stood stock still. This was undoubtedly the van they had been looking for. The one that had brought Falk's body back to the cash machine. And here it was, out in the fog looking for Modin.
But Modin isn't here, Wallander thought.
Then he realised that it could be him they were looking for. If they had seen Modin drive away they could have been watching him too. He replayed his drive here. No car had overtaken him, but had there been headlights in his rear-view mirror?
His mobile rang in his pocket. Wallander jumped and answered as quickly as he could with a low voice. It wasn't Martinsson or H枚glund. It was Elvira Lindfeldt.
"I hope I'm not disturbing you," she said. "But I wonder if we could set a date for tomorrow. That is, if you'd still like to."
"I'm a bit busy right now," Wallander said.
She asked him to speak up, saying it was hard to hear him.
"Can I call you back?" he asked. "I'm tied up right now."
"I really can't hear you very well," she said.
He raised his voice as far as he dared. "I can't talk now. I'll call you back."
"I'm at home," she said.
Wallander switched off his phone. This is insane, he thought. She won't understand. She will think I'm avoiding her. Why did she have to pick this time to call, for heaven's sake?
Then he had a thought that made his head spin. He couldn't imagine where it had come from and he brushed it aside before it had a chance to take hold. But it had been there, like a dark undercurrent in his mind. Why did she call now? Was it a mere coincidence?