Firewall - By Henning Mankell & Ebba Segerberg Page 0,16

knife."

Wallander nodded and shut the file in front of him. "Naturally, we still have to speak to the parents and make sure we conduct a thorough background investigation, but I think we can safely forward the preliminary information to the prosecutor."

Holgersson raised her hand to speak. "We need a press conference. We've been barraged by calls from the media. It is still a far cry from normal that two young girls commit this kind of violent crime."

Wallander looked at Höglund, but she shook her head. Over the past few years she had often dealt with the media, a job he thoroughly despised. But not this time. Wallander understood.

"I'll do it," he said. "Do we have a time?"

"I'm going to suggest 1 p.m."

Wallander made a note.

They divided up the tasks and he brought the meeting to a close. Everyone wanted the matter disposed of as rapidly as possible. It was an exceptionally unpleasant case, and no-one wanted to spend more time on it than they had to. Wallander would visit the Hökberg family. Martinsson and Höglund would talk to Eva Persson and her parents.

Soon the room was empty. Wallander could feel the symptoms of his flu getting worse. At least maybe I'll infect a journalist, he thought and dug into his pockets for a tissue.

He bumped into Nyberg in the corridor. Nyberg was wearing boots and a warm coat, his hair splayed in all directions. He was clearly in a bad mood.

"I heard you found the knife," Wallander said.

"Looks like the county can no longer afford to pay for basic upkeep," Nyberg said. "We were ankle-deep in leaves, but we eventually found it."

"What kind of a knife?"

"Kitchen knife. Pretty big. The tip broke off, probably from hitting a rib, so she must have used a surprising amount of force. But then again it was a cheap knife."

Wallander shook his head.

"It's hard to believe," Nyberg said. "I don't know what happened to the basic respect for human life. How much money did they get?"

"We don't know yet, but probably about 600 kronor. It couldn't have been much more. Lundberg was at the beginning of his shift and he never carried a lot of cash at the start."

Nyberg muttered something under his breath and walked away. Wallander went back to his office. For a while he sat at his desk without knowing what to do next. His throat hurt. Finally, he opened the file with a sigh. The Hökbergs lived to the west of Ystad. He wrote down the address, got up and put on his coat. As he was leaving the phone rang. He picked it up. It was Linda. The noises and clatter in the background made him think she was calling from the restaurant.

"I got your message this morning," she said.

"This morning?"

"I wasn't at home last night."

Wallander knew better than to ask her where she spent the night. It would only make her cross and she'd slam down the phone.

"Well, I didn't call for anything special," he said. "I just wanted to know how you were."

"I'm fine. How about you?"

"I've got a slight cold. Otherwise things are the same. I was wondering if you had any plans to come down and visit soon?"

"I don't have time."

"I'm happy to pay your fare."

"I told you, I don't have time. It's not about the money."

Wallander realised he was not going to be able to change her mind. She was as stubborn as he was.

"How are you doing anyway?" she said, again. "Do you have any contact with Baiba these days?"

"That ended a long time ago. You know that."

"It's not good for you to go on like this."

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean. You're even starting to sound whiny. You never had that before."

"You think I sound whiny?"

"You're doing it right now. But I have a suggestion. I think you should contact a dating agency."

"A dating agency?"

"Where you can find someone. Otherwise you're going to turn into a whiny old man who worries about where I'm spending my nights."

She sees right through me, he thought. I'm an open book.

"You mean I should put an ad in the paper?"

"Yes, or use one of those companies."

"I'd never do that."

"Why not?"

"I don't believe in them."

"And why not?"

"I don't know."

"Well, it was just a suggestion. Think it over. I have to get back to work."

"Where are you?"

"At the restaurant."

They said goodbye and hung up. Wallander did wonder where she had spent the night. A couple of years ago Linda had been involved with a young man