Firewall - By Henning Mankell & Ebba Segerberg Page 0,96

held by a student organisation.

"Tynnes didn't dance," she said, "but he was there. Somehow or other we were introduced. I remember thinking that he seemed boring. It certainly wasn't love at first sight, not from my side. He called a few days after that. I don't know how he got my number. He wanted to see me again, but not for the usual walk or movie. What he suggested surprised me."

"And what was that?"

"He wanted to take me to Bromma, to watch the aeroplanes taking off."

"Did he say why?"

"He liked aeroplanes. We went, and he could tell me everything about the planes that were parked there. I thought he was a little strange. He certainly wasn't how I had imagined the man in my life."

Falk had been persistent according to Marianne, although she had had her doubts.

"He wasn't pushy – physically," she said. "It took him about three months to kiss me. If he hadn't, by that point, I would probably have tired of the whole thing. He was very shy, or at least he pretended to be."

"Why would he pretend?"

"Tynnes was very self-confident when it came down to it. He had a reserved manner, but I think he looked down on most of the rest of humanity, for all that he often claimed the opposite."

A turning point in the relationship came one day in April or May about six months after they had met. They had had no plans to meet that day since Falk had said he had an important lecture at school and she was running errands for her mother. On her way to the railway station, she was forced to stop on the side of the road since a mass of demonstrators was passing by. It was a march to raise awareness of Third World issues. The signs and banners had various aggressive messages about the World Bank and Portuguese colonial oppression. Marianne had come from a stable home with solid Social Democratic values. She had not been caught up by the growing wave of left-wing radicals, nor had she ever detected any such interest in Falk, though he always seemed to have the answer whenever they discussed political issues, and he had clearly enjoyed showing off his political knowledge and superior understanding of political theory. When she caught sight of him that day among the demonstrators she couldn't believe her eyes. She had involuntarily taken a few steps back as he passed her on the street and he never saw her.

Afterwards she had asked him about it. He was furious that she had seen him in the demonstration. It was the first time she had witnessed his temper. But then he had calmed down. She never found out why it had so affected him, but from that day she had known there was a lot more to Falk than met the eye.

"I broke up with him that June," she said. "Not because I had found anyone else. It was just that I didn't believe we were going anywhere. His angry reaction about the demonstration had played a part in that."

"How did he take it?"

"I don't know."

"What do you mean?"

"We had met at an outdoor café in Kungsträdgården. I told him straight out that I wanted to end the relationship and that I didn't think we had a future. He listened to what I had to say and he just got up and left."

"And that was the end?"

"He didn't say a single word. I remember that his face was a complete blank. When I had finished talking he left. He did leave money on the table for our coffees."

"What happened after that?"

"I didn't see him again for several years."

"How long exactly?"

"Four years, I think."

"What did he do during that time?"

"I don't know for sure."

"He vanished without a trace during those four years? Is that what you are saying?"

"It's hard to believe, I know, but about a week after our date in Kungsträdgården I decided I needed to talk to him again. That's when I discovered he had moved out of his student room without leaving a forwarding address. After a few weeks I managed to get in touch with his parents in Linköping, but they, too, had no idea where he had gone. He was gone for four years, and I had no idea where he was. He had withdrawn from the business school. No-one knew anything. And then he turned up."

"When was that?"

"I remember it exactly. It was August 2, 1977. I had just accepted