shock – in which the brain could not sort events into a logical order. Statistically speaking, it was an unlikely story. A mother does not kill her child just because she is not home on time. That Karin had suddenly become mentally ill and completely insane did not sound feasible either. Walter’s intuition told him that she was not insane. Yet, she had caused her daughter’s death.
He called the custody officer on the intercom, and a burly male police officer and even larger woman police officer gently took Karin away. She would certainly receive yet another set of sedatives and some counselling on top of that.
The notary, Gunvor Janson, asked if she should close the door behind her. Walter nodded. He wanted to sit for a while by himself in the empty interrogation room. Listen to the silence and to the noise in his head. He pressed his fingers hard against his temples in an attempt to create order from the confusion within.
Just as Walter was about to leave the room, Lilja appeared in the doorway, accompanied by Jonna who seemed to have recovered from the interview.
“How nice of you to take the time to pay us a visit here at the police station,” he began. “By the way, how did the interview go with that Karin Sjö … what’s-her-name? According to Jonna, it went well.”
Walter leaned back in his chair, absent-mindedly twisting a pen.
“Sjöstrand, yes,” Walter said. “We can close her file. She more or less told us herself that she caused her daughter’s death in some sort of struggle. The daughter fell down the stairs and landed on her head. According to Swedberg, she died more or less instantaneously. My guess is that it will be a charge of manslaughter against the mother.”
Lilja leaned against the doorpost and put his hands in his uniform-trouser pockets. “Yes, something like that. Damn tragedy, that. How can someone do something like that to their own daughter?”
Walter shrugged his shoulders. “You tell me.”
“She was apparently a lay juror,” Lilja added.
“Yes, do you want me to drop the case now?” Walter asked.
“No, why?” asked Lilja.
“I thought maybe Julén wanted me to do the same as I did with Bror Lantz.”
“Spend your time and energy on this instead,” Lilja said with a sudden harshness in his voice, removing his hands from his trouser pockets. “Lantz is history. One can’t win every battle. The main thing is to win the war.”
Walter sighed at Lilja’s old, worn-out clichées, but could not resist joining in.
“How can one win the war if one also has to fight against one’s own forces?” he said, challengingly. “Warfare on two fronts has never been very successful, if you read the the history books.”
Lilja observed that he had no more time to embroil himself in lengthy discussions on history with Walter. He had a meeting to get to.
He has the common sense to flee rather than to fight badly, Walter silently concluded as he heard Lilja’s footsteps disappear down the corridor.
“But surely, there are similarities,” Jonna said after Lilja’s hasty exit. She offered it more as a statement than a question.
“Between Lantz and Sjöstrand?”
Jonna nodded.
“Maybe, maybe not,” Walter said. “We shouldn’t jump to conclusions over the similarities. Coincidence occurs more often than one would expect. There are actually statistics on it.”
Jonna looked at Walter with a pensive gaze. She did not know what he meant. Was it just coincidence? There were a lot of things that correlated with the Lantz incident.
Walter noticed the doubt in Jonna’s eyes. “I know what you’re thinking,” he said.
“What?”
“That I’m either blind or stupid.”
“No, I’m just wondering why you’re not taking the similarities more seriously.”
“I am,” Walter said. “But these things take time. One can’t jump on every potential clue as soon as it appears. Eventually, you’ll be sitting with a big pile in your lap and get nowhere. Olof
He called the custody officer on the intercom, and a burly male police officer and even larger woman police officer gently took Karin away. She would certainly receive yet another set of sedatives and some counselling on top of that.
The notary, Gunvor Janson, asked if she should close the door behind her. Walter nodded. He wanted to sit for a while by himself in the empty interrogation room. Listen to the silence and to the noise in his head. He pressed his fingers hard against his temples in an attempt to create order from the confusion within.
Just as Walter was about to leave the room, Lilja appeared in the doorway, accompanied by Jonna who seemed to have recovered from the interview.
“How nice of you to take the time to pay us a visit here at the police station,” he began. “By the way, how did the interview go with that Karin Sjö … what’s-her-name? According to Jonna, it went well.”
Walter leaned back in his chair, absent-mindedly twisting a pen.
“Sjöstrand, yes,” Walter said. “We can close her file. She more or less told us herself that she caused her daughter’s death in some sort of struggle. The daughter fell down the stairs and landed on her head. According to Swedberg, she died more or less instantaneously. My guess is that it will be a charge of manslaughter against the mother.”
Lilja leaned against the doorpost and put his hands in his uniform-trouser pockets. “Yes, something like that. Damn tragedy, that. How can someone do something like that to their own daughter?”
Walter shrugged his shoulders. “You tell me.”
“She was apparently a lay juror,” Lilja added.
“Yes, do you want me to drop the case now?” Walter asked.
“No, why?” asked Lilja.
“I thought maybe Julén wanted me to do the same as I did with Bror Lantz.”
“Spend your time and energy on this instead,” Lilja said with a sudden harshness in his voice, removing his hands from his trouser pockets. “Lantz is history. One can’t win every battle. The main thing is to win the war.”
Walter sighed at Lilja’s old, worn-out clichées, but could not resist joining in.
“How can one win the war if one also has to fight against one’s own forces?” he said, challengingly. “Warfare on two fronts has never been very successful, if you read the the history books.”
Lilja observed that he had no more time to embroil himself in lengthy discussions on history with Walter. He had a meeting to get to.
He has the common sense to flee rather than to fight badly, Walter silently concluded as he heard Lilja’s footsteps disappear down the corridor.
“But surely, there are similarities,” Jonna said after Lilja’s hasty exit. She offered it more as a statement than a question.
“Between Lantz and Sjöstrand?”
Jonna nodded.
“Maybe, maybe not,” Walter said. “We shouldn’t jump to conclusions over the similarities. Coincidence occurs more often than one would expect. There are actually statistics on it.”
Jonna looked at Walter with a pensive gaze. She did not know what he meant. Was it just coincidence? There were a lot of things that correlated with the Lantz incident.
Walter noticed the doubt in Jonna’s eyes. “I know what you’re thinking,” he said.
“What?”
“That I’m either blind or stupid.”
“No, I’m just wondering why you’re not taking the similarities more seriously.”
“I am,” Walter said. “But these things take time. One can’t jump on every potential clue as soon as it appears. Eventually, you’ll be sitting with a big pile in your lap and get nowhere. Olof