The Dangerous Game by Mari Jungstedt

That’d be great.’
    Knutas came back with two cups, setting one down in front of her before taking a chair across the desk from her.
    ‘Did you see the news on TV last night?’ he asked.
    ‘No, we were busy with other things.’
    ‘Apparently, Regional News reported that we suspect an axe was used in the assault.’
    ‘I saw that in the morning paper. Not totally unexpected. Berg must have gone out to Furillen and talked to someone. Everybody who works at the hotel knew about it.’
    ‘I can’t believe that people have such a hard time keeping their mouths shut.’ Knutas shook his head. ‘Anything new?’
    ‘Not really. Except that the earring that Sohlman found in the cabin keeps getting more and more interesting. Nobody seems to want to claim it. Evidently, it doesn’t belong to Jenny Levin or to any staff member or previous hotel guest. That particular hermit’s cabin was recently built, so very few people stayed there before Sandberg. And the very cooperative and efficient receptionist has managed to contact almost all of them. At the moment, all indications are that the earring belongs to the perpetrator.’
    ‘So we know one thing about him,’ said Knutas dryly. ‘He has at least one pierced ear.’
    ‘As for Sandberg’s computer, it’s going to be examined today,’ Jacobsson went on. ‘Let’s hope that it can tell us something useful. I’ve also started going through all the interviews and I’ve found at least one interesting thing. The cleaning woman who works at the hotel, and sometimes works on reception as well, reported that a man phoned the hotel about a week before the attack and asked some strange questions. When he heard a photo shoot was scheduled at the hotel, he asked detailed questions about the arrangements. The cleaning woman thought it was a bit odd, so she asked if he was a reporter. He hung up without answering.’
    ‘Did he give his name?’
    ‘No.’
    ‘We need to trace that phone call. Does she remember what day he rang?’
    ‘Actually, she does, because she was brought in when a staff member called in sick. Not last Saturday, but the previous Saturday. She’s positive about that. She even remembers what time he phoned, because she was listening to
Melodikrysset
on the radio and was annoyed at being interrupted.’
    ‘Bravo. Could you follow up on this today?’
    ‘Of course. We also have the reports from our colleagues who knocked on doors in the surrounding areas on Furillen, but they don’t tell us much. There are so few houses that are occupied this time of year, and the only people we were able to contact didn’t see or hear anything. An old man who lives right near the road claims that he definitely would have woken up if a car or motorcycle went by during the night. He’s a light sleeper. But all he heard was the ambulance. By the way, we still haven’t found the boat, but the helicopter will go out there as soon as it’s light. And no boat has been reported stolen. Today we’ll continue to search around Lergrav, Valleviken and the other communities in the vicinity. We’ll also try to talk to anyone who wasn’t at home yesterday in the houses along the road to Kyllaj.’
    Jacobsson clasped her hands behind her head and stared up at the ceiling. Knutas looked at her for a moment without speaking. She was thin and petite, with short dark hair and big brown eyes. He noticed that she looked unusually pale, with dark circles under her eyes. But she’d said she hadn’t slept well. He liked her face. It was so sensitive. He’d been working with her for years, ever since she’d arrived as a trainee at police headquarters in Visby. He was almost fifteen years older than she was, but he never thought about the age difference. That’s so typical for a man in late middle age, he thought, with a good dose of self-contempt. We never want to admit how old we are. We’re constantly deceiving ourselves. But what did he know about Karin’s perception of