‘I heard from Annika that it wasn’t an accident. Bloody awful,’ he said, shaking his head.
‘Yes, Ernst and I have just been out talking with the family,’ Patrik said, taking a seat. ‘We told them that now it’s a murder investigation. We asked all the family members where they were at the time Sara disappeared, and whether they knew anyone who’d want to harm her.’
Gösta raised his eyebrows. ‘Do you think that someone in the family might have killed her?’
‘Right now I don’t think anything. But in any case, it’s important to eliminate them from the investigation as soon as possible. At the same time we’ll have to check whether there are any known sex offenders in the area.’
‘But I thought the girl hadn’t been violated, from what Annika told me,’ said Gösta.
‘Not according to what the M.E. could see, but a little girl who’s murdered …’ Patrik didn’t need to finish his sentence. There had been far too many stories in the media about the exploitation of children for them to ignore that possibility.
‘On the other hand,’ Patrik went on, ‘to my surprise, I got an immediate answer when I asked whether they knew anyone who might wish them harm.’
Gösta held up his hand. ‘Let me guess, Lilian threw Kaj to the wolves.’
Patrik gave a little frown at the expression. ‘Well, I suppose you could put it that way. In any event, there doesn’t seem to be any love lost between them. We canvassed the neighborhood and had an informal interview with Kaj as well. You might say there are plenty of old grudges beneath the surface.’
Gösta snorted. ‘“Beneath the surface” isn’t the expression I’d use. It’s a drama that’s been going on in broad daylight for almost ten years. And personally I’m fed up with it.’
‘Well, I gathered from Annika that you’re the one who has taken the reports they’ve filed against each other over the years. Could you tell me a bit about them?’
Gösta turned round and took a binder from the bookshelf behind his desk. He hastily paged through it until he found what he was looking for.
‘I only have stuff from the most recent years here; the rest is down in archives.’
Patrik nodded.
‘You might as well take this binder. There’s a bunch of good details in here. Complaints from both sides about everything you could imagine.’
‘Like what?’
‘Trespassing—Kaj apparently cut across their property once, and received a death threat—Lilian clearly said to Kaj that he should watch out if he valued his life.’ Gösta kept paging through the binder. ‘And then we have a number of complaints about Kaj’s son, Morgan. Lilian claimed that he was spying on her, and I quote, “lads like that have an overdeveloped sex drive, I’ve heard, so I know he’s planning to rape me,” end quote. And this is just a small selection.’
Patrik shook his head in astonishment. ‘Don’t they have anything better to do?’
‘Apparently not,’ said Gösta dryly. ‘And for some reason they always insist on coming to me with their woes. But I’ll gladly pass them over to you for the time being,’ he said, handing the binder to Patrik, who accepted it reluctantly.
‘But even if both Kaj and Lilian are quarrelsome devils,’ Gösta added, ‘I find it hard to believe that Kaj would have gone so far as to kill her granddaughter.’
‘No doubt you’re right, said Patrik, getting up with the binder in his arms, ‘but, as I said, now his name has been brought up, so I’m at least going to have to examine that possibility.’
Gösta hesitated. ‘Let me know if you need any more help. Mellberg couldn’t have been serious when he said that you and Ernst were supposed to take care of this by yourselves. It’s a homicide investigation, after all. So if I can be of any assistance …’
‘Thanks, I appreciate it. And I think you’re right. Mellberg was probably just trying to rile me. Not even he could have meant that you and
‘Yes, Ernst and I have just been out talking with the family,’ Patrik said, taking a seat. ‘We told them that now it’s a murder investigation. We asked all the family members where they were at the time Sara disappeared, and whether they knew anyone who’d want to harm her.’
Gösta raised his eyebrows. ‘Do you think that someone in the family might have killed her?’
‘Right now I don’t think anything. But in any case, it’s important to eliminate them from the investigation as soon as possible. At the same time we’ll have to check whether there are any known sex offenders in the area.’
‘But I thought the girl hadn’t been violated, from what Annika told me,’ said Gösta.
‘Not according to what the M.E. could see, but a little girl who’s murdered …’ Patrik didn’t need to finish his sentence. There had been far too many stories in the media about the exploitation of children for them to ignore that possibility.
‘On the other hand,’ Patrik went on, ‘to my surprise, I got an immediate answer when I asked whether they knew anyone who might wish them harm.’
Gösta held up his hand. ‘Let me guess, Lilian threw Kaj to the wolves.’
Patrik gave a little frown at the expression. ‘Well, I suppose you could put it that way. In any event, there doesn’t seem to be any love lost between them. We canvassed the neighborhood and had an informal interview with Kaj as well. You might say there are plenty of old grudges beneath the surface.’
Gösta snorted. ‘“Beneath the surface” isn’t the expression I’d use. It’s a drama that’s been going on in broad daylight for almost ten years. And personally I’m fed up with it.’
‘Well, I gathered from Annika that you’re the one who has taken the reports they’ve filed against each other over the years. Could you tell me a bit about them?’
Gösta turned round and took a binder from the bookshelf behind his desk. He hastily paged through it until he found what he was looking for.
‘I only have stuff from the most recent years here; the rest is down in archives.’
Patrik nodded.
‘You might as well take this binder. There’s a bunch of good details in here. Complaints from both sides about everything you could imagine.’
‘Like what?’
‘Trespassing—Kaj apparently cut across their property once, and received a death threat—Lilian clearly said to Kaj that he should watch out if he valued his life.’ Gösta kept paging through the binder. ‘And then we have a number of complaints about Kaj’s son, Morgan. Lilian claimed that he was spying on her, and I quote, “lads like that have an overdeveloped sex drive, I’ve heard, so I know he’s planning to rape me,” end quote. And this is just a small selection.’
Patrik shook his head in astonishment. ‘Don’t they have anything better to do?’
‘Apparently not,’ said Gösta dryly. ‘And for some reason they always insist on coming to me with their woes. But I’ll gladly pass them over to you for the time being,’ he said, handing the binder to Patrik, who accepted it reluctantly.
‘But even if both Kaj and Lilian are quarrelsome devils,’ Gösta added, ‘I find it hard to believe that Kaj would have gone so far as to kill her granddaughter.’
‘No doubt you’re right, said Patrik, getting up with the binder in his arms, ‘but, as I said, now his name has been brought up, so I’m at least going to have to examine that possibility.’
Gösta hesitated. ‘Let me know if you need any more help. Mellberg couldn’t have been serious when he said that you and Ernst were supposed to take care of this by yourselves. It’s a homicide investigation, after all. So if I can be of any assistance …’
‘Thanks, I appreciate it. And I think you’re right. Mellberg was probably just trying to rile me. Not even he could have meant that you and
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