Faceless Killers Read Online Free PDF Page B

examination. It'll take a couple of days."
    The reporter had more questions, but he was interrupted by the pimply girl with the tape recorder. Wallander could see by the letters on the lid that she was from the local radio station.
"What did the robbers take?"
    "We don't know," replied Wallander. "We don't even know if it was a robbery." "What else could it be?" "We don't know."
    "Is there anything that encourages you to believe that it wasn't a robbery?" "No."
    Wallander could feel that he was sweating in the overheated room. He remembered how as a young policeman he had dreamt of holding press conferences. But they had never been stuffy and sweaty in his dreams.
    "I asked a question," he heard one of the reporters say from the back of the room.
"I didn't hear it," said Wallander.
    "Do the police regard this as an important crime?" asked the reporter.
Wallander was surprised at the question.
    "Naturally it's important that we solve this murder," he said. "Why shouldn't it be?"
"Will you be needing extra resources?"
    "It's too early to comment on that. Of course we're hoping for a quick solution. I don't understand your question."
    A very young reporter with the thick glasses pushed his way forwards. Wallander had never seen him before.
    "In my opinion, no-one in Sweden cares about the elderly these days."
    "We do," replied Wallander. "We will do eveiything we can to ensure that we arrest those responsible. In Skåne there are many elderly people living alone on isolated farms. We would like, above all, to reassure them that we are doing everything possible."
    He stood up. "We'll let you know when we have more to report," he said. "Thank you for coming."
    The young woman from the local radio station blocked his path as he was leaving the room.
"I have nothing more to say," he told her.
"I know your daughter Linda," she said.
Wallander stopped. "You do? How?"
"We've met a few times. Here and there."
    Wallander tried to think whether he knew her. Had the girls been classmates?
She shook her head as if reading his mind.
    "You and I have never met," she said. "You don't know me. Linda and I ran into each other in Malmö."
"I see," said Wallander. "That's nice."
"I think she's great. Could I ask you some questions now?"
    Wallander repeated into her microphone what he had said earlier. Most of all he wanted to talk about Linda, but he didn't have a chance.
    "Say hello to her," she said, packing up her tape recorder. "Say hello from Cathrin. Or Cattis."
"I will," said Wallander. "I promise."
    When he went back to his office he could feel a gnawing in his stomach. But was it hunger or anxiety? I've got to stop this, he thought. I've got to accept that my wife has left me. I've got to admit that all I can do is wait for Linda to contact me herself. I've got to take life as it comes ...
    Just before 6 p.m. the investigative team gathered for another meeting. There was no news from the hospital. Wallander quickly drew up a roster for the night.
    "Is that necessary?" wondered Hansson. "Just put a tape recorder in the room, then any nurse can turn it on if the old lady wakes up."
    "It is necessary," said Wallander. "I can take midnight to six myself. Any volunteers until midnight?"
    Rydberg nodded. "I can sit at the hospital just as well as anywhere," he said.
    Wallander looked around. Everyone seemed pale in the glare from the fluorescent lights.
"Did we get anywhere?" he asked.
    "We've checked out Lunnarp," said Peters, who had led the door-to-door inquiry. "Everybody says they didn't see a thing. But it usually takes a few days before people really think. People are pretty scared up there. It's damned unpleasant. Almost everyone is old. Except for a terrified young Polish family, who are probably here illegally. But I didn't bother them. We'll have to keep trying tomorrow."
Wallander nodded and looked at Rydberg.
    "There were plenty of fingerprints at the scene," he said. "Maybe that will produce something. But I doubt it. It's mostly