The Dead of Summer Read Online Free PDF

heard something, and then he saw a shadow pass by outside.’
    ‘Did you see anything?’
    ‘No. It happened again when we were doing some grocery shopping in Slite. He kept turning round, and he said that he had the feeling somebody was after him.’
    ‘When did all this start?’
    ‘A few weeks ago, maybe in early June.’
    ‘Did he ever show this sort of behaviour before?’
    ‘No. But lately he started getting strange phone calls as well.’
    ‘What do you mean?’
    ‘Someone would ring him up and then just put down the phone.’
    ‘Did you get these kinds of calls too?’
    ‘No, but I know it happened to Peter several times.’
    ‘What did the person on the phone say?’
    ‘I don’t think they said anything. Maybe it was just a wrong number.’
    ‘What time of day did these calls take place?’
    ‘Any time at all, I think.’
    ‘Do you know whether he got these calls at home too?’
    ‘He never mentioned it.’
    ‘Did anyone else at the company get these types of phone calls?’
    ‘No.’
    ‘Do you think it had something to do with your business?’
    ‘Haven’t the foggiest. I don’t even know whether he was really being followed or whether it was just his imagination. He was a bit fragile from a psychological standpoint, I have to admit.’
    ‘Fragile? What do you mean by that?’
    ‘Sometimes he’d get depressed and hardly say a word all day. He seemed to retreat inside himself. It was obvious that he was feeling low.’
    ‘Do you know what caused it?’
    ‘No.’
    ‘Did you ever talk about it?’
    ‘No. I did try to bring it up a few times, but I could tell that he didn’t want to talk about it, so I dropped the subject.’
    ‘How much do you know about the company’s finances?’
    ‘Not a thing, as a matter of fact. As I said, Peter handled everything to do with the account books. I have no sense for numbers.’

JOHAN AND PIA were working to get their report ready in time for the first evening news broadcast. They were sitting in the editorial office of Regional News, housed in the Swedish TV and Radio building on Östra Hansegatan, just outside the ring wall. For the past few years Gotland had been included in the area covered by Regional News, but there was no permanent staff on the island. Johan had been forced to get used to commuting back and forth between Stockholm and Visby. It had been very trying, not just professionally but also in terms of his personal life. His relationship with Emma Winarve was complicated enough, and it had been that way from the very beginning. She was married when they first met, and she had two young children. They instantly fell in love and carried on a passionate affair in secret. When Emma was pregnant with Johan’s child, she got a divorce and gave birth to their daughter, Elin, who was now a year old. Emma had been too bewildered after the divorce to move in with Johan right away, which had greatly upset him.
    But eventually he was allowed to move into her house in Roma.
    Their familial happiness was short-lived, because soon afterwards they had landed in the middle of a kidnapping drama, and for a few terrifying hours Elin was held captive by a murderer on the run from the police. While carrying out his reporting duties for Swedish TV, Johan had come too close to the perpetrator. Emma had accused Johan of putting their daughter’s life in danger, even though deep inside she knew that he hadn’t done it on purpose. After Elin was found safe, Emma had broken off the engagement. Several months had passed since then, and the contact between them was still chilly. They saw each other only when picking up Elin or dropping her off.
    During the whole turbulent spring, Johan had rushed back and forth between Stockholm and Gotland, trying to spend as much time with Elin as he could.
    Swedish TV had rented an apartment for him on Adelsgatan in the middle of Visby so that he didn’t have to stay in a hotel. Just a little cubbyhole, of course, but the