Nikki who already had pondered the questions gave Sam a tight look.
”I agree with Daphne. Petros is guilty of everything having to do with Patrik. If he’s also guilty of the murders…I don’t know…but why not? A theory could be that it has something to do with the companies of the victims since Petros was the accountant to three of our four victims. Has anybody checked Petros’ shoe-size by the way?”
Sam looked inquiringly at Daphne and they both shook their heads in a negative reply.
”I’ll deal with it at once.” Sam stood up and quickly went over to the jail.
”I think we should go on ahead to Petros’ office to have a look around before Forensics get there”, Daphne said and covered a sneeze with her arm.
Carlos grunted his approval and swallowed the last bite of sandwich with some coffee. ”Just make sure you don’t destroy any leads.”
”Excuse me, are you the right one to say that?” Daphne said with irritation and stood up. ”You’ll have to stay at the station and keep Petros calm. That’s about all you can manage. Because to tell you the truth you haven’t contributed a lot to this investigation.”
A dark shadow passed over the Chief’s face and with a sulky face he started pleading to deaf ears.
”By the way, I’ll take my car instead since I might have to pick up Linn from the hospital later this afternoon. I also need to pass by Barbro Hofvenskold”, Nikki said tiredly, rubbing her eyes.
”Barbro?” Daphne asked and pushed her sun-glasses up a bit.
”I have proof that she and Olof Stenvall have a secret romance together.” Nikki scratched the back of her head and just longed to go home and have a long nice shower. Wash off the events of the night, put on clean clothes again and try to recharge her batteries.
”What? Barbro and Olof? I’ll be damned. Don’t fall asleep at the wheel”, Daphne admonished and jumped in next to Sam in the white Land Rover. ”See you later at Petros’ office. Good luck.”
”By the way”, Sam shouted through the window. ”Petros is a size 43 in shoes.” He made a thumbs up and added a big grin before closing the window.
Nikki chose to drive with the hood down although it was far too hot outside but she needed the fresh air to keep herself awake. Her eyelids felt heavy and she had a problem staying awake. She felt a hard knot in her stomach growing when she thought of Patrik’s condition. What if he didn’t wake up again? Worried she tried pushing the negative thoughts aside but it was easier said than done. While thinking of the Kroona family she didn’t notice the traffic light changing to red and was about to drive straight into a green pickup. Fortunately her reflexes were quick and the tyres screeched due to her fast braking.
With a deep sigh of relief Nikki put her head on the wheel and she realized she was a danger to traffic. The sun was burning strongly down on her face and she was happy not having to stay at the traffic light for more than a minute because otherwise her face would have been burnt. When it changed to green she drove passed an older man without a helmet on an old scooter. Behind him he had a big crate with clusters of grapes, matured in the sun. He was probably going down to the beach to make some money, Nikki thought and laughed quietly at the toothless man whose open shirt was fluttering in the wind.
Five minutes later she pulled up the hand-brake outside her flat. With tired legs she went up the stairs and threw off the sandals in the hallway. Without thinking Nikki started collecting Linn’s stuff and put her leopard-coloured suitcase by the door before getting into the shower. Newly made up and with fresh clothes she opened the fridge and poured herself a large glass of ice-cold blueberry juice and grabbed a pear in passing. With new energy Nikki looked out over the flat and a strange, fearful feeling came over her.
Something wasn’t quite right. She had goose-bumps. Her eyes strayed to the balcony door which was open. She was completely sure she had locked it before leaving the flat. Then she saw that the pattern on the cushions on the sofa were upside down. Somebody had definitely been in here while she was out. Who? Nikki’s thoughts automatically went to the man dressed in black on his motorbike who had been stalking her. Damn it, what did the Mafia want?
Feeling fresher but just as tired Nikki buckled the seatbelt and turned the ignition key in the car. The palm-trees were swaying in the warm wind and she could hear laughter from the beach. But today she had no longing to hang out at the beach, now all her focus was to solve the cases. Nikki drove toward the rich area and Barbro Hofvenskold’s fashionable house. Without any reason she started thinking of Patrik’s newly found daughter.
She slammed on the brakes by the bus-stop at the little road leading down to the beach, stopped the car and put on the warning blinkers. While waiting for the call to go through she looked at herself in the rear mirror. She looked really tired and not at all fresh. Finally Anna’s voice-mail came on and while Nikki left her message she hoped that Anna wouldn’t think of going to the hospital to visit Patrik. Linn couldn’t take any surprises of that sort right now.
Ten minutes later Nikki parked the silver coloured rental car outside the luxury villa of the Hofvenskold family. Barbro opened the door surprised and politely showed her the way to the back of the house. Nikki was surprised at her clothes and couldn’t even in her wildest dreams imagine her in a pair of denim shorts and a white T-shirt. But she was dressed like a teenager with a pair of dirty gardening gloves in her hand.
”How are you doing?” Nikki asked and tried to make herself comfortable in the rattan chair.
”So so. Up and down but down most of the time down.” Barbro poured some home-made lemonade into their glasses and checked with her hand that her hairdo was still alright. She had some soil on her cheek but Nikki didn’t bother telling her that.
”It’s come to my knowledge that Olof and you…”
Barbro opened her eyes wide and covered her mouth with the hand. ”Oh dear.”
Nikki put her hand on Barbro’s tanned arm. ”Would you like to tell me?”
Half an hour later Barbro was sitting with tears in her eyes and a handkerchief in her hand. She had told how Olof had courted her in secret when they had been playing golf and that one thing then led to another.
”Didn’t Karl or Olof’s wife suspect anything?” Nikki said and stretched to get some new energy.
Barbro shook her head and had a sip. ”My husband was on one side a professional successful businessman but privately he was”, she paused as though looking for the right word. ”In short he was quite ordinary.” She wet her throat again before continuing: ”Karl was already a devout Christian when we met in our youth but as he grew older it almost became an obsession” Barbro looked out over the sea and Nikki left her with her thoughts. Sometimes it was better to keep quiet and let the witness choose the pace, so Nikki leaned back in the chair and waited for the old widow.
”Well, you see...it all got too much and it was such a pressure on me since I didn’t share my husband’s faith. And Olof’s wife..well, I don’t really know her but according to Olof their marriage is more of a friendly kind. If I’ve understood right they live like siblings.
Nikki pondered Barbro’s statement about Karl. Imagine how wrong she had been. Of course she had thought that Barbro shared her husband’s faith.
”So you are not Christian?”
”Absolutely not.”
”And Olof, if you will excuse me, my impression is that he is unstable and thick skinned.”
Barbro sighed and didn’t let herself get provoked. ”Well yes, it’s correct but he too has his bright moments.” She smiled embarrassed. ”But he doesn’t have a strong faith.”
”I must ask you a sensitive question, I hope you don’t mind.” Nikki bent slightly forward and tried getting eye-contact with Barbro. ”What future plans did you and Olof actually have?” The old lady turned uncomfortably and her eyes went blank. ”My intentions were naturally to stay by Karl’s side as I’ve always done. Olof…well Olof had other plans of course. He wanted to divorce and start up afresh.” A slight blush spread over the widow’s face and she looked down on the table.
”But you weren’t prepared to leave Karl?”
”Never. He was my husband and will always remain that.” Barbro spoke decisively and looked serious.
Nikki turned the page in her notebook before gathering herself for the next question. ”Could Olof have killed Karl so that the two of you would have more time for each-other?”
Barbro looked with shock at Nikki. ”Oh dear what are you saying?” After a short second she met Nikki’s gaze and continued. ”Sure, the thought has struck me… but Olof isn’t capable of killing anybody. Besides he knows that I will never remarry.”
Twenty minutes later Nikki closed the car door at the large communal parking plot in the Old town and took the attractive stone steps up to Petros Christous’ office. The search of the office was in full swing and files and plastic folders were spread out over the floor.
”Hi, have you found anything important yet?” Nikki stepped over a pile of paper lying on the greyish marble floor and looked inquiringly at Daphne.
”Hey. We’ve actually found some interesting documents in the- files you just stepped over.” Daphne wiped the sweat from her forehead and looked up. ”Wow, just out of the shower and with new clothes. It was a wise decision to pass by your flat.”
”I had to otherwise I would have fallen asleep somewhere. Where do you want me to start?”
”Ask Sam, he’s in charge here today.” Daphne gave Nikki a pair of disposable gloves and continued looking through the papers. ”How did it go at Barbro’s?”
”Fine. I have good news, but I’ll tell you more later when we’re all gathered.”
While Nikki waited for Sam to finish his phone call she curiously went around looking at the paintings hanging around the office. The styles were very different and surprised she stopped in front of a painting that looked like a typical farm on Gotland. Nikki had a summerhouse herself on the island and knew the style and the landscape so well. The house was white-washed and by the entrance red roses were climbing on each side of the door.
Behind the farm there were several woolly little lambs and on the meadow red poppies were growing together with other typical Swedish flowers. Some pictures in the bookshelf nearby caught Nikki’s attention and after a while she found what she was looking for. Methodically she picked up frame after frame and studied the pictures carefully. Suddenly she stood with what she thought she had been looking for.
Two little tanned boys were standing next to each-other on some stone steps by a similar Gotland’s house as the one she had just looked at. She carefully studied the boys. They couldn’t be Petros’ children, Nikki thought. He only had a teenage daughter. Discreetly she took away the clips behind the frames and now she noticed that the picture was yellow.
”Gotland 1973” she read out loud. The text was blurred and written with a pen. Without hesitating she put the picture in an evidence bag and hid it quickly in her handbag. Before she could even speculate about the boys in the picture she was interrupted by her mobile ringing.
”Please Nikki, tell me you’ve come a step closer to solving the murder of Karl Hofvenskold.”
Nikki heard her boss’ sharp voice in the phone and cursed herself for forgetting to inform Hogstrom about the night’s events. She pulled the plastic gloves which had slipped down over her wrist and then went outside to speak in peace.
”At least we found Patrik last night.” Nikki felt her stomach cramping when mentioning Patrik’s name and the picture of the abused body popped into her head.
”That’s really good. How and in what condition, if I may ask?” Nikki quickly told about her and Rick finding him in the harbour and she also mentioned that they had arrested the accountant. She withheld though the story about herself probably being followed.
”Horrible. Bluntly put bloody bad. How strong is the proof against the accountant?” Kerstin said now with a milder tone of voice.
”It looks pretty bad for him but so far we don’t have any direct evidence against him besides him being the owner of the boat where Patrik was held captive. But we are doing our best to find evidence which we can use to convict him. Right now we’re in his office and we have a warrant to search both here and at his home.”
”Well done. And Karl Hofvenskold and Sten Arvidsson? You must have some leads.”
Nikki heard how stressed Kerstin was and understood.. She knew the pressure in the police house with all the demands from the top.
”The accountant could have been part of the murders but...” Nikki paused and saw the little man in front of her. Could he really be a murderer? She heard Kerstin clearing her throat in the phone and continued immediately:” We don’t know yet since Petros is refusing to speak to us but we are of course hoping to find something important today. Then there’s the Mafia, but I don’t know about them.” She went quiet again and saw the black motorcycle guy in front of her. She quickly shook off the picture and continued with the conversation. ”Daphne and I had a chat with two guys from the Mafia and it seems as though they are actually not involved in this. Then there is the chairman of Mountain Hills, Olof Stenvall…”
”Yes, what about him?” Kerstin sounded excited and hurried Nikki on who was yawning wide.
”Hold on. Olof Stenvall and Barbro Hofvenskold have a secret relationship.” Nikki whispered the big news as if somebody had been standing there trying to listen in on their conversation.