Anna-Maria was pleased. She’d made him laugh. And they were talking about sex.
I ought to do this more often, she thought. Flirt and joke with him.
“Exactly,” said Robert. “Positions like ‘The Flight of the Crane over the Vault of the Heavens’ or something like that, where I have to hang upside down and you do the splits.”
“Okay, forget it. I’ll be straight home.”
Anna-Maria had barely hung up when the telephone rang again. It was Alf Björnfot.
“Hi there,” he said. “Just wanted to let you know that Mauri Kallis is coming up tomorrow.”
Anna-Maria had to think for a second. She’d expected it to be Robert again, suddenly remembering to ask her to pick something up from the shops on the way home.
“Mauri Kallis as in Kallis Mining?”
“Yep. His secretary just rang me. Our colleagues in Stockholm called too. They’ve informed Inna Wattrang’s parents. Who were shocked, of course. Didn’t know she was up in Abisko, they said. But Inna Wattrang and her brother Diddi both work for Kallis Mining. And he owns some big place on Lake Mälaren where they both live. Her parents said they’d let her brother know and ask Mauri Kallis to come up and identify her.”
“Tomorrow!” groaned Anna-Maria. “I was just on my way home.”
“Go home then.”
“I can’t go home. I need to speak to him. About Inna Wattrang and her role in the company and so on. I don’t know a damned thing about Kallis Mining. He’ll think we’re idiots.”
“Rebecka Martinsson is in court tomorrow, so she’s bound to be in her office. Ask her to read up about Kallis Mining and give you a half-hour summary first thing in the morning.”
“Oh no, I can’t ask her. She…”
Anna-Maria broke off briefly. She was going to say that Rebecka Martinsson had a life too, but then again…People said she lived out in the country all on her own, and didn’t socialize with anybody.
“…she needs her sleep just like anybody else,” she said instead. “I can’t ask her.”
“Okay.”
Anna-Maria thought about Robert, waiting at home.
“Or can I?”
Alf Björnfot laughed.
“Well, I’m going to park myself in front of
Six Feet Under,
” he said.
“That’s another thing,” said Anna-Maria, feeling rebellious.
She finished her conversation with the prosecutor and looked out the window. Yes, Rebecka Martinsson’s car was still in the parking lot.
Three minutes later, Anna-Maria Mella was knocking on the door of Rebecka Martinsson’s office.
“Look, I know you’re really busy,” she started off. “And this isn’t your job. So it’s perfectly okay if you want to say no…”
She looked at the pile of documents on Rebecka’s desk.
“Forget it,” she said. “You’re up to your eyes in work.”
“What is it?” said Rebecka. “If it’s to do with Inna Wattrang, just ask. It’s…”
She broke off.
“I was going to say ‘it’s cool working on a murder,’” she went on, “but that’s not what I meant.”
“It doesn’t matter,” said Anna-Maria. “I know exactly what you mean. There’s something special about a murder investigation. I absolutely don’t want one single person to be murdered. But if they are, then I really want to be involved in solving it.”
Rebecka Martinsson looked relieved.
“That’s what I used to dream about once upon a time, when I decided to join the police,” said Anna-Maria. “Perhaps you did too, when you took up a career in law?”
“Oh, I don’t know about that. I moved from Kiruna and started studying because I’d fallen out with my church. The fact that I went in for law was more or less chance. Then I worked hard and the jobs just came along. I kind of slipped into things. I don’t think I ever made a real choice until I moved back here.”
They had quickly got close to a serious topic of conversation. But they didn’t know each other well enough to carry on along that particular route. So they stopped, and
I ought to do this more often, she thought. Flirt and joke with him.
“Exactly,” said Robert. “Positions like ‘The Flight of the Crane over the Vault of the Heavens’ or something like that, where I have to hang upside down and you do the splits.”
“Okay, forget it. I’ll be straight home.”
Anna-Maria had barely hung up when the telephone rang again. It was Alf Björnfot.
“Hi there,” he said. “Just wanted to let you know that Mauri Kallis is coming up tomorrow.”
Anna-Maria had to think for a second. She’d expected it to be Robert again, suddenly remembering to ask her to pick something up from the shops on the way home.
“Mauri Kallis as in Kallis Mining?”
“Yep. His secretary just rang me. Our colleagues in Stockholm called too. They’ve informed Inna Wattrang’s parents. Who were shocked, of course. Didn’t know she was up in Abisko, they said. But Inna Wattrang and her brother Diddi both work for Kallis Mining. And he owns some big place on Lake Mälaren where they both live. Her parents said they’d let her brother know and ask Mauri Kallis to come up and identify her.”
“Tomorrow!” groaned Anna-Maria. “I was just on my way home.”
“Go home then.”
“I can’t go home. I need to speak to him. About Inna Wattrang and her role in the company and so on. I don’t know a damned thing about Kallis Mining. He’ll think we’re idiots.”
“Rebecka Martinsson is in court tomorrow, so she’s bound to be in her office. Ask her to read up about Kallis Mining and give you a half-hour summary first thing in the morning.”
“Oh no, I can’t ask her. She…”
Anna-Maria broke off briefly. She was going to say that Rebecka Martinsson had a life too, but then again…People said she lived out in the country all on her own, and didn’t socialize with anybody.
“…she needs her sleep just like anybody else,” she said instead. “I can’t ask her.”
“Okay.”
Anna-Maria thought about Robert, waiting at home.
“Or can I?”
Alf Björnfot laughed.
“Well, I’m going to park myself in front of
Six Feet Under,
” he said.
“That’s another thing,” said Anna-Maria, feeling rebellious.
She finished her conversation with the prosecutor and looked out the window. Yes, Rebecka Martinsson’s car was still in the parking lot.
Three minutes later, Anna-Maria Mella was knocking on the door of Rebecka Martinsson’s office.
“Look, I know you’re really busy,” she started off. “And this isn’t your job. So it’s perfectly okay if you want to say no…”
She looked at the pile of documents on Rebecka’s desk.
“Forget it,” she said. “You’re up to your eyes in work.”
“What is it?” said Rebecka. “If it’s to do with Inna Wattrang, just ask. It’s…”
She broke off.
“I was going to say ‘it’s cool working on a murder,’” she went on, “but that’s not what I meant.”
“It doesn’t matter,” said Anna-Maria. “I know exactly what you mean. There’s something special about a murder investigation. I absolutely don’t want one single person to be murdered. But if they are, then I really want to be involved in solving it.”
Rebecka Martinsson looked relieved.
“That’s what I used to dream about once upon a time, when I decided to join the police,” said Anna-Maria. “Perhaps you did too, when you took up a career in law?”
“Oh, I don’t know about that. I moved from Kiruna and started studying because I’d fallen out with my church. The fact that I went in for law was more or less chance. Then I worked hard and the jobs just came along. I kind of slipped into things. I don’t think I ever made a real choice until I moved back here.”
They had quickly got close to a serious topic of conversation. But they didn’t know each other well enough to carry on along that particular route. So they stopped, and
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