Read Online The Treacherous Net by Helene Tursten - Free Book Online

station,” Hannu said, his eyes fixed on Tobias, who was doing his utmost to avoid that searching gaze. Beads of sweat had appeared on the boy’s shaven head. Irene could see that he was extremely nervous too, which was interesting in itself.
    “He makes one mistake, and you keep on hassling him!” Bettan hissed.
    The smoke from her cigarette went down the wrong way, and she started coughing violently.
    Neither Irene nor Hannu bothered to reply.
    “We can’t dismiss him,” Irene said when they were back in the car. She pulled out into the stream of traffic heading for the city center.
    “No.” Hannu looked pensive. “But it’s not him. The two homicides were planned.”
    “And he’s too dumb and impulsive,” Irene agreed.
    “Exactly.”
    Even though Irene shared his view, she wanted to hear his thoughts.
    “What makes you believe the murders were planned?”
    “No witnesses have seen either of the girls with a stranger. Neither of them mentioned that they’d arranged to meet someone. No clues, no evidence. The killer has been in touch with them, arranged to meet. And persuaded them to keep quiet.”
    “What about the girls’ computers? Anything there?”
    “Jens is going through Alexandra’s computer; Moa’s is missing.”
    “Missing?”
    “Yes. She had a laptop through the school. She was dyslexic, and was taking part in an experiment. She was having extra lessons with specialist teachers. According to her mother, she carried the laptop around all the time, in her rucksack. The students don’t get a new one if they lose it.”
    “So they won’t be tempted to sell it,” Irene said with a grimace.
    “Presumably.”
    They both sat in silence, thinking things over as they approached the police station.
    “I don’t suppose her boozed-up mother could have sold it?” Irene wondered.
    “No. Her mother said that Moa spent most of her time skipping class over the past two years, but apparently since she joined this dyslexia group, she’d pulled herself together. And it’s all down to the laptop; the girl used to spend several hours a day on it.”
    “Hmm. Why does that give me a bad feeling?” Irene said, glancing over at Hannu.
    He nodded in agreement. “We have to find Moa’s computer. Her cell phone is missing too. I’d like to try to get over to Gårdsten this morning; two colleagues are talking to Moa’s teachers and school friends, but I’d like to speak to her mother again.”
    “Poor woman. She’s lost both her kids. Her son died in a car crash, and now her daughter has been murdered.”
    “Yes, some people really do suffer. But I’m not sure it’s always a coincidence,” Hannu said.
    “You mean it’s a question of environment, that kind of thing?”
    “Yes. My impression of Moa’s mother is that she’s . . . absent. In every sense of the word.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “She’s an alcoholic. She goes out boozing with her pals. Sometimes she’s away for several days, according to social services.”
    Irene thought about what he’d said.
    “That could be a link between Moa and Alexandra. When Jonny and I went over to Torslanda yesterday, Alexandra’s father was completely wasted. We couldn’t get a sensible word out of him. At first I thought he just couldn’t handle the grief, but . . . Her mother was a mess, but he wasn’t giving her any support. When we got there, he was downstairs and she was upstairs. It was as if they couldn’t get far enough away from each other. I got the feeling that . . .”
    She broke off, trying to find the right words before she went on.
    “The house is incredibly extravagant. Alexandra has her own horse. Jan Hallwiin was married before and has two grown-up children who were raised by their mother in Gävle. They’re about thirty now and live in Stockholm. It doesn’t sound as if they’ve had much contact with their father over the years. Alexandra’s mother is twenty-three years younger than Jan, and Alexandra is her only