'b.l.o.o.d.y horrible. Full of big white maggots. Smelled to high heaven. One of the constables had thrown up in the lobby.' 'Where were the officers?'

'One was on guard outside the door. The other was sitting in the car.'

'Had they guarded the door the whole time?' 'Yeah, at least according to their own account.' 'And what did you do?'

'I went right in and took a peek. It looked b.l.o.o.d.y awful, like I said before. But it could have been something for CID, one never knows.'

'But you drew another conclusion?'

'Sure. After all, it was as clear as daylight. The door had been locked from inside in three or four different ways. It had been as much as those guys could do to get it open. And the window was locked and the blind drawn.'

'Was the window still closed?'

'No. Obviously the uniforms had opened it when they'd come in. Otherwise no one could've stayed in there without a gas mask.'

'How long were you there?'

'Not many minutes. Just long enough to establish the fact that it wasn't anything for the CID. It must have been either suicide or natural death, so all the rest was a matter for the uniforms.'

Martin Beck leafed through the report. "There's no list of any objects being taken into custody here,' he said.

'Isn't there? Well, I suppose somebody ought to have thought about that On the other hand there was no point in it The old boy hardly owned a thing. A table, a chair, and a bed, I guess; and then a few bits of junk out in the kitchenette.'

'But you looked around?'

'Of course. I inspected everything before I gave them the go-ahead? 'For what?'

'What? How do you mean?'

'Before you gave the go-ahead for what?'

'To take away the remains, of course. The old man had to have a postmortem, didn't he? Even if he was a suicide, he still had to be dissected. It's regulations.'

'Can you summarize your observations?'

'Sure. Simple. The body was lying about three yards from the window.'

'About?'

'Yeah, the fact was I didn't have a yardstick on me. It looked about two months old; putrid, in other words. In the room were two chairs, a table, and a bed.'

'Two chairs?'

'Yeah.'

'Just now you said one.'

'Oh? Yeah, well it was two anyway, I guess; and then there was a little shelf with some old newspapers and books, and in the kitchenette a couple of saucepans and a coffee pot, and then the usual.'

'The usual?'

'Yeah, a can opener, knives and forks, a rubbish bin, and so forth.'

'I see. Was anything lying on the floor?' 'Not a thing, apart from the body, I mean. I asked the constables and they said they hadn't found anything either.' Was anyone else in the flat?'

'Nope. I asked the boys, and they said not No one else went in there, apart from me and these two. Then the guys with the van came and took the body away with them in a plastic bag.'

'Since then we have come to know the cause of Svard's death.'

'Indeed. That's right. He shot himself. Incomprehensible, I say. And what did he do with the gun?'

'You've no plausible explanation?'

'None. The whole thing's as idiotic as can be. An insoluble case, like I said. Doesn't happen so often, eh?'

'Did the constables have any opinion?'

'No, all they saw was he was dead and that the place was all shut up. If there'd been a pistol, either they or I'd have found it. Anyway, it could only have been lying on the floor beside that dead old guy.'

'Did you find out who the deceased was?'

'Of course. His name was Svard, wasn't it? It was even written up on the door. You could see at a glance the type of man he'd been.'

'What type?'

'Well, a social case. Old drunk, probably. That type often kill themselves; that is, if they don't drink themselves to death or get a heart attack or something.'

"You've nothing else of interest to add?'

'No, it's beyond comprehension, like I said. Pure mystery. I bet even you can't fix this one. Anyway there's other things more important'

'Maybe.'

'Yes, I reckon so. Can I go now?' 'Not quite yet,' said Martin Beck.

'I've no more to say,' said Aldor Gustavsson, stubbing out his cigar in the ash tray.

Martin Beck got up and walked over to the window, where he stood with his back to his visitor. 'I've a few things to say,' he said.

'Oh? What?'

'Quite a lot. Among other things the forensic team inspected the place last week. Though almost all traces had been destroyed, one large and two smaller bloodstains were immediately discovered on the carpet Did you see any patches of blood?'

'No. Not that I looked for any.'

'Obviously not What did you look for?'

'Nothing special. The case seemed quite clear.'

'If you failed to see those bloodstains, it's conceivable you missed other things.'

'At any rate there was no firearm there.'

'Did you notice how the dead man was dressed?'

'No, not exactly. After all, he was completely putrid. Some kind of rags, I suppose. Besides, I didn't see it made any difference.'

'What you did immediately notice was that the deceased had been a poor and lonely person. Not what you would call an eminent member of society.'

'Of course. When you've seen as many alcoholics and welfare cases as I have...'

'Then?'

'Yes, well, then you know who's who and what's what' Martin Beck wondered whether Gustavsson did. Aloud he said: 'Supposing the deceased had been better adapted socially, perhaps you might have been more conscientious?'

'Yes, in such cases one has to mind one's p's and q's. The fact is, we've one h.e.l.l of a lot to attend to.' He looked around. 'Even if you don't realize it here, we're overworked. You can't start playing at Sherlock Holmes every time you come across a dead tramp. Was there anything else?'

'Yes, one thing. I'd like to point out that your handling of this case has been atrocious.'

'What?' Gustavsson got up. All of a sudden it seemed to have dawned on him that Martin Beck was in a position to mar his career - perhaps seriously. 'Wait a minute,' he said. 'Just because I didn't see those bloodstains and a gun that wasn't there...'

'Sins of omission aren't the worst ones,' Martin Beck said. 'Even if they, too, are unforgivable. To take an example: you called the police doctor and gave her instructions built on erroneous and preconceived ideas. Further, you fooled the two constables into thinking the case was so simple that you only had to walk into the room and look around for the whole matter to be cleared up. After declaring no criminological investigation was needed, you had the body carried away without even having any photos taken.'

'But, my G.o.d,' Gustavsson said. 'The old guy must have taken his own life.'

Martin Beck turned around and looked at him.

'Are these official criticisms?' said Gustavsson, alarmed.

'Yes, in high degree. Good day.'

'Wait a minute. I'll do all I can to help...'

Martin Beck shook his head, and the man left. He seemed worried. But before the door had quite had time to close, Martin Beck heard him utter the words: 'Old b.a.s.t.a.r.d...'

Naturally Aldor Gustavsson ought never to have been a detective sergeant, nor even a policeman of any sort. He was untalented, impudent, conceited, and had completely the wrong approach to his job. The best of the uniformed force had always been recruited into the CID. And probably still were. If men like him had made the grade and become detectives even ten years ago, what were things going to be like in the future?

Martin Beck felt his first working day was at an end. Tomorrow he'd go and have a look at this locked room himself. What was he to do tonight? Eat something, anything, and then sit leafing through books he knew he ought to read. Lie alone in his bed and wait for sleep. Feel shut in. In his own locked room.

8.

Einar Ronn was an outdoor type. He had chosen a career in the police because it kept him on the move and offered lots of opportunities to be outdoors. As the years had pa.s.sed and one promotion had followed another, his working day had progressively tied him to a sedentary position behind his desk, and his moments in the fresh air, insofar as the Stockholm air can be called fresh, had become steadily rarer. It had become crucial to his existence to be able to spend his holidays in the wild mountain world of Lapland he had come from. Actually he detested Stockholm. Already, at forty-five, he had begun to think about his retirement, when he'd go home to Arjeplog for good.

His annual holiday was approaching, and already he was beginning to be apprehensive. If this bank business, at least, hadn't been cleared up, he might at any moment be asked to sacrifice it.

In order to cooperate actively in bringing the investigation to some sort of conclusion, he had taken it upon himself, this Monday evening, to drive out to Sollentuna and talk to a witness, instead of going home to Vallingby and his wife.

Not only had he volunteered to call on this witness, who could just as easily have been summoned to the CID in the customary way; he had even showed such enthusiasm for his mission that Gunvald Larsson wondered whether he and Unda had had a quarrel.

'Sure, of course not,' Ronn said, with one of his peculiar non sequiturs.

The man Ronn was to visit was the thirty-two-year-old metal worker who had already been interrogated by Gunvald Larsson on what he'd witnessed outside the Hornsgatan bank. His name was Sten Sjogren, and he lived alone in a semi-detached house on Sngarvagen. He was in his little garden in front of the house, watering a rose bush, and as Ronn climbed out of his car he put down his watering can and came over to open the gate. Wiping the palms of his hands on the seat of his trousers before shaking hands, he went up the steps and held the front door open for Ronn.

The house was small and on the ground floor; apart from the kitchen and hall there was only one room. The door to it stood ajar. It was quite empty. The man caught Ronn's look.

'My wife and I have just divorced,' he explained. 'She took some of the furniture with her, so perhaps it's not too cosy for the time being. But we can go upstairs instead.'

At the top of the stairs there was a rather large room with an open fireplace, in front of which stood a few ill-matched armchairs grouped around a low white table. Ronn sat down, but the man remained standing.

'Can I get you a drink?' he asked. 'I can heat up some coffee. Or I expect I've some beer in the refrigerator.'

'Thanks, I'll take the same as you,' Ronn said.

'Then we'll take a beer,' said the man. He ran off downstairs and Ronn heard him banging about in the kitchen.

Ronn looked around the room. Not much furniture, a stereo, quite a few books. In a basket beside the fire lay a bundle of newspapers. Dagens Nyheter, Vi, the communist paper Ny Dag, and The Metal Worker.

Sten Sjogren returned with gla.s.ses and two beer cans, which he set down on the white table. He was thin and wiry and had reddish, tousled hair of a length Ronn regarded as normal. His face was spattered with freckles, arid he had a pleasant frank smile. After opening the cans and pouring them out he sat down opposite Ronn, raised his gla.s.s to him, and drank.

Ronn tasted his beer and said: 'I'd like to hear about what you saw on Hornsgatan last Friday. It's best not to give your memory time to fade.' That sounded really good, thought Ronn, pleased with himself.

The man nodded and put down his gla.s.s. 'Yes, if I'd known it was both a hold-up and a murder I'd sure have taken a better look both at the chick and at the bloke in the car.'

"You're the best witness we have so far anyway,' Ronn said encouragingly. 'So you were walking along Hornsgatan. Which way were you heading?'

'I was coming from Slussen and was heading for Ringvagen. This chick came up from behind and b.u.mped into me quite hard as she ran past.'

'Could you describe her?'

'Not too well, I'm afraid. I only really saw her from behind - and for a split second from the side view as she climbed into the car. She was shorter than me, about six inches I reckon. I'm five foot ten and a half. The age is a bit hard to specify, but I don't think she was younger than twenty-five and no older than thirty-five, about thirty I'd say. She was dressed in jeans, ordinary blue, and a light blue blouse or shirt, hanging outside her trousers. What she had on her feet I didn't think about, but she was wearing a hat - a denim hat with quite a wide brim. She had fair hair, straight and not quite as long as a lot of girls wear it these days. Medium length, one could say. Then she had a green shoulder bag, one of those American military bags.'

He took out a packet of cigarettes from the breast pocket of his khaki shirt and held them out to Ronn, who shook his head and said: 'Did you see if she was carrying anything?'

The man got up, took down a box of matches from the shelf above the open fireplace, and lit a cigarette. 'No, I'm not sure of that. But I suppose she could have been.'

'Her body build? Was she thin, or fat, or...' - 'Medium, I reckon. In any case neither particularly thin or fat Normal, one might say.

'Didn't you catch her face at all?'

'I suppose I saw it very fleetingly as she climbed into the car. But for one thing she was wearing that hat, and for another thing she had big sungla.s.ses on.'

'Would you recognize her if you saw her again?'