Free The Gallows Bird by Camilla Läckberg Page A

road.’
    ‘But she must have been totally pissed before the accident happened. Do we have any reports of anyone driving erratically last Sunday evening?’
    ‘Not that I can find. Which just adds to the fact that the whole thing seems rather strange. On the other hand, there’s not much traffic at that time of night, so maybe the other drivers were simply lucky not to get in her way,’ Patrik said pensively. ‘But Pedersen could find no reason for the trauma in and around her mouth, so I think there’s sufficient reason for us to take a closer look at the whole thing. It might be an ordinary case of driving drunk, but maybe not. What do you think?’
    Martin paused for a moment. ‘You said from the start that you had a funny feeling about this one. You think Mellberg will go along with it?’
    Patrik gave him a look, and Martin laughed.
    ‘It all depends on how I present it, don’t you think?’ Patrik said.
    ‘Too right. It all depends on the presentation.’
    Patrik laughed along with him and stood up. Then he turned serious again.
    ‘Do you think I’m making a mountain out of a molehill? Pedersen didn’t actually find anything concrete to indicate that it wasn’t an accident. But . . .’ he said, waving the faxed autopsy report, ‘at the same time there’s something about this that rings a bell. For the life of me I can’t . . .’ Patrik ran his hand through his hair again.
    ‘Let’s do this,’ said Martin. ‘We’ll start asking around and gather some more details to see where it leads. Maybe that will trigger your memory of whatever it is that’s bugging you.’
    ‘Okay, good. I’ll talk to Mellberg first though. Why don’t we drive out and have another chat with Marit’s partner later?’
    ‘Fine by me,’ said Martin, returning to the reports he was writing. ‘Come and get me when you’re ready.’
    ‘Okay.’ Patrik was already on his way out the door when Martin stopped him.
    ‘Wait a sec,’ he said hesitantly. ‘I’ve been meaning to ask you how it’s going at home. With your sister-in-law and everything.’
    Patrik smiled as he stood in the doorway. ‘We’re starting to be a bit more hopeful, actually. Anna seems to have begun to climb out of the abyss. Thanks to Dan.’
    ‘Dan?’ Martin said in surprise. ‘Erica’s Dan?’
    ‘Excuse me, what do you mean by “Erica’s Dan”? He’s our Dan now.’
    ‘All right, all right,’ Martin said with a laugh. ‘ Your Dan. But what’s he got to do with it?’
    ‘Well, on Monday Erica had the bright idea to ask him to come over and talk to Anna. And it worked. They’ve started taking long walks together, just to talk, and that seems to be exactly what Anna needed. She’s turned into a whole different woman in just a couple of days. The kids are delighted.’
    ‘That’s fantastic,’ Martin said sincerely.
    ‘Yeah, you can say that again,’ said Patrik with a slap on the door jamb. ‘Look, I’ll go in and see Mellberg now to get it over with. We can talk more later.’
    ‘Okay,’ said Martin, returning to his paperwork; another aspect of the profession he could have done without.
    The days dragged by. It felt as if Friday and his date for dinner would never come. It was strange to be thinking in these terms at his age. But even if it wasn’t a real date, it was still a dinner invitation. When Mellberg rang Rose-Marie he hadn’t had any plan worked out, so he surprised himself by suggesting they have dinner at the Gestgifveri. His wallet was going to be even more surprised. He simply couldn’t understand what was happening to him. Previously, the thought of going out to eat at such an expensive restaurant as Gestgifveri would never have crossed his mind. The fact that he was now prepared to pay for two – no, that was not at all like him. And yet he wasn’t bothered by it. To tell the truth, he was looking forward to gazing at Rose-Marie’s face in the candlelight as delicious dishes were set before