Free The Pyramid by Henning Mankell

the piece of paper you gave me. And you're not in the phone book. I could have called directory assistance, I suppose. But I called the police instead.'
    Wallander flinched.
    'What did you say?'
    'That I was looking for an officer by the name of Kurt Wallander.
And that I had important information. At first they didn't want to give me your home phone number. But I didn't give in.'
    'So you asked for Detective Inspector Wallander?'
    'I asked for Kurt Wallander. What does it matter?'
    'It doesn't,' Wallander said and felt relieved. Gossip moved quickly at the station. It could have brought about complications and spawned an unnecessary funny story about Wallander walking around claiming to be a detective inspector. That was not how he envisioned starting his career as a criminal investigator.
    'I asked if I was disturbing you,' she repeated.
    'Not at all.'
    'I was thinking,' she said. 'About Hålén and his betting forms. He never won, by the way.'
    'How do you know?'
    'I would entertain myself by checking to see how he had bet. Not just him. And he was very ill-informed when it came to English football.'
    Exactly what Hemberg said, Wallander thought. There can be no more doubt in that regard.
    'But then I was thinking about the phone calls,' she went on. 'And then I thought of the fact that a couple of times he also called someone other than that woman.'
    Wallander increased his concentration.
    'Who?'
    'He called the cab company.'
    'How do you know that?'
    'I heard him place an order for a car. He gave his address as the building right next to the shop.'
    Wallander thought about it.
    'How often did he order a cab?'
    'Three or four times. Always after first calling the other number.'
    'You didn't happen to hear where he was going?'
    'He didn't mention it.'
    'Your memory isn't half bad,' Wallander said admiringly. 'But you don't remember when he made those calls?'
    'It must have been on a Wednesday.'
    'When did it happen last?'
    The answer came quickly and confidently.
    'Last week.'
    'Are you sure of that?'
    'Of course I'm sure. He called a cab last Wednesday, the twenty-eighth of May, for your information.'
    'Good,' Wallander said. 'Very good.'
    'Is that of any help?'
    'I'm certain it is.'
    'And you're still not planning to tell me what it is that has happened?'
    'I couldn't,' Wallander said. 'Even if I wanted to.'
    'Will you tell me later?'
    Wallander promised. Then he hung up and thought about what she had told him. What did it mean? Hålén had a woman somewhere.
After calling her, he ordered a taxi.
    Wallander checked the potatoes. They were not yet soft. Then he reminded himself that he actually had a good friend who drove a cab in
Malmö. They had been schoolmates since year one and had kept in touch over the years. His name was Lars Andersson and Wallander recalled that he had written his number on the inside of the telephone directory.
    He found the number and dialled it. A woman answered, Andersson's wife Elin. Wallander had met her a few times.
    'I'm looking for Lars,' he said.
    'He's out driving,' she said. 'But he's on a day shift. He'll be back in about an hour.'
    Wallander asked her to tell her husband he had called.
    'How are the children?' she asked.
    'I have no children,' Wallander said, amazed.
    'Then I must have misunderstood,' she answered. 'I thought Lars said that you had two sons.'
    'Unfortunately, no,' Wallander said. 'I'm not even married.'
    'That never stopped anyone.'
    Wallander returned to the potatoes and onions. Then he composed a meal using some of the leftovers that had accumulated in the fridge.
Mona had still not called. It had started to rain again. He could hear accordion music from somewhere. He asked himself what the hell he was doing. His neighbour Hålén had committed suicide, after first swallowing some precious stones. Someone had tried to retrieve them and had subsequently set fire to the apartment in a rage. There were plenty of lunatics around, also greedy people. But it was no crime