Mari Jungstedt - Dark Angel

The widow shook her head.

‘Bitter! How could he even utter such a word, considering everything we’ve accomplished during all these years together? Two well-brought-up children who have become independent and successful individuals with their own lives. An entire farm that we renovated from the ground up. It’s frequently included on lists of the most beautiful farms on all of Gotland. We live here in this marvellous natural setting and close to the sea, which we both love. We have dogs, and we raise chickens that give us the best eggs for breakfast every day. I have my weaving, which actually now provides me with a full-time income. He has his company and the club, both of which were doing amazingly well – at least up until that awful beating incident occurred. We can afford to travel and do all the fun things we want to do. We eat well every day. So how can he talk about being bitter and wanting to finally put himself at the top of his priorities? I’m sorry, but I just don’t understand it.’

Elisabeth Algård’s voice had risen in volume. She leaned across the table, shifting her gaze between Jacobsson and Knutas, as if trying to convince them of her own bewilderment. Jacobsson sat motionless, her hands cradling her coffee cup. Elisabeth continued her diatribe, as if a dam had burst.

‘And he wanted to destroy everything, tear it all down. He cared nothing about me, or the fact that he was about to shatter my whole life. And he had no consideration for the children. No, he was thinking only about himself. It was a week before my birthday when he told me that he wanted a divorce. Just like that. And this summer we were supposed to spend a month in Italy, the whole family, and rent a villa in Tuscany. That might have been the last summer the four of us spent together, since the children will probably have their own families soon. Our friends couldn’t understand it either. They couldn’t fathom why he’d want to leave me and everything we had together. They thought it was just a whim, a mid-life crisis. But I’m not so sure… And then what happens? He goes and dies only weeks later. So much for focusing on his own life. If it wasn’t so sad, I’d probably laugh myself silly. Yes, I would. The whole situation is utterly absurd.’

At last she fell silent and paused to drink her coffee. Elisabeth Algård was not behaving at all the way Knutas had expected. He’d pictured a grieving widow overcome by despair. Instead she mostly seemed filled with rage. He realized that she must have spent the past two weeks brooding about the collapse of her marriage.

‘Did he have any enemies that you know of?’ Knutas asked. ‘Anyone who might have wanted to harm him?’

‘Of course he did. After that sixteen-year-old boy was beaten up outside the club, half of Gotland was angry at Viktor. Plenty of people even thought that he was to blame for the boy nearly getting killed. And then there’s the divorce. All of our relatives and friends were surprised by his decision. Nobody understood why he was doing this. But of course it’s ridiculous to think that someone would murder him for that reason.’

‘What was Viktor’s attitude towards the assault?’

‘Naturally he thought it was a horrible thing to happen. He was truly shocked and blamed everyone except himself. He said that it was the parents’ fault for not having better control over their kids; that the bouncers should have stepped in sooner and with greater force when they saw what was going on; that the police should have had a greater presence outside the club, since they knew about all the drinking and fighting that went on. Viktor was devastated and went over to visit the boy’s mother, but he was thrown out on his ear. She blamed him. She runs the Kloster Restaurant, which is near the club. Viktor claimed that in addition to being upset that her son had been assaulted, she was also mad at him for chasing away her customers with his rowdy club parties.’

‘Are you talking about Ingrid Almlöv?’

‘Yes. And I know that Viktor was very upset about the fact that she refused to see him. He tried several times.’

‘Are there other enemies your husband might have acquired because of the assault incident? Or simply because he ran the club the way he did?’ asked Jacobsson.

‘Of course. The bouncers were mad at Viktor because he accused them of shirking their duties. Now they’re at risk of losing their jobs altogether. And just think about all the parents and others who have been complaining ever since the club opened.’

‘But as far as you know, he never received any sort of specific threats?’

‘No.’

Knutas thought about what the widow had told them. They were going to have to thoroughly investigate the whole story about the assault and Viktor’s club. He decided to phone Ingrid Almlöv later in the day. He’d talked to her a number of times since her son had been beaten, but their conversation had never touched on any of these issues. He felt sick at the idea of having to broach these topics with her when her son was hovering between life and death.

‘Think very carefully,’ Jacobsson said now. ‘If we disregard everything having to do with the assault and the divorce, was Viktor on bad terms with anyone else? It might be related to something in the distant past. It doesn’t have to be something current.’

Elisabeth took a bun from the plate and slowly chewed on it as she considered the question.

‘In that case, the only person I can think of is Sten Bergström, who lives out near Holmhällar down the road. Several years ago he started a company similar to Viktor’s. In the beginning it was just a matter of a few events. The first thing he did was handle the arrangements for a big wedding here in the area, and it was a huge success. We were even invited. After that he got so many requests to arrange weddings and other types of celebrations that he started his own business, specializing in local parties. Slightly smaller events than those Viktor handled. But the problem was that he gave his company a name that was ridiculously similar to Viktor’s, which is called “Go Gotland”. Sten Bergström called his firm “Goal Gotland”. Gradually Sten began getting requests from customers who had previously hired Viktor’s company. His business grew. Viktor got more and more unhappy and even alarmed over the competition. After a while rumours began to spread that Sten’s events were marred by drunkenness and brawls. I think he lost his licence to serve alcohol, and eventually he went bankrupt.’

‘When did all this happen?’ asked Jacobsson.

‘Maybe three or four years ago. After the bankruptcy, Sten and Viktor never spoke to each other again. He’s the only real enemy that I can think of.’

Knutas made a note of the name. Jacobsson decided to change tack.

‘And your children – what did they think about the fact that you were getting a divorce?’

‘It’s hard to say. They’re both adults now, you know. Fredrik is twenty-eight and Sofia is twenty-six. Both of them live in Stockholm and have their own lives. Neither of them seemed particularly upset by the news, although they might not have wanted to tell us their true thoughts or feelings. Children end up with conflicting loyalties, not wanting to side with one parent or the other.’

Elisabeth Algård gave a heavy sigh and then refilled their coffee cups.

‘What was your reaction when you heard about Viktor’s death?’ asked Jacobsson.

‘When the police came here the first time, I had such a migraine that I hardly reacted at all when they told me that Viktor was dead. And to cap it all, that they suspected it was murder. When my headache finally began to subside, I had a hard time taking in the news. As I began to comprehend fully what had happened, I felt angry. Because he was dead and I could no longer talk to him. Because I still couldn’t work out why he wanted a divorce. Or what had made him come up with such an idea. I’m angry because I never had a chance to find out. I feel cheated. It’s as if I’m living in a vacuum, and I can’t seem to get anything done. But there are a lot of things I need to deal with: the funeral, the estate, his will and our finances. I need to decide what to do about the farm, and whether I can even afford to live here any more. Then there’s Viktor’s business – and everything else. I feel like there’s no room for grief. Just a lot of practical matters that need to be addressed, along with my own anger, and I have no idea what to do about that.’