Henning Mankell - The Pyramid

Hansson returned, having spoken to the postal worker, whose name was Elfrida Wirmark. She had been very firm in stating that there were two people in the house, Holm and Nyman. Which meant there was only one person there these days, as Holm was in the mortuary, waiting to be buried.

They met in the conference room at seven that evening. According to the reports that Martinsson had received, Nyman had not left the house during the day other than to feed the dog. No one had come by to see him. Wallander asked if the officers who were keeping Nyman under surveillance had been able to tell if he was on his guard, but no such reports had been issued. Then they discussed the postal worker's statement for a while. In the end they were able to reach a consensus that Rolf Nyman had most likely invented his girlfriend.

Wallander made the final case review of the day.

'There are no indications that he is a heroin addict,' he started. 'That is his first lie. The second is that he has a girlfriend – he's alone in that house. If we want to get in there we have two choices. Either we wait until he leaves, which he has to do sooner or later, if for no other reason than to buy groceries. If he doesn't have extensive provisions. But why would he have something like that? Or else we find a way to lure him out of the house.'

They decided to wait him out, at least for a few days. If nothing happened, they would revisit the situation.

They waited on the fourth, and they waited on the fifth. Nyman left the house twice in order to feed the dog. There were no indications that he had grown more watchful than before. During that time they continued to work on mapping his life. It was as if he had lived in a strange vacuum. Via the tax authorities they could see that he had a low annual income from his work as a DJ. He never claimed any exemptions, which seemed unusual. He applied for a passport in 1986. He received his driver's licence in 1976. There did not appear to be any friends.

On the morning of the fifth of January, Wallander sat down with Rydberg and closed the door. Rydberg said that they should probably continue for a couple more days, but Wallander presented an idea that would make it possible to lure Nyman out of the house. They decided to present this idea to the others that same afternoon. Wallander called Linda Boman in Lund. The following evening the disco was going to be open, and a Danish DJ was scheduled that night. Wallander explained his idea. Linda Boman asked who would cover the extra costs since the DJ from Copenhagen had a contract with Linda's disco. Wallander told her she could send the bill to the Ystad police if need be. He promised to get back to her within a couple of hours.

At four o'clock in the afternoon on the fifth of January, a bitingly cold wind had started to blow in over Skåne. A snow front was passing from the east and could possibly nudge the southern tip of Skåne. At the same time Wallander gathered his team in the conference room. As succinctly as possible, he explained the idea that he had discussed earlier with Rydberg.

'We have to smoke out Rolf Nyman,' he said. 'Apparently he doesn't go anywhere unnecessarily. At the same time it seems that he doesn't suspect anything.'

'Maybe the whole thing is too far-fetched,' Hansson interjected. 'Maybe because he has nothing to do with the murders?'

'That possibility does exist,' Wallander admitted. 'But right now we're assuming the opposite. And that means we need to get into the house without him finding out. The first thing that we have to do is find a way to get him out, but not for a reason that will arouse any suspicion.'

Then he laid out the plan. Linda Boman was going to call Nyman and tell him that the scheduled DJ had cancelled. Could Rolf cover for him? If he said yes, the house would be empty all evening. They could post someone at the disco who could keep in contact with the people inside the house. When Rolf Nyman returned to Sjöbo in the early morning, the house would be empty. No one except the dog would know they had been there.

'What happens if he calls his DJ colleague in Copenhagen?' Svedberg asked.

'We've thought of that. Linda Boman is going to tell the Dane not to answer the phone. The police will cover his regular fee. But we're happy to take that on.'

Wallander had expected more objections. But none came. He realised it was because of a growing impatience among the team. They weren't getting anywhere. They had to do something.

Wallander looked around the table. No one had anything more to add.

'Then we're agreed? The plan is to do this soon, tomorrow night.'

Wallander reached for the telephone on the table and called Linda Boman.

'Let's do it,' he said when she answered. 'Call me in an hour.'

Wallander hung up, checked his watch and turned to Martinsson.

'Who's on surveillance right now?'

'Näslund and Peters.'

'Call them on the radio and tell them to be particularly observant at twenty past five. That's when Linda Boman is going to call Nyman.'

'What do you think might happen?'

'I don't know. I just want increased attentiveness.'

Then they talked through the programme. Linda Boman was going to ask Nyman to come into Lund early, at eight, in order to look over a number of new records. That meant he should leave Sjöbo around seven. The disco would then stay open until three in the morning. As soon as the person posted at the disco confirmed that Nyman had entered, the others would go into the house. Wallander had asked Rydberg to come along. But Rydberg had in turn suggested Martinsson. So Martinsson it was.

'Martinsson and I will go into the house. Svedberg comes along and keeps watch. Hansson takes the disco in Lund. The rest remain here at the station. In case something happens.'

'What are we looking for?' Martinsson asked.

Wallander was about to ask when Rydberg raised his hand.

'We don't know,' he said. 'We're trying to find what we don't know that we're looking for. But by extension there will be a yes or a no. Was Nyman the one who killed Holm and the two sisters?'

'Drugs,' Martinsson said. 'Is that it?'

'Weapons, money, anything. Spools of thread bought in the Eberhardsson sisters' shop. Copies of plane tickets. We don't know.'

They sat around the table for a little longer. Martinsson left in order to get in touch with Näslund and Peters. He returned, nodded, and sat down.

At twenty minutes past five, Wallander was sitting with the clock in his hand.

Then he dialled Linda Boman's number. The line was busy.

They waited. Nine minutes later the phone rang. Wallander picked up the receiver. He listened and then hung up.

'Nyman has agreed,' he said. 'Now we're in business. Let's see if this leads us in the right or wrong direction.'

The meeting broke up. Wallander held Martinsson back.

'It's best for us to be armed,' he said.

Martinsson looked surprised.

'I thought Nyman was going to be in Lund?'

'Just in case,' Wallander replied. 'That's all.'

The snowstorm never reached Skåne. The next day, the sixth of January, the sky was covered in clouds. A faint wind was blowing, there was rain in the air, and it was four degrees above zero. Wallander stood indecisively in front of his sweaters for a long time before he was able to select one. They met at six o'clock in the conference room. By then Hansson had already left for Lund. Svedberg was stationed behind a clump of trees where he had a view of the front of Nyman's house. Rydberg was doing crossword puzzles in the break room. Wallander had reluctantly taken out his gun and strapped on the holster that never quite fit properly. Martinsson had his weapon in his coat pocket.

At nine minutes past seven they received a dispatch from Svedberg. The bird has flown. Wallander had not wanted to take any unnecessary risks. Police dispatches were always being listened to. Therefore they were referring to Rolf Nyman as the bird. Nothing else.