The Abominable Man by Maj Sjöwall, Per Wahlöö Read Free Book Online

course of a few seconds, I don’t think he had time to realize what was happening.”
    Said Martin Beck. The giver of comfort.
    “Everything indicates he was taken by surprise,” Rönn said. “If he’d had time to react he would have tried to protect himself or ward off the blows, but there’s no sign that he did.”
    The woman now stared at Rönn.
    “But why?” she said.
    “We don’t know,” Rönn said.
    That was all he said.
    “Mrs. Nyman, maybe you can help us find out,” said Martin Beck. “We don’t want to cause you unnecessary pain, but we have to ask you a few questions. First of all, can you think of anyone who might have done it?”
    The woman shook her head hopelessly.
    “Do you know if your husband had ever received any threats? Or if there was anyone who thought he had reason to want to see him dead? Anyone who threatened him?”
    She went on shaking her head.
    “No,” she said. “Why should anyone threaten him?”
    “Anyone who hated him?”
    “Why should anyone hate him?”
    “Think carefully,” Martin Beck said. “Wasn’t there anyone who thought your husband had treated him badly? He was a policeman after all, and making enemies is part of the job. Did he ever say someone was out to get him or had threatened him?”
    The widow looked in confusion first at her son, then at Rönn, and then back at Martin Beck.
    “Not that I can recall. And I’d certainly remember if he’d said anything like that.”
    “Papa didn’t talk much about his job,” Stefan said. “You’d better ask at the station.”
    “We’ll ask there too,” said Martin Beck. “How long had he been sick?”
    “A long time, I don’t remember exactly,” the boy said, and looked at his mother.
    “Since June of last year,” she said. “He got sick just before Midsummer, an awful pain in his stomach, and he went to the doctor right after the holiday. The doctor thought it was an ulcer and had him go on sick leave. He’s been on sick leave ever since, and he’s been to several different doctors and they all say different things and prescribe different medicines. Then three weeks ago he went into Sabbath and they’ve been examining him and doing a lot of tests ever since, but they couldn’t find out what it was.”
    Talking seemed to distract her attention and help her repress the shock.
    “Papa thought it was cancer,” the boy said. “But the doctors said it wasn’t. But he was awful sick all the time.”
    “What did he do all this time? Hasn’t he worked at all since last summer?”
    “No,” Mrs. Nyman said. “He was really very ill. Had attacks of pain that lasted several days in a row when all he could do was lie in bed. He took a lot of pills, but they didn’t help much. He went down to the station a few times last fall to see how things were going, as he said, but he couldn’t work.”
    “And Mrs. Nyman, you can’t remember anything he said or did that might have some connection with what’s happened?” asked Martin Beck.
    She shook her head and started sobbing dryly. Her eyes glided on past Martin Beck and she stared straight ahead at nothing.
    “Do you have any brothers and sisters?” Rönn asked the boy.
    “Yes, a sister, but she’s married and lives in Malmö.”
    Rönn glanced inquiringly at Martin Beck, who was rolling a cigarette thoughtfully back and forth between his fingers as he looked at the two people in front of him.
    “We’ll be going now,” he said to the boy. “I’m sure you can take care of your mother, but I think the best thing would be if you could get a doctor to come over and give her something to make her sleep. Is there any doctor you can call at this time of night?”
    The boy stood up and nodded.
    “Doctor Blomberg,” he said. “He usually comes when someone in the family’s sick.”
    He went out in the hall and they heard him dial a number and after a while someone seemed to answer.The conversation was short and he came back and stood beside his