The Golden Calf by Helene Tursten Read Free Book Online

finished?”
    “At the beginning of July.”
    “So you no longer have your apartment?”
    “No, I sold it. Otherwise we wouldn’t be here now.” Sanna waved her arm as if to indicate the entire huge apartment.
    “So did you spend time with your husband? Go to parties and events together and things like that?”
    “Of course we did. And we have Ludwig.”
    As if he had heard his name, there was the sudden sound of a child’s cry.
    “Oh, now he’s awake,” Elsy said. “I’ll go.…”
    “Yesterday you said that you’d spoken by phone with Kjell the day before. Around nine in the morning. Is that correct?” Irene continued.
    “Yes.”
    “Was he at the house or was he here?”
    “He was here.”
    “So you didn’t see him at all on Tuesday?”
    “No.”
    “When did you last see him?”
    “Last Saturday. We had lunch together at Le Ciel. Ludwig was with us, but he slept the whole time.”
    Irene wondered how she should continue. She saw out of the corner of her eye that Tommy was following Elsy Kaegler to talk to her out of her daughter’s hearing. Such a strange arrangement, Irene thought. People living separate lives eventhough they’re married and have a child together. Irene decided to go a bit deeper into the matter.
    “Didn’t Kjell want to live with you and Ludwig?” she asked cautiously.
    “No. He didn’t like children.”
    “But even so—”
    “That’s how it was!” Sanna snapped.
    Why would a young woman marry an older man who didn’t like children and then have a child with him? Simply because he was rich? Irene realized she couldn’t ask that question, even though it would be interesting to hear the reply. Instead, she headed into another line of questioning.
    “Do you know who Kjell was supposed to meet yesterday evening?”
    “I have no idea.”
    “Perhaps you have a guess?” Irene continued stubbornly.
    Sanna appeared to waver for a minute, and then said firmly, “No.”
    “Do you know why Kjell wanted to meet this person at the house and not here at his apartment?”
    Sanna turned beet red from her décolletage to her cheeks. One of Irene’s questions had finally touched a nerve.
    “I have no idea! I will never forgive him for that! My house … my house … he’s ruined it! I’ll have to clean.…” She stopped in the middle of a sentence when she heard laughter in the hallway. Tommy came marching into the library carrying Ludwig in his arms. Elsy Kaegler was following him with a worried look on her face. She rubbed her hands together, making small, scared sounds as if Tommy were about to drop Ludwig on the floor.
    “Here you are,” Tommy said. “All fresh and clean and ready to go! He’s hungry now, though.” He smiled at Sanna as he handed Ludwig over to her.
    Sanna nodded but gave no hint of a smile nor thanks as she took her son and placed him on her hip.
    “You’ll have to excuse me,” she said. “I can’t answer any more questions now. I have to take care of Ludde.” She left the room without even a glance back.
    Neither Tommy nor Irene had a chance to stop her. The snub had been quick and effective. Elsy started to wring her hands and mumble again while Tommy and Irene headed back into the hallway in turn. Although they couldn’t get any more information today, Irene was absolutely sure that they’d be back. Sanna probably realized this as well.
    “S ANNA ’ S PARENTS HAVE been divorced for twenty years,” Tommy informed Irene once they were back in the car. “Elsy is an elementary school teacher, and her ex-husband is a principal at a high school here in town. Apparently, he remarried rather quickly, and there are two sons from the second marriage. According to Elsy, he hasn’t paid any attention to his daughters since he remarried.”
    “Do you think that Sanna married Kjell B:son Ceder as a father substitute?”
    “I don’t know. Apparently, lots of young women think that older men are more attractive: as a lover, as a partner—all