Unwanted by Kristina Ohlsson Read Free Book Online

‘As we know, we’re only talking about a very short space of time when there was no adult with her. According to the statements we’ve taken, she was left unsupervised for fewer than four minutes. The train had been at a standstill for scarcely a minute when the conductor got back to her seat, and by then she was gone.’
    Alex turned to Peder.
    ‘Peder, did you get anything concrete from your interviews? What sense did you get of the people you spoke to?’
    Peder sighed and flicked through his notebook.
    ‘I didn’t talk to anyone who was directly under suspicion, so to speak,’ he drawled. ‘Nobody saw anything; nobody heard anything. The girl was gone, that’s all. The only one who behaved a bit weirdly was the other conductor, Arvid Melin. He not only gave the all-clear for the train to leave Flemingsberg without Sara Sebastiansson, he also ignored his colleague’s call for assistance. But to be honest . . . No, I can’t for the life of me say I really think Arvid M. had anything to do with it. He seems totally useless at his job, and that no doubt made it easier for whoever took Lilian, but he wasn’t actively involved in her disappearance. I really don’t think so. And he hasn’t got a criminal record.’
    ‘Good,’ said Alex.
    Fredrika frowned.
    ‘I’m not sure I think Arvid Melin stands out as the shady one in all this,’ she said. ‘Can we assume it was a coincidence that Sara missed the train in Flemingsberg? What have we got on the woman who delayed her there?’
    Alex put his head on one side.
    ‘What’s your take on it?’ he asked.
    ‘It depends how we view the girl’s disappearance. If we think it was planned, and depended on the girl being unsupervised in Stockholm so she’d be easier to snatch, we have to see the woman with the dog as a suspect, too,’ Fredrika replied.
    ‘True,’ said Alex with some hesitation. ‘But then how did the perpetrator know that the adult who was supposed to keep watch on Lilian would be prevented from doing so?’
    ‘He didn’t, of course,’ said Fredrika. ‘The perpetrator must naturally have realized that Sara Sebastiansson would leap into action when she missed the train, and contact the crew. But maybe it still seemed less of a problem to take her from someone who didn’t know her than from her mother. Whoever took Lilian might have tried to do it even if Henry Lindgren had been there.’
    ‘So you think the priority was to get Sara off the train, so what happened in Flemingsberg was no coincidence?’ asked Alex.
    ‘Exactly,’ said Fredrika.
    ‘Hmm,’ said Alex.
    ‘Er,’ said Peder.
    Alex gave Peder an encouraging nod.
    ‘Well, I think it seems a bit far-fetched,’ said Peder with a doubtful expression.
    ‘What’s the alternative?’ asked Fredrika. ‘It was all pure chance?’
    ‘Opportunity makes a thief,’ said Peder, like a patient teacher.
    Fredrika could not believe what she was hearing, and was about to argue when Alex broke in.
    ‘Let’s finish the run-through of our findings first, then we can continue this discussion,’ he suggested.
    He nodded to Peder to go on.
    Peder waited demonstratively for a few seconds for Fredrika to start protesting, but to his disappointment, she did not. Ellen’s mobile stated to ring, however, so she left the room. Referring to his rather sloppy notes, Peder passed on to his colleagues what little other information they had. Nobody had seen what happened in Flemingsberg and nobody had seen Lilian leaving the train.
    ‘The interviews didn’t produce much,’ said Peder, feeling suddenly sheepish.
    Alex shook his head as if to say it didn’t matter.
    ‘At this juncture, it’s impossible to say what’s important and what’s not,’ he sighed. ‘Fredrika, can you give us Sara’s story and what you’ve got on her ex-husband, please?’
    Fredrika liked giving lectures. She spoke clearly and concretely, and in all the other places she had worked, her presentations had been praised.