Dark Secrets Read Free

to.
    Haraldsson realized that he would need at least some fresh information before he spoke to Lena Eriksson, so he tried calling Lisa Hansson, Roger’s girlfriend, but she was still in school.
    He checked both Lena and Roger against official police records. There were a few incidents of shoplifting involving Roger, but the latest was about a year ago, and it was difficult to make any link with the disappearance. Nothing on the mother.
    Haraldsson called the local authority and found out that Roger attended Palmlövska High School.
    Not good
, he thought.
    Palmlövska was a private prep school that also took boarders and was ranked among the top schools in the country as far as examination results were concerned. Its students were gifted and highly motivated, and had rich parents. Parents with contacts. They would be searching for a scapegoat to blame for the fact that the investigation hadn’t been started immediately, and it didn’t look good if the police had made no progress by the third day. Haraldsson decided to put everything else on the backburner. His career was already at a standstill, and it would be stupid to take any more risks.
    So Haraldsson worked hard all that afternoon. He visited the school. Both Ragnar Groth, the head teacher, and Beatrice Strand, Roger’s class teacher, expressed great concern and perplexity when they heard that Roger was missing, but they were unable to help. Nothing had happened that they knew about, at any rate. Roger had behaved perfectly normally, had attended school as usual, had had an important Swedish exam on Friday afternoon, and according to his classmates had been in a good mood afterward.
    Haraldsson did, however, get hold of Lisa Hansson, the last person to have seen Roger on Friday evening. She was in the same grade, and Haraldsson asked someone to point her out in the school cafeteria. She was a pretty girl, but fairly ordinary. Straight blond hair, her bangs swept back with a plain hair clip. Blue eyes, no makeup. A white shirt buttoned almost to the top, worn beneath a vest. Haraldsson immediately thought of the Free Church when he sat down opposite her. Or the girl in that series
The White Stone
, which had been on TV when he was young. He asked her if she would like anything to eat or drink. She shook her head.
    “Tell me about Friday, when Roger was at your house.”
    Lisa looked at him and gave a slight shrug.
    “He arrived at around half past five, we sat in my room and watched TV, and he went home around ten. Well, he said he was going home, anyway…”
    Haraldsson nodded. Four and a half hours in her room. Two sixteen-year-olds. Watching TV. Nice try. Or maybe he was just damaged by the life he led? How long had it been since he and Jenny had spent an evening watching TV? Without a quickie during the ads? Months.
    “So nothing else happened? You didn’t have an argument, fall out or anything?”
    Lisa shook her head. She nibbled at an almost nonexistent thumbnail. Haraldsson noticed that the cuticle was infected.
    “Has he disappeared like this before?”
    Lisa shook her head again.
    “Not as far as I know, but we haven’t been together very long. Haven’t you spoken to his mother?” For a moment Haraldsson thought she was accusing him, but then he realized that of course that wasn’t the case. Hanser’s fault. She had made him doubt his own abilities.
    “My colleagues have spoken to her, but we need to talk to everyone. Get an overview.” Haraldsson cleared his throat. “How are things between Roger and his mother? Any problems?”
    Lisa shrugged her shoulders once more. It occurred to Haraldssonthat her repertoire was somewhat limited. Shaking her head and shrugging her shoulders.
    “Did they quarrel?”
    “I suppose so. Sometimes. She didn’t like the school.”
    “This school?”
    Lisa nodded in response.
    “She thought it was stuck up.”
    She’s not bloody wrong there
, thought Haraldsson.
    “Does Roger’s father live in