Still Waters (Sandhamn Murders Book 1) Read Free Page A

a few words with the technicians.
     
    “Thomas, have you come to visit?” Nora smiled when she saw Thomas, one of her oldest and closest friends, outside Westerberg’s grocery store on her way back from swimming. Her bike skidded to a halt on the gravel, and she lifted Simon.
    “Look who’s here, Simon. Give your godfather a big hug.”
    She had to stretch up so Simon could reach. Although she was above average height, it was nothing compared with Thomas at six foot four. On top of that he was well built, his shoulders broad from years of handball training. He looked just like the archetypal policeman, big and reassuring, with blond hair and blue eyes.
    “They ought to use you on recruitment posters for the training academy,” she used to tease him.
    Thomas’s parents lived on the neighboring island of Harö, and ever since they had attended the Friends of Sandhamn sailing camp together where they were nine, Nora and Thomas had been the best of friends.
    Every summer they had picked up the threads from the previous year, and despite their parents’ conviction that there was romance in the air, they had remained just good friends, nothing more.
    The first time Nora got so drunk she threw up, it was Thomas who had cleaned her up and got her home without her parents knowing. At least they’d never mentioned it. When the great teenage love of his life had dumped him, Nora had done her best to console him and let him go on and on about it. They had spent a whole night sitting on the rocks as he poured his heart out.
    When they were fourteen they had spent a whole summer studying for their confirmation with the priest in the chapel on Sandhamn, and both of them had done every available summer job on the island: worked in the ice cream kiosk, helped out at the bakery and at the sailing club, ran the till at Westerberg’s shop. They had also danced in the Sailors Restaurant, until, hot and sweaty, they ended the evening with a nighttime dip in the sea below Dansberget as the sun was rising.
    When Henrik first showed an interest in Nora by inviting her to the medical students’ ball, she had called Thomas to tell him. She had been deeply attracted to Henrik, whose spontaneous charm had hit her with full force. As usual, Thomas had listened as she fell in love and prattled on.
    Thomas had always wanted to join the police, just as Nora had always wanted to study law. She used to joke that when she became minister for justice, she would make him the chief of police of Sweden.
    When Adam was born, Nora knew Thomas was the obvious choice for a godparent, but Henrik wanted to choose his best friend and his wife. When Simon came along, Nora insisted that Thomas be his godfather. Thomas was the kind of person they could rely on if anything happened to her or Henrik.
    “I’m here to work,” Thomas said with a serious expression. “Did you hear that a dead body has been found on the other side of the island?”
    Nora nodded. “It sounds dreadful. I was just at the swimming school with Simon, and that was the only topic of conversation. What happened?” She looked anxiously at Thomas.
    “I’ve no idea at this stage. All we know is that it’s a man’s body, and it was entangled in an old fishing net. It looked pretty bad, so it must have been in the water for quite some time.”
    Nora shuddered in the warm sunshine. “Terrible. But it must have been an accident, surely? I can’t believe anybody could be murdered here on Sandhamn.”
    “We’ll see. The pathologist will have to examine the body before we can draw any conclusions. The man who found it couldn’t tell us much.”
    “He must have been shocked.”
    “Yeah, I feel sorry for him. Nobody expects to find a corpse when they’re out on their morning walk,” said Thomas with a grimace.
    Nora lifted Simon back onto the bike. “Can you come over when you’re finished? I’m sure you’ve earned a cup of coffee,” she said.
    Thomas smiled. “Sounds like a good