The Spring Tide Read Free Page B

conversation, but they had about two hundred metres to the college building and Ulf was going the same way. Besides she liked to make people say what they thought. She didn’t really know why. It might just have been a way to keep her distance.
    Attack.
    ‘I think it’s all connected,’ said Ulf. ‘They beat people up so they can post it on the Net, and if there wasn’t a site to post it on then perhaps they wouldn’t beat them up.’
    Well done, Olivia thought. A long sentence, coherent thinking, sensible reflection. If did a bit less sneaking around and a bit more thinking then he would definitely rise a couple of notches in her estimation, and she had her standards. Besides, he was pretty trim and half-a-head taller than her, with dark brown curly hair.
    ‘So what are you doing this evening? Fancy a beer or something?’
    Ah, now he was back at his old rating.
     
    The classroom was nearly full. There were twenty-four students in Olivia’s class, divided into four basic groups. Ulf wasn’t in her group. Åke Gustafsson, their tutor, was standing beside the blackboard. A man in his early fifties with a long police career behind him. He was very popular in college. Some people thought he went on a bit. Olivia thought he was charming. She liked his eyebrows, the bushy type which seem to have a life of their own. Now he was holding up a file in one hand. There was a whole pile of them on the table next to him.
    ‘Since we are going to go our separate ways in a few days, I’ve thought up something – and this is a bit outside the course – something that you could do during the summer holiday, and it’s completely voluntary. This is a file with a number of old unsolved Swedish murders, I put it together myself, my idea is that you can choose one of them and make your own analysis of the investigation, look at what could have been done differently with modern police methods, DNA, geographic analysis, electronic surveillance, and whatnot. This is a little exercise in how cold cases can be tackled. Any questions?’
    ‘So it isn’t compulsory?’
    Olivia glanced at Ulf. He always had to ask something just for the sake of asking. Åke had already said that it was voluntary .
    ‘It’s completely voluntary.’
    ‘But it might boost our marks a bit, right?’
    When the lesson was over, Olivia went to the table and picked up a file. Åke approached and nodded at the folder in her hand.
    ‘Your dad worked on one of those cases.’
    ‘Did he?’
    ‘Yes, I thought it’d be a bit of fun to include it.’
     
    Olivia settled down on a bench some distance from the college building, next to three men. All three were silent – they were made of bronze. One of them was Handsome Harry, a notorious conman from the old days.
    Olivia had never heard of him.
    The other two were Tumba-Tarzan and Constable Björk. The latter had a police cap in his lap. Somebody had balanced an empty beer can on top of it.
    Olivia opened her file. She hadn’t been intending to spend any time on college work during the hols, and this was voluntary too. But it got her out of the classroom so she wouldn’t have to listen to Ulf harping on about nothing.
    Now she was curious though.
    Her dad had been involved in one of the cases.
    She quickly thumbed through the file. The summaries were very brief. A few facts about methods, places and dates, a bit about the investigations. She was quite used to police terminology . She had heard her parents discussing legal cases at the kitchen table throughout her childhood. Her mother, Maria, was a criminal lawyer.
    She found the case almost at the end of the list. Arne Rönning had been one of the people in charge of the investigation.
    Detective chief inspector in the national crime squad.
    Dad.
    Olivia looked up and let her gaze take in the view. The college was situated in the midst of almost unspoilt countryside, withlarge well-kept lawns and beautiful woodland areas that stretched right down to the bay,