The Man Who Watched Women by Michael Hjorth Page B

something?
    â€˜Riksmord,’ Annika replied. ‘They don’t have an appointment,’ she went on, as if she could read Haraldsson’s mind.
    Haraldsson swore silently to himself. He had hoped that Riksmord’s interest in Lövhaga would be restricted to telephone calls. They hadn’t treated him well during their time in VästerÃ¥s. Not well at all. Quite the reverse. They had done everything in their power to exclude him from the investigation, in spite of the fact that over and over again he had proved himself to be an asset.
    â€˜Who’s here?’
    Annika looked down at the post-it note in her hand. ‘Vanja Lithner and Billy Rosén.’
    At least it wasn’t Torkel Höglund. When they first met, Torkel had told Haraldsson he was to be an important part of their investigation, only to kick him out a day or so later without any kind of explanation whatsoever. Not a person to be trusted. Admittedly, Haraldsson had no desire to see Vanja or Billy either, but what could he do? He looked over at the door, where his PA was waiting. He could ask Annika to tell them he was busy, get them to come back at some other time. Later. In a few days perhaps, when he had had time to familiarise himself with the job a little more. When he would be better prepared. Could one ask one’s PA to lie? Haraldsson had never had a PA before, but assumed that it was somehow part of her job. After all, she was there to make things easier for him. Putting off a visit from Riksmord would definitely make his day easier to cope with.
    â€˜Tell them I’m busy.’
    â€˜With what?’
    Haraldsson looked at her with a quizzical expression. Surely there weren’t that many things a person could be busy with in their office?
    â€˜With work, of course. Ask them to come back.’
    Annika gave him a look which could only be interpreted as disapproving, and closed the door. Haraldsson keyed his password into the computer, then spun his chair around and looked out of the window as he waited for his personal settings to be loaded. It was going to be another beautiful summer’s day.
    There was another knock on the door. This time he didn’t even manage a ‘Come in’ before the door opened and Vanja marched in purposefully. She stopped so suddenly when she caught sight of Haraldsson that Billy almost bumped into her.
    â€˜What are you doing here?’
    â€˜I work here now.’ Haraldsson straightened up a fraction in the comfortable office chair. ‘I’m the governor. I’ve been in the post for a few days now.’
    â€˜Is it just a temporary thing?’ Vanja couldn’t get her head around it.
    â€˜No, it’s my new job. It’s a permanent position.’
    â€˜Right …’
    Billy quickly jumped in with the reason for their visit. ‘We’re here because of Edward Hinde.’
    â€˜I realise that.’
    â€˜And you still weren’t prepared to see us?’ Vanja again. She sat down in one of the armchairs provided for visitors, a challenging look on her face.
    â€˜There’s a lot to do when you’re new in a post.’ Haraldsson waved his hands over the desk, which he quickly realised was rather too empty to make much of an impact when it came to visualising his workload. ‘But I can spare you a few minutes,’ he went on. ‘What would you like to know?’
    â€˜Has anything happened with Hinde over the last month or so?’
    â€˜Like what?’
    â€˜I don’t know … Unusual behaviour, any deviations from his normal routine, changes of mood. Anything outside the norm.’
    â€˜Not that I’ve heard. There’s nothing in his notes. I haven’t met him personally. Yet.’
    Vanja nodded, apparently satisfied with his response. Billy took over.
    â€˜What opportunities does he have to communicate with the outside world?’
    Haraldsson pulled the folder on the desk towards him