Part 12 (1/2)
Mns, the bartender, looked in.
”There's a phone call for you, Eva. You can take it in here,” he said rapidly, and left again.
Eva looked around, bewildered. Feo pointed to the wall where the telephone was mounted. The kids, she thought, and an image of Patrik's bleeding face appeared in her mind.
She listened without saying more than ”yes,” ”no,” and ”of course,” then she replaced the receiver.
”I have to go home,” she said. ”I have to stop now.”
”Has something happened?”
She shook her head, but changed her tack as quickly.
”It was the police,” she said.
”The police?” Feo asked.
”And to think I'm on a bike,” she sobbed. ”Can someone call me a cab?”
”I can take you,” Johnny said, immediately untying his ap.r.o.n. ”I took the car today. The rest of you can manage, can't you?”
Donald nodded.
A patrol car was parked outside the front of the building, and a group of teenagers had a.s.sembled in the yard. Eva recognized many of them. A few were cla.s.smates of either Hugo or Patrik. outside the front of the building, and a group of teenagers had a.s.sembled in the yard. Eva recognized many of them. A few were cla.s.smates of either Hugo or Patrik.
Johnny accompanied Eva into the apartment. She had not said a single word during the drive to explain what had happened. Johnny suffered with her and the silent anxiety that drove her to lean forward in her seat with one hand on the dashboard.
There were two police officers in the kitchen, one female and one male. Two unfamiliar and frightening people in her kitchen, two gigantic figures who took up the entire room, that was how Eva perceived them and they gave her a feeling of terror.
There is no security, she thought. Everything breaks down, the joy of the past week with a new job, a new hairstyle, and a new life. All of that had been brushed aside.
”What has happened? Where is Patrik?”
She stared at Hugo who was sitting wedged in between the wall and one of the officers.
”Come here!”
Hugo got up and stood behind her.
”We're looking for Patrik. We have received a report of an a.s.sault and we have reason to believe he was involved.”
It was the female officer who was speaking.
”a.s.sault? You think Patrik a.s.saulted someone?”
”Wouldn't you like to sit down?”
Eva shook her head, suddenly infuriated by the fact that these two were occupying her home, her kitchen. This was a place for Eva, Patrik, and Hugo and no one else!
”Was it necessary to drive a police car up to the front of the building?” Johnny asked.
”Who are you? Are you Patrik's father?”
”I'm a colleague of Eva's,” Johnny said. ”I gave her a ride here.”
”Perhaps you could leave us now.”
”He stays,” Eva said.
”Okay,” the male officer said. ”We know that a man was a.s.saulted in this area last night. This evening someone was stabbed. We have reason to believe it is the same man. He is being treated at a hospital for his injuries. He is in fairly bad shape.”
He looked fixedly at Eva while he spoke.
”We believe that Patrik had a part in this. There are a couple of witnesses who say he was there, at least last night. Do you know where your son is?”
”No, I've just come from work.”
”So you have no idea of where your son may have been last night or where he is right now?”
”What is your name?”
”I introduced myself before but I can do so again. I am Harry Andersson, and my colleague is Barbro Liljendahl.”
”Do you have any children?”
He nodded.
”How old are they?”
”That's not relevant to the matter at hand.”
”Do you know exactly what they are doing right now?”
”That isn't relevant in this context.”
”Don't come here, you little s.h.i.+t, and tell me how I should raise my children.”
”I understand that you are upset, and naturally we are not here to criticize you, but you have to understand that it is our duty to follow up on anything that can have a bearing on an a.s.sault case. Especially when there is a knife involved.”
”Patrik doesn't own a knife.”
”Tell us about last night,” Barbro Liljendahl urged.
Eva felt Hugo's arms around her middle.
”Hugo came home and went to bed around ten o'clock. I sat up and waited for Patrik who was supposed to be home by ten-thirty at the latest, but I fell asleep on the couch. I was really tired. When I woke up in the middle of the night, Patrik was home. He was sleeping in his room. Then I went to bed too.”
”So you don't know when Patrik came home?”
”I was completely exhausted. I've just started a new job.”