Part 43 (1/2)

Her joy at having a job was blown away. Feo had said that everything would continue as before, but Eva had her doubts. How would the customers react? Who would want to eat at the trafficking center for a cocaine ring?

And what would Patrik and Hugo say?

She sat anesthetized at the kitchen table and recalled the joy she had felt earlier; the bike ride to the city and back, how she already felt more fit, the feeling of putting on the black skirt and the neat blouse, her new appearance that the hairstyle and her more conscious application of makeup gave her, the appreciation of the diners, that she had been given one hundred kronor by the young lovers, the talk with her coworkers, the incipient friends.h.i.+p with Tessie. Yes, everything that had happened at Dakar since the first nervous beginning had promised a different and better life.

And then Manuel. Why had she been so excited about him? Was it because he looked at her with both appreciation and a kind of respect behind the controlled desire? For surely his gazes and gestures indicated l.u.s.t. When they had been talking and laughing in the dishwas.h.i.+ng area she had surprised herself in thinking: touch me! And it was as if her thoughts had unconsciously influenced Manuel. He became both shy and eager at the same time. The heat of the dishwasher made his dark skin bloom and the sweat that gleamed at his hairline made her want to brush his wild bangs aside and cool his brow with her hand.

Shame on me, she thought. I wanted him. Not enough that I worked for a drug lord, I desired a drug pusher who may have been involved in smuggling and who has a felon for a brother.

A brother who had been featured in the headlines of every newspaper. Eva was surprised that no one else at Dakar had reacted to the pictures of Manuel's brother. Maybe they had been too upset about Slobodan's arrest to reflect on the obvious resemblance between the Alavez brothers.

Eva stood up and walked to the bedroom to make her bed but ended up standing with the bedspread in her hand. Now she was back to her earlier life, with pa.s.sivity and anxiety for the future. Feo's words that she could always find other waitressing gigs, if Dakar did end up closing, did not comfort her. That brief period of time at Dakar that was all she had to show for herself, how impressive was that?

A b.u.t.terfly fluttered outside the window but disappeared as quickly as it had appeared. Eva dropped the bedspread and sank down on the bed.

The dream was over so fast, she thought.

Sixty-One.

The Alavez brothers had been holed up in the shed for three days. They had not seen a single person. Sometimes they heard the muted roar of traffic and the cracking sound that they believed came from a weapon, a series of rhythmic salvos, and which they later realized must come from military training exercises. holed up in the shed for three days. They had not seen a single person. Sometimes they heard the muted roar of traffic and the cracking sound that they believed came from a weapon, a series of rhythmic salvos, and which they later realized must come from military training exercises.

In the evening of the first day, Manuel had walked back to the arts and crafts village. He had watched the parking lot for several hours before he had dared venture out. Now the car was parked in a tumbledown garage on the property.

On the morning of the second day, Manuel had raised a ladder against the side of the main house, climbed up and managed to open a window. In the kitchen they had found crackers, a box of canned food, and a packet of raisins. They brought up water from the well, and in an earth cellar they found some dusty jars of jam with the year 1998 written on the label.

They were used to meager diets and did not really want for anything. The lack of anything to do was worse. Patricio became anxious and irritable. Manuel had joked with him that he should be used to lying around on a cot, but Patricio had just muttered in reply.

Manuel had wondered if he should tell him about Armas's death. It was only on the second day, when they were talking about the fat one and the tall one, that Manuel was struck by the fact that his brother knew nothing. In an unconscious way Manuel had simply a.s.sumed that Patricio knew what had happened by the river. He decided to say nothing.

Manuel had sawed the apple tree and piled the wood against the wall of the shed. Patricio had helped gather up the sticks that were left over.

The rest of the time was filled with pa.s.sive waiting.

Now it was one day before Manuel's flight to Mexico was due to leave. They talked about how they should proceed and decided to go together to Arlanda. Patricio would use Manuel's pa.s.sport and ticket in order to leave the country. Patricio had increasingly started to doubt the plan and raised objections. before Manuel's flight to Mexico was due to leave. They talked about how they should proceed and decided to go together to Arlanda. Patricio would use Manuel's pa.s.sport and ticket in order to leave the country. Patricio had increasingly started to doubt the plan and raised objections.

”How are you going to get home?”

”We've already talked about that,” Manuel said grumpily. ”I'm not wanted for anything. They can't charge me with anything. I'll go to the Mexican emba.s.sy and get a new pa.s.sport. I can say that I was drunk and lost both the pa.s.sport and the ticket and that I missed going to the airport. They can't punish me for that.”

”But if-”

”Stop it! Don't you want to go home?”

Manuel had grown tired of Patricio's nagging pessimism and got up from the bench outside the shed.

”I'm going into town tonight,” he said abruptly.

Patricio looked up.

”Is that why you are so worried?”

”I'm not worried,” Manuel snapped.

”What are you going to do there? We have everything.”

”I have to ...”

Manuel left his brother without listening to the rest and walked up toward the edge of the woods, then he stopped halfway, returned to the shed and walked in. Patricio heard him bustle about inside.

A little while later Manuel emerged with a bag and a towel over his shoulder, walked over to the clothesline where his change of clothes were hanging, and pulled down a pair of pants and a T-s.h.i.+rt.

When Manuel started pumping up water and filling the washbasin, Patricio laughed.

”You want to look clean and nice,” he observed.

Manuel looked up angrily, but when he saw Patricio's expression he couldn't help let out a chuckle.

May this go well, he thought. I want to see him happy in Mexico. He took off his clothes and soaped up his whole body. The sun sank behind the trees and he s.h.i.+vered. Patricio came over, filled a bucket of water, and poured it over Manuel.

”Now you will do,” he said.

While the Alavez brothers were hiding in the forest outside Uppsala, the police continued their efforts to locate them as well as the other fugitive from Norrtalje, Jose Franco, who was still at large. hiding in the forest outside Uppsala, the police continued their efforts to locate them as well as the other fugitive from Norrtalje, Jose Franco, who was still at large.

The questioning of the two failed bank robbers, Brugger and Bjornsson, had not yielded anything. They claimed they had no idea where the other two had gone. Bjornsson had maintained that the Mexican, whose name he could not even remember, or so he said, had not been involved in planning the escape.

The police in Norrtalje, and the National Crime Division, who had immediately become involved, were working with the theory that Franco and Alavez had joined forces and were perhaps still together. They had systematically worked through the Spaniard's network of contacts and most recent known addresses and haunts, without results. Jose Franco appeared to have been swallowed up by the earth.

A tip from a Tierp resident who claimed to have seen Patricio Alavez get on the train to Uppsala was deemed to be not very credible. In part because the witness was clearly intoxicated, not only when he called the police, but he had also, as he himself put it, been somewhat ”in his cups” at the time he claimed to have noticed the Mexican on the platform in Tierp.

This tip never reached the Uppsala police.

The sessions with Slobodan Andersson stalled. He kept stubbornly to the story that he had received the bag from a stranger who had asked him to look after it for a day. The stranger was then going to pick it up from the restaurant. stalled. He kept stubbornly to the story that he had received the bag from a stranger who had asked him to look after it for a day. The stranger was then going to pick it up from the restaurant.

More difficult for the restauranteur was the fact that the police had found Konrad Rosenberg's fingerprints on the plastic surrounding the cocaine packets. When Slobodan Andersson was asked to explain how this happened, he stopped talking for good.

Even his haughty lawyer looked stricken. Sammy Nilsson noted with satisfaction how impossible the situation was for Slobodan Andersson and how the lawyer gradually abandoned her somewhat intimate att.i.tude toward him. When he subsequently held his tongue throughout the next attempted round of questioning she openly showed her irritation.

Information on the brothers Alavez came back from Mexico with unexpected speed. Neither of them was known to the narcotics division. The elder of the two, Manuel, had been arrested for ”disturbance of the peace” charges but had been freed after five days. What this actually meant was not spelled out in the e-mail from Comisario Adolfo Sanchez at the Policia Criminal in Oaxaca. came back from Mexico with unexpected speed. Neither of them was known to the narcotics division. The elder of the two, Manuel, had been arrested for ”disturbance of the peace” charges but had been freed after five days. What this actually meant was not spelled out in the e-mail from Comisario Adolfo Sanchez at the Policia Criminal in Oaxaca.

A group with representatives from both the Norrtalje and Uppsala authorities had been formed. The Uppsala team included Inge Werner from the criminal information service, Sammy Nilsson from violent crimes, and Jan-Erik Rundgren from narcotics.

They were trying to connect the murder of Armas, the cocaine seized at Alhambra, and the escape from the Norrtalje prison. They had met twice in Uppsala but had not experienced much progress. Now the updates were conducted by telephone and mail.

Ann Lindell had conferred with her colleague Lindman from Vasters and discussed the arguments in favor of bringing in Lorenzo Wader for questioning. There were reasons for this. He had been observed at Dakar together with Konrad Rosenberg and together with Olaf Gonzalez at Pub 19. The waitstaff at both Dakar and Alhambra had also seen how Slobodan Andersson had conversed on several occasions with someone whom they knew as ”Lorenzo.” her colleague Lindman from Vasters and discussed the arguments in favor of bringing in Lorenzo Wader for questioning. There were reasons for this. He had been observed at Dakar together with Konrad Rosenberg and together with Olaf Gonzalez at Pub 19. The waitstaff at both Dakar and Alhambra had also seen how Slobodan Andersson had conversed on several occasions with someone whom they knew as ”Lorenzo.”