Faceless Killers
a large sum of money?"
    "They wouldn't say exactly. But the clerk nodded when the bank manager turned his back."
    "We'll have to talk to the prosecutor when we have written up this statement," said Wallander. "Then we can look into his assets and see where we are."
"Blood money," said Herdin.
    Wallander wondered whether he was going to start throwing things again.
    "There are plenty of questions left," he said. "But one is more important than all the others right now. How do you know about all this? You say that Lövgren kept it secret from his wife. So how come you know?"
    Herdin didn't answer the question. He stared mutely at the floor.
Wallander looked at Hansson, who shook his head.
"You really have to answer the question," said Wallander.
    "I don't have to answer at all," said Herdin. "I'm not the one who killed them. Would I murder my own sister?"
    Wallander tried to approach the question from another angle. "How many other people know what you just told us?"
Herdin didn't answer.
    "Whatever you say won't go beyond this room," Wallander said.
    Herdin stared at the floor. Wallander knew instinctively that he must wait.
    "Would you get us some coffee?" he asked Hansson. "And see if you can find some pastries."
    While Hansson was gone, Herdin kept staring at the floor, and Wallander waited. Hansson brought in the coffee, and Herdin ate a stale pastry.
    Wallander thought it was time to ask the question again. "Sooner or later you'll have no choice but to answer," he said.
Herdin raised his head and looked him straight in the eye.
    "When they got married I already had a feeling that there was another person behind Johannes Lövgren's friendly yet taciturn exterior. I thought there was something fishy about him. Maria was my little sister. I wanted the best for her. I was suspicious of Lövgren from the first time he came to our parents' house to court her. It took me 30 years to work out who he was. How I did it is my business."
"Did you tell your sister what you found out?"
"Never. Not a word."
"Did you tell anyone else? Your own wife?" "I'm not married."
    Wallander looked at the man sitting in front of him. There was something hard and dogged about him. Like a man who had been brought up eating gravel.
    "One last question," said Wallander. "Now we know that Lövgren had plenty of money. Maybe he also had a large sum of money at home the night he was murdered. We'll have to find that out. But who would have known about it? Besides you."
    Herdin looked at him. Wallander saw a glint of fear in his eyes.
"I didn't know about it," said Herdin. Wallander nodded.
    "We'll stop here," he said, shoving aside the pad on which he had been taking notes. "But we're going to be needing your help again."
"Can I go now?" said Herdin, getting up.
    "You can go," replied Wallander. "But don't leave the district without talking to us first. And if you think of anything else, we'd like to hear from you."
    As he was leaving, Herdin hesitated as if there was something more he wanted to say. Then he pushed open the door and was gone.
    "Tell Martinsson to run a check on him," said Wallander. "Probably we won't find anything. But it's best to make sure."

"What do you think about what he said?" Hansson wondered.
Wallander thought before replying.
    "There was something convincing about him. I don't think he was lying or making things up. I believe he did discover that Johannes Lövgren was living a double life. I think he was protecting his sister."
"Do you think he could have been involved?"
    Wallander was certain when he answered. "Herdin didn't kill them. Nor do I think he knows who did. I believe he came to us for two reasons. He wanted to help us find the people responsible so he can both thank them and spit in their faces. As far as he's concerned, whoever murdered Lövgren did him a favour. And whoever murdered Maria ought to be beheaded in the public square."
    Hansson got up. "I'll tell Martinsson. Anything else you need right now?"
Wallander

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