The Weeping Girl (38 page)

‘The photographer?’

‘A freelance journalist. Who evidently recognized him. Used a special lens, and deBries apparently didn’t notice a thing. But then, he was a bit preoccupied . . .’

‘How old is his daughter?’ Moreno asked, putting the photograph back into the envelope.

Van Veeteren cleared his throat.

‘Twelve. About the same age as she is,’ he said, gesturing in the direction of the envelope.

‘They haven’t been in contact,’ said Münster. ‘I’ve spoken to Maria, his ex-wife. She reckons that since they separated he’s gone downhill – to be
honest, she didn’t seem all that surprised. But she knows nothing at all about this.’

Downhill? Moreno thought. You could say that again. She was having difficulty in sorting out her own emotions. That had been the case ever since Münster had phoned that morning. On the one
hand, disgust at what deBries had been up to; but on the other, dismay at the fact that he was dead. That he had taken the consequences so extremely quickly. After only a few hours, by all
accounts. Münster had spoken to him on Friday afternoon, and he’d done it that evening, or that night at the latest. A good friend had found him the next morning: the door hadn’t
been locked. No room for doubt. Nor for explanations or excuses.

But then, what was there to say? Moreno thought. Make excuses? How?

‘How did you find out?’ she asked, because Münster hadn’t told her.

‘That friend phoned me. DeBries had written my number on a scrap of paper on the kitchen table.’

Van Veeteren lit a cigarette. They sat in silence for a while.

‘I thought it must be him,’ Moreno admitted. ‘If it had to be somebody. He seemed to be the only possibility, as it were. Do the others know about this? The fact that
he’s dead, I mean?’

Münster shook his head.

‘No. Not as far as we know, that is. We thought that we’d first . . .’

He was searching for words.

‘That we’d consolidate our silence,’ said
the Chief Inspector
. ‘If you don’t have anything against that. The simplest line to take is that you are just as
devastated as everybody else. That you don’t say a damned word, and don’t circulate this photo around your colleagues. But perhaps you see things differently? From a woman’s
perspective, perhaps?’

Moreno thought for a few seconds. She didn’t need any longer.

‘For the moment I’m prepared to put the man’s and the woman’s perspective on the shelf,’ she said. ‘There seem to be general human considerations which are
much more important.’

‘I agree absolutely,’ said Van Veeteren. ‘I just need to check that we all agree that I should take charge of this, okay?’

Moreno exchanged looks with Münster and nodded. Van Veeteren took the envelope, folded it in two and put it in his inside pocket. Checked his watch.

‘Might I have the honour of treating two old colleagues to a glass?’ he then asked. ‘My chess match isn’t due to start for another hour yet.’

Moreno left The Society at about nine o’clock together with Münster. He offered to drive her home, but she declined and decided to walk instead. It was still quite
warm, and there were lots of people in the streets and the pavement cafes. She chose a longer route, via Langgraacht and Kellnerstraat. Over Keymerplejn and Windemeerstraat. She passed by
the
Chief Inspector
’s antiquarian bookshop, and noted that they were closed for the summer, until the twenty-second.

As she was walking through the town she tried to think about Intendent deBries: but it hadn’t become any easier to conjure up some sort of retroactive image of him after the conversation
with Münster and Van Veeteren. More difficult, in fact. But even so, there was one question she couldn’t avoid. Would she always remember him as
the child-molester
? Was this
destined to be his epitaph? Would she ever be able to see any other sides of his character?

She hadn’t known him all that long, but she had respected him as a colleague. As they say. As a competent and efficient police officer. Surely she had? Did that sort of judgement really
have to be tainted by this other business? Would the passage of time ever be able to make it possible to plead extenuating circumstances to counterbalance the condemnation she was feeling just now?
She didn’t know.

And what about Arnold Maager? it suddenly struck her. She had never met him, only seen a photograph of him. What did she feel when she tried to conjure up an image of him?

It was the same as with deBries, she concluded. Difficult to feel any kind of sympathy or understanding. One might feel sorry for them – Maager’s punishment was out of all proportion
to his crime: but these men, both deBries and Maager, should surely have understood that there was a cause-and-effect chain? That what they did would sooner or later have consequences.

Always. Somehow or other.

Or am I judging them too harshly? she wondered. Is this just the bitchiness inside me that I’m trying to elevate into some kind of morality?

What the hell! she allowed herself to mutter. There was no doubt a big difference between the sixteen-year-old in Lejnice and the eleven-year-old (or however old the girl actually was) in
Phuket; but even so, she could understand those who maintained that male sexuality was the devil’s contribution to the Universal Plan. But that’s life.

As far as deBries was concerned, she was grateful that she wasn’t the only one in possession of all the details. Good that Münster knew all about it as well – no doubt there
would be an opportunity to discuss matters further with him, once it became clear what the fall-out was. Perhaps also with
the Chief Inspector
.

But then she remembered something Reinhart had once said.

A human being is an animal with a very dirty soul – but an amazing ability to wash it.

As she passed the Keymer church the clock struck a quarter to ten. She registered that she had one whole day left of her leave. Great.

On Monday, it was back to routine. Great.

Also by Håkan Nesser

BORKMANN’S POINT

THE RETURN

THE MIND’S EYE

WOMAN WITH A BIRTHMARK

THE INSPECTOR AND SILENCE

THE UNLUCKY LOTTERY

HOUR OF THE WOLF

First published in Great Britain 2013 by Mantle

This electronic edition published 2013 by Mantle
an imprint of Pan Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited
Pan Macmillan, 20 New Wharf Road, London N1 9RR
Basingstoke and Oxford
Associated companies throughout the world
www.panmacmillan.com

ISBN 978-1-447-21659-9 EPUB

Copyright © Håkan Nesser 2000
English translation copyright © Laurie Thompson 2013

Originally published in 2000 as
Ewa Morenos Fall
by Albert Bonniers förlag, Stockholm.

The right of Håkan Nesser to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

You may not copy, store, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (electronic, digital,
optical, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be
liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Visit
www.panmacmillan.com
to read more about all our books and to buy them. You will also find features, author
interviews and news of any author events, and you can sign up for e-newsletters so that you’re always first to hear about our new releases.