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ANSWER: There haven't been many leads in this case. In addition, there are certain important facts in this case that could not be made public without hindering its solution.
QUESTION: Is an arrest immediately forthcoming?
ANSWER: It is conceivable, but from the present standpoint we cannot give you a definite answer, unfortunately.
QUESTION: Do you have any real clues in this case?
ANSWER: All we can say is that our investigations are following certain distinct lines.
(After this amazing series of half truths the Chief of Police threw a sorrowful look at the Public Prosecutor who stubbornly examined his cuticles.)
QUESTION: Criticism has been directed towards several of my colleagues. Is it the opinion of those in charge of the case that these colleagues have more or less intentionally twisted the facts?
(This question was asked by the notoriously well-known reporter whose article had made such a deep impression on Kollberg.)
ANSWER: Yes, unfortunately.
QUESTION: Isn't it more a case of the police leaving us reporters out in the cold and not giving us useful information? And deliberately leaving us to our own devices to find out whatever we can in the field?
ANSWER: Hmm.
(Several of the less talkative journalists began to show signs of displeasure.)
QUESTION: Have you identified the corpse?
(Superintendent Larsson, with a quick glance, threw the ball over to Ahlberg, sat down, and demonstratively took a cigar out of his breast pocket.)
ANSWER: No.
QUESTION: Is it possible that she is from this city or somewhere around here?
ANSWER: It doesn't seem likely.
QUESTION: Why not?
ANSWER: If that were the case we would have been able to identify her.
QUESTION: Is that your only reason for suspecting that she comes from another part of the country?
(Ahlberg looked dismally at the Chief of Police who was devoting all his attention to his cigar.)
ANSWER: Yes.
QUESTION: Has the search of the bottom near the breakwater produced any results?
ANSWER: We have found a number of things.
QUESTION: Do these things have anything to do with the crime?
ANSWER: That is not easy to answer.
QUESTION: How old was she?
ANSWER: Presumably between twenty-five and thirty.
QUESTION: Exactly how long had she been dead when she was found?
ANSWER: That isn't easy to answer, either. Between three and four days.
QUESTION: The information that has been given to the public is very vague. Isn't it possible to tell us something more exact, information which really says something?
ANSWER: That's what we are trying to do here. We have also retouched a picture of her face which you are welcome to, if you want to have it.
(Ahlberg reached for a group of papers on the desk and started to hand them out. The air in the room was heavy and humid.)
QUESTION: Did she have any particular marks on her body?
ANSWER: Not as far as we know.
QUESTION: What does that mean?
ANSWER: Simply, that she had no marks at all.
QUESTION: Has a dental examination given any special clues?
ANSWER: She had good teeth.
(A long and pressing pause followed. Martin Beck noted that the reporter in front of him was still doodling with the star he had drawn.)
QUESTION: Is it possible that the body was thrown into the water at some other place and that it was brought to the breakwater by the current?
ANSWER: It doesn't seem likely.
QUESTION: Have you learned anything by knocking on doors?
ANSWER: We are still working on that.
QUESTION: To sum up, isn't it true that the police have a complete mystery on their hands?
It was the Public Prosecutor that answered:
‘Most crimes are a mystery in the beginning.’
With that, the press conference ended.
On the way out, one of the older reporters stopped Martin Beck, laid his hand on his arm and said: ‘Don't you know anything at all?’ Martin Beck shook his head.
In Ahlberg's office two men were going through all the material they had gathered from the operation of knocking on doors.
Kollberg walked over to the desk, looked at several of the papers, and shrugged his shoulders.
Ahlberg came in. He took off his jacket and hung it over the back of his chair. Then he turned to Martin Beck and said: ‘The Public Prosecutor wants to talk to you. He is still in the other room.’
The Prosecutor and the Police Superintendent were still sitting behind the table.
‘Beck,’ said the Prosecutor, ‘I don't see that your presence is necessary here any longer. There simply is not enough work for the three of you.’
‘That's true.’
‘In general I think that a lot of what is left to do can be done conveniently somewhere else.’
‘That is possible.’
‘To put it simply, I don't want to detain you here, especially if your presence is more motivated in another direction.’
‘That is also my point of view,’ the Chief of Police added.
‘Mine also,’ said Martin Beck.
They shook hands.
In Ahlberg's office it was still very quiet. Martin Beck did not break that silence.
After a while Melander came in. He hung up his hat and nodded to the others. Then he went over to the desk, sat down at Ahlberg's typewriter, put some paper in it and knocked out a few lines. He pulled the paper out of the typewriter, signed it, and placed it in the folder on the desk.
‘Was that anything?’ asked Ahlberg.
‘No,’ said Melander.
He hadn't changed his manner since he had come in.
‘We are going home tomorrow,’ Martin Beck said.
‘Great,’ said Kollberg and yawned.
Martin Beck took a step towards the door and then turned and looked at the man at the typewriter.
‘Are you coming along to the hotel?’ he asked.
Ahlberg put his head back and looked at the ceiling. Then he got up and began to straighten his tie.
In the hotel lobby they separated from Melander.
‘I've already eaten,’ he said. ‘Good night.’
Melander was a clean-living man. In addition he was economical with his expense account and subsisted mainly on hot dogs and soft drinks when he was out on a job.
The other three went into the dining room and sat down.
‘A gin and tonic,’ said Kollberg. ‘Schweppes.’
The others ordered beef, aquavit and beer. Kollberg took his drink and finished it in three swallows. Martin Beck took out a copy of the material which had been given to the reporters and read through it.
‘Will you do me a favour,’ said Martin Beck looking at Kollberg.
‘Always ready to,’ answered Kollberg.
‘I want you to write a new description, write it for me personally. Not a report but a real description. Not a description of a corpse but of a human being. Details. How she might have looked when she was alive. There's no hurry about it.’
Kollberg sat quietly for a while.
‘I understand what you mean,’ he said. ‘By the way, our friend Ahlberg supplied the world press with an untruth today. She actually did have a birthmark, on the inside of her left thigh. Brown. It looked like a pig.’
‘We didn't see it,’ said Ahlberg.
‘I saw it,’ Kollberg said.
Before he left he said:
‘Don't worry about it. No one can see everything. Anyway, it's your murder now. Forget that you've seen me. It was only an illusion. So long.’
‘So long,’ said Ahlberg.
They ate and drank silently. A lot later and without looking up from his drink, Ahlberg said:
‘Are you planning to let this one go now?’
‘No,’ replied Martin Beck.
‘I'm not either,’ said Ahlberg. ‘Never.’
Half an hour later they separated.
When Martin Beck went up to his room he found some folded papers under his door. He opened them and immediately recognized Kollberg's orderly, easy-to-read, handwriting. Because he had known Kollberg well for a long time he wasn't at all surprised.
He undressed, washed the top of his body in cold water and put on his pyjamas. Then he put his shoes out in the corridor, laid his trousers under the mattress, turned on the night table lamp, turned off the ceiling light and got into bed.
Kollberg had written:
The following can be said about the woman who is occupying your thoughts:
1 She was (as you already know) 5 feet, 6 1/2 inches tall, had grey-blue eyes and dark brown hair. Her teeth were good and she had no scars from operations or other marks on her body with the exception of a birthmark, high up on the inside of her left thigh about an inch and a half from her groin. It was brown and about as large as a dime, but uneven and looked like a little pig. She was, according to the man who performed the autopsy (and I had to press him to tell me this on the telephone), 27 or 28 years old. She weighed about 123 pounds.
2 She was built in the following manner: Small shoulders and a very small waist, broad hips and a well developed rear end. Her measurements ought to have been approximately: 32-23-37. Thighs: heavy and long. Legs: muscular with relatively heavy calves but not fat. Her feet were in good condition with long, straight toes. No corns but heavy calluses on the soles of her feet, as if she had gone barefoot a lot and worn sandals or rubber boots a great deal of the time. She had a lot of hair on her legs, and must have been bare-legged most of the time. Condition of her legs: some defects. She was somewhat knock-kneed and seems to have walked with her toes pointed outward. She had a good deal of flesh on her body but was not fat. Slender arms. Small hands but long fingers. Shoe size was 7.
3 The suntan on her body showed: she had sunbathed in a two-piece bathing suit and worn sunglasses. She had worn thong sandals on her feet.
4 Her sex organ was well developed with a heavy growth of dark hair. Her breasts were small and slack. The nipples were large and dark brown.
