“Would Jakob be capable of hurting Mikael?”
“Why would he do that?”
“Because they were fighting over money, for instance.”
“But it all worked out.” He shook his head. “No, no. Jakob is a nice guy.”
Something didn’t add up here. Siri closed her notepad and tucked it back in her pocket.
“Who would you say is your best friend?”
“You know, the guy I was talking about. Sander.”
“Do you thinkhewould be capable of hurting Mikael?”
Killian looked uncertain. “What? Why would he do that?”
“Could he, do you think?”
“Sander’s never been able to fight, he’s too nice.”
“But what if he got mad?”
“If there was something going on between him and Mikael, they would have talked about it.”
Siri nodded and looked around thoughtfully. “He’s the one who helped you build this cabin, right?”
“Yeah, totally.”
“So he’s a helpful guy?”
“Well, yeah, of course. We’re friends.”
“Do you help him too?”
Killian hesitated. “Sure.”
“Did you and Sander run into Mikael on your way home from the party?”
“No, it was just me and him, until we split off.”
“Did you run into Mikael on your own, then? Did something happen between you?”
“Uh, no. Like I just said, I didn’t see anyone on the way home.”
There was something there inside him, but it was out of her reach; she couldn’t quite get there. He may have been eighteen, but despite his adult size he was just a boy, and he wasn’t formally a suspect for any reason. At last she gave up and simply wrote in her notepad:
hiding something
17
Siri returned to the scene of the crime with Sander and Killian’s lies buzzing in her head.
I fell down.
We were hauling a bunch of debris.
The hell they were. But she couldn’t get any further.
