Читать книгу The Fire Witness - Ларс Кеплер - Страница 28

Daniel looks at them desperately, fumbles with the zipper on his jacket, and repeats that his wife has a heart condition. The dog is barking and pulling so hard at its leash that it’s almost strangling itself. It coughs, then goes on barking.

Joona goes over to the barking dog beneath the tree. He tries to calm it down as he loosens the leash attached to its collar. As soon as Joona lets go, the dog runs across the yard to a small building. Joona hurries after it. The dog is scratching at the door, whimpering and panting.

Daniel Grim stares at Joona and the dog, and starts to walk towards them. Gunnarsson calls to him to stop, but he keeps moving. His body is stiff and his face full of despair. The gravel crunches beneath his feet. Joona tries to calm the dog, and grabs hold of its collar to pull it back, away from the door.

Gunnarsson runs across the yard and gets hold of Daniel’s jacket, but he pulls free and falls to the ground, scrapes his hand, but gets back up again.

The dog is barking, tensing its body and pulling at its collar.

The uniformed police officer stops in front of the door. Daniel tries to push past, and calls out with a sob in his voice: ‘Elisabet? Elisabet! I have to …’

The police officer tries to lead him aside while Gunnarsson hurries over to Joona and helps him with the dog.

‘My wife,’ Daniel whimpers. ‘My wife could be …’

Gunnarsson pulls the dog back towards the tree again.

The dog is panting hard, kicking up grit with its paws and barking at the door.

Joona feels a sting of pain at the back of his eyes as he pulls on a latex glove.

A carved wooden sign beneath the low eaves of the building says ‘Brew-house’.

Joona opens the door carefully and looks into the dimly-lit room. A small window is open, and hundreds of flies are buzzing about. There are bloody paw prints from the dog all over the worn floor tiles. Without going inside, Joona moves sideways to see around the brick fireplace.

He can see the back panel of a mobile phone next to a patch of blood.

As Joona leans forward through the door the buzzing of the flies gets louder. A woman in her fifties is lying in a pool of blood with her mouth open. She’s dressed in jeans, pink socks and a grey cardigan. The woman evidently tried to shuffle away, but the upper part of her face and head have been caved in.