Red Wolf_ A Novel - Liza Marklund [20]
‘What are you doing here?’
She leaped back, fumbling for the torch once more. The voice had come from the right, a boy whose voice was breaking.
‘Hello?’ she said.
There was a click and the hall lit up. She blinked, momentarily confused. She was surrounded by dark-brown panelled walls that seemed to loom over her. It felt like the ceiling was pressing down on her. She put her hands above her head and screamed.
‘What on earth’s the matter? Take it easy.’
The boy was gangly and skinny, and was wearing thick socks. He was pressed against a door bearing the name Gustafsson, his eyes dark, watchful.
‘Jesus,’ Annika said. ‘You scared me.’
‘I’m not the son of God,’ the boy said.
‘What?’ And the angels suddenly started singing. ‘Oh, just shut up!’ she yelled.
‘Are you nuts?’ the boy said.
She gathered her thoughts and met his gaze. It was inquisitive, and slightly scared. The voices fell silent, the ceiling slid away, the walls stopped throbbing.
‘I just get a bit dizzy sometimes,’ she said.
‘What are you doing creeping around here?’
She pulled a crumpled paper handkerchief out of the bag and wiped her nose.
‘My name’s Annika Bengtzon; I’m a journalist,’ she said. ‘I came to see the place where my colleague died.’
She held out her hand, the boy hesitated, then shook it half-heartedly.
‘Did you know Benny?’ he asked, pulling his slender fingers away.
Annika shook her head. ‘But we wrote about the same things,’ she said. ‘I was supposed to meet him yesterday.’
The hall went dark again.
‘So you’re not with the police?’ the boy said.
‘Can you turn the lights on again, please?’ Annika said, hearing the note of panic in her voice.
‘You are a bit nuts,’ the boy said, sterner now. ‘Unless you’re just scared of the dark?’
‘Nuts,’ Annika said. ‘Turn the lights on!’
The boy pressed the switch and the bulb lit up for another minute or so.
‘Look,’ Annika said, ‘could I use your toilet?’
The boy hesitated. ‘I can’t let crazy women into my flat,’ he said. ‘You can understand that, can’t you?’
Annika couldn’t help spluttering with laughter. ‘Okay,’ she said. ‘I’ll just pee in the hall instead.’
He raised his eyebrows, opened the door with the hand that had been resting on the handle.
‘But don’t tell Mum,’ he said.
‘Promise,’ Annika said.
The bathroom had vinyl wallpaper from the seventies, decorated with stylized sunflowers. She splashed her face, washed her hands, ran her fingers through her hair.
‘Did you know Benny?’ she asked when she emerged.
The boy nodded.
‘What’s your name, by the way?’ Annika said.
He looked at the floor. ‘Linus,’ he said, his voice managing to perform somersaults within the space of just five letters.
‘Linus,’ Annika said, ‘do you know if anyone in the building saw what happened to Benny?’
The boy’s eyes opened wide, he took two steps back.
‘So you are police?’
‘Is there something wrong with your hearing?’ Annika said. ‘I’m a hack, like Benny. We wrote about the same stuff. The police say that someone ran into him and scarpered. I don’t know if that’s true. Do you know if anyone heard anything that night?’
‘The police have already been here, they asked the same thing.’
‘So what did you tell them, Linus?’
His voice went into falsetto when he replied. ‘That I hadn’t seen anything, of course. I came home when I was supposed to. I don’t know anything. You should go now.’
He took a step towards her, raising his arms as though he was thinking of pushing her out of the door. Annika didn’t move.
‘There’s a difference between talking to the press and talking to the police,’ she said slowly.
‘I know,’ Linus said. ‘When you talk to the press you end up on the front page.’
‘Anyone who tells us anything can stay anonymous if they want. None of the authorities can ask who we’ve spoken to, that’s against the law. Freedom of