Chapter Four

He was outside Wallander's flat, his gun pointed towards the open door. As he approached it, he heard the voice, asking again, why? Why?

His heart thumping against his ribs, he stepped into the house and cocked his gun. He turned the corner of the doorway.

Ake stood there holding his gun to Linda's head, blood running down his face and chest, his face twisted in anguish, saying, Why, Magnus? Why did you kill me?

I had to, Magnus replied. Please—

He cocked the trigger and Magnus tried to shoot him again, but it only clicked. The chamber was empty. Ake pulled the trigger and then he was gone, and Magnus was left holding Linda in his arms, wet with blood.

No, he sobbed, no—

Suddenly he woke up. Someone was screaming and it was a moment before he realized it was himself. He snapped his mouth shut and threw the covers off the bed. He almost cried in relief to find everything dry. Curling up he put his face in his hands, and the cat jumped up on the bed and meowed at him, visibly upset by his tears. He reached out and touched her soft fur, and she settled down beside him, offering what comfort she could provide to someone who needed much more than just an animal's love.

He didn't sleep the rest of the night, and when he finally got up to shower, he was already exhausted. After forcing coffee and toast down his throat, he checked his email, only to find his inbox filled with messages from Kurt.

The last thing he wanted to do was read them, but he did it anyway. They were all about the case except for the last one:

Magnus,

This one isn't about work, I just want to know how you are coping.

Kurt

Magnus could only stare at the screen in shock. Kurt actually cared about him enough to ask how he was.

He clicked reply and stared at the screen, unsure of how to respond.

"Dear Kurt, I have nightmares where I watch your daughter die which then causes me to piss myself…."

No. That wouldn't do.

Kurt, he wrote.

I had an appointment with the therapist yesterday. I can return to work as soon as the inquest is over.

Thanks for asking,

Magnus

It sounded so stiff, he almost deleted the entire thing. But Kurt had made something of an effort, and he didn't want to discourage him from future questions in regards to his well-being.

After he finished replying to the work related emails his phone rang. It was Lisa.

"Magnus? The inquest is finished. You were cleared to go back to work."

Magnus's insides sank with relief. He didn't have to keep pretending any longer."Thanks, Lisa."

The phone rang again not seconds after he hung up. This time it was Kurt.

"Hello?"

"She's dead, Magnus. Christina Olin is dead."

Magnus felt cold.

"Where?"

"The lake. Next to the church."

He hung up and grabbed his keys, and in twenty minutes he was staring down at the body of the girl he had interviewed not days before.

"What happened?" he asked quietly.

Her face and body were bloated, having spent a considerable amount of time in the water.

"A priest found her on his morning walk." Kurt said. "Nyburg says she went the same way as Haglund."

Magnus pinched the bridge of his nose. He could feel a headache coming on brought on my tension and lack of sleep.

"I knew something was wrong," he said feeling guilt welling up inside him. "When I talked to her, her behavior…it wasn't normal."

"She knew something," Kurt said intensely. "What was it?"

It was a rhetorical question, so Magnus didn't answer. He didn't have an answer anyways.

The body was taken to the morgue and Magnus and Kurt went back to the office. Anne-Britt gave Magnus a smile when she saw him.

"Welcome back, Magnus," she said kindly in her way.

Magnus felt a surge of warmth for her and he smiled back.

They brainstormed and argued until lunch time when Magnus went out to get a sandwich and he ran into Linda at the door, his heart flip flopping in his chest as he set his eyes on her. She looked much better than the night before, the smudges under her eyes having lessened. She was wearing jeans and a sweater and there was sparkly yellow eye shadow across her eyes.

"Magnus," she said in a tone of delighted surprise which warmed him to his core. "You're back at work?"

"Oh, I was approved to go back today," he said sheepishly. "Um. How do you feel this morning…did you sleep well?"

She blushed. "Oh, it was the best night of sleep I've had in a week. But I don't think I'll be using wine as a coping method any time soon."

Magnus blushed too. "Sorry about that. I didn't think you would be that inebriated."

"Anyways, thanks for getting me home. I hope I didn't say anything too weird." She looked up expectantly and visions of wanting to kiss her the night before flashed through his head.

"Nope," he said, shaking his head. "Nothing weird." He changed the subject. "Are you waiting for your father?"

"Yes," she replied, the smile fading from her face. "You know he needs someone to look after him."

Magnus nodded, "Yes, I know."

They stood for a moment and then she said, "Oh! I also wanted to let you know I'm going to my mother's for a week or so."

The warm feeling of seeing her evaporated and he was left feeling cold.

"You're leaving?" he asked.

"Yes, but I'll be back soon! And I rescheduled the appointment to see a psychiatrist."

"I'm so glad," he replied, seriously. "I don't like to see you suffering."

She blushed and placed her hand on his arm. "Thank you, Magnus," she said softly. "I've been very grateful for your friendship these last few days."

She was silent a moment and then started hesitantly, "I was wondering…"

Suddenly her mouth snapped shut and her hand was gone, and when he looked up, she was looking over his shoulder. He turned around to see Kurt coming down the stairs. When he turned back and she was smiling at him, but it wasn't the easy smile of their previous interactions. There was something guarded there now, and he knew it had to do with the presence of her father.

"I'll see you when you get back," he said softly before she could say anything. "Bye, Linda."

And without waiting for a response, he hurried out the door, not daring to look back.

The days dragged slowly for Magnus after Linda left. The nightmares still plagued him every night and he woke up crying, the feeling of Linda's dead body in his arms lingering as he jerked from the clutches of sleep. He dutifully recorded his dreams for the therapist, who judging from the way she eyed him over his spectacles, could see right into his soul and read it better than he could. They rehearsed a different ending every time, one where Ake put down the gun. He always left feeling like maybe the next dream would be different and he wouldn't wake up in terror.

But it never happened and finally she said something to him about it.

"I think there is something else going on here, Magnus," she said. "It isn't just the shooting, its more."

"Really?" Magnus asked, bemused. "What else is there?"

She squinted at him. "I think you need to figure that out before you can move on."

Magnus left feeling frustrated. Wasn't she supposed to be helping him? Not giving him riddles to solve?

Work was slightly better than his therapy, though he had a hard time focusing due to lack of sleep. But he trudged on, working harder than ever. Even Kurt was surprised by the hours he put in.

It was almost two weeks after Linda had left when they finally solved the murders of Eddy Haglund and Christina Olin with arrest of a priest who admitted to murdering both of them. He had been molesting Eddy since he was a child, and finally when Eddy grew old enough to stand up for himself, he threatened to tell on him and the priest lost his temper and strangled him. Christina had come to him after she found Eddy's diary documenting the whole thing, and so he had killed her too.

Feeling sad and exhausted, Magnus drove home.

When he got there he found his neighbor Mrs. Myrdal had left a bowl of strawberries on his porch. She was an older woman, widowed and sometimes too nosy for her own good, but she was sweet. Touched by her thoughtfulness, Magnus took them inside and set them on the table. After taking a shower and feeding his cat, he decided to cut them up and have them with his dinner

He had just started when there was a knock at his door. Startled, he almost cut himself. Thinking it might be Mrs. Myrdal, he wiped his hands on a towel and opened the door. His words of thanks died on his lips as he found himself confronted with a vision that made his heart stop.

It was Linda, but she didn't look like Linda. She looked like something out of the fairytales of his childhood, dressed in a lacey white dress and gold flats, her hair in a halo of golden curls around her head.

"Hello, Magnus!" she said brightly.

"What are you doing here?" he practically squeaked out.

She held up a bottle of champagne and smiled mischievously, a blush of pink color crossing her cheeks. "I have a party to go to and I want you to come with me! Are those strawberries I smell?"

She pushed her way inside into the kitchen, and as she passed he felt a stab of longing course through him brought on by the whirlwind of blonde curls and the delicate musky floral scent of her perfume. He shut the door and followed her in. She was on her tiptoes searching through his kitchen cabinets.

"Where are your containers?" she asked. "Let's take the strawberries with us!"

Bemused, he wordlessly handed her a plastic container from the drawer next to the sink. She gave him a bright smile, and scooping the strawberries into it, handed it to him.

"Now let's go!"

And grasping his hand, she pulled him out the door, barely giving him enough time to grab his keys and wallet off the table next to it. "Where are we going?" he asked, staring at the back of her head as it bounced along the corridor.

"There is a party outside the city up on a hill. It's all a bit Pagan, I hope you don't mind."

"No, of course not!" Magnus replied. "Um. What are we celebrating?"

"It's a friend's birthday, but I think it'll be something of a continuation of mid-summer festivities."

"I never celebrated Midsummer at a party before," Magnus said thoughtfully.

They had reached his car, and she turned around, astonished.

"Really?"

Magnus shrugged. "I always celebrated it with my mother. It was her favorite holiday."

"Wow," Linda breathed out. "You're lucky. We never did anything."

Magnus smiled at the wistfulness of her tone.

"Well, I promise, this will be amazing," she said. "A night you'll never forget."