Stalker. Ларс Кеплер
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Название: Stalker
Автор: Ларс Кеплер
Издательство: HarperCollins
Жанр: Ужасы и Мистика
isbn: 9780007467846
isbn:
Lumi turns the stove off and lays the table as she looks at Saga curiously.
‘I know you’re not going out with Dad,’ the girl says after a while. ‘He’s told me about Disa.’
‘We used to work together.’ Saga smiles.
‘You don’t look like a police officer,’ the girl says.
‘Security Police,’ Saga says curtly.
‘You don’t look like one of them either,’ she laughs, sitting down opposite Saga. ‘But if you say you’re from the Security Police, then you must be Saga Bauer.’
‘Yes.’
‘Dig in,’ Lumi says. ‘It’ll get cold.’
Saga thanks her, helps herself to some omelette, bread and cheese, and pours coffee for the two of them.
‘How is Joona?’ she asks.
‘Yesterday I’d probably have said not good,’ Lumi says. ‘He’s freezing most of the time and hardly sleeps, he keeps watch over me, makes himself stay awake … I don’t know how he manages it.’
‘He’s very stubborn,’ Saga says.
‘Is he?’
They laugh.
‘You know, I didn’t have my dad for so many years,’ the girl says, and her eyes grow moist. ‘I barely remembered him. I mean, nothing can make up for that, but … we’ve spent more than a year sitting and talking … every day, for hours … I’ve told him about me and Mum, what we did and how we were … and he’s talked about himself … There can’t be many people who’ve talked so much with their dad.’
‘Not me, that’s for certain,’ Saga says.
Lumi stands up when a motion sensor reacts to Joona’s approach. She switches the alarm off and then they hear the front door open, followed by footsteps in the hall.
Joona comes into the kitchen, puts his stick down, leans against the table, then sinks on to a chair.
‘Åhlén is certain,’ he says, helping himself to some food.
‘We’re quits now,’ Saga says, looking him in the eye. ‘I don’t care what you think, but we’re quits … I killed him, and I found the body.’
‘You’ve never owed me anything.’
Joona is leaning forward slightly, with his arms wrapped round his body, taking small mouthfuls of food. Lumi puts a thick blanket round his shoulders, then sits back down.
‘Lumi’s going to study in Paris,’ Joona says, smiling at his daughter.
‘We don’t know that,’ she says quickly.
A smile flits across her pale face. Saga sees Joona’s hands shake as he picks up his cup and drinks some coffee.
‘I’m cooking venison fillet tonight,’ he says.
‘My train back leaves in two hours,’ Saga says.
‘With chanterelles and cream,’ he adds.
She smiles. ‘I have to go.’
Erik is early for his piano lesson, and stands on the pavement opposite the door to Lill-Jans plan 4. The curtains on the ground floor are open, and he can see straight into Jackie Federer’s flat. She’s in the kitchen, she runs her hand along the wall-mounted cupboards, takes out a glass, then holds her finger under the tap. He can see that she’s wearing a black skirt and an unbuttoned blouse. He walks across the street to see better, gets closer to the window and can now see that her wet hair has dripped down the back of her silk blouse. She drinks the water, wipes her mouth with her hand, then turns round.
Erik stretches and catches a glimpse of her stomach and navel through the opening of her unbuttoned shirt. A woman with a pushchair stops on the pavement and stares at him, and he suddenly realises how he must look. He hurries to reach the pavement and goes in through the entrance. Once again he stands in the darkness outside the door of her flat and moves his finger towards the bell.
Since the hypnosis session he has been thinking that Rocky’s alibi may well have been genuine, and has had to double his nightly dose of Stilnoct in order to get any sleep. The earliest he has been able to book a visit to Karsudden Hospital is first thing tomorrow morning.
When Jackie opens the door her blouse is buttoned. She smiles calmly at him and the light in the stairwell reflects off her dark glasses.
‘I’m a bit early,’ he says.
‘Erik,’ she smiles. ‘Welcome.’
They go inside and he sees that her daughter has pinned up a drawing of a skull under the no entry sign.
He follows Jackie along the passageway, watching her right hand trace the wall, and it strikes him that she seems to move with no obvious caution. Her shiny blouse is hanging outside her black skirt, across the small of her back.
As her hand reaches the door frame she switches the light on and heads out across the living-room floor until she comes to the rug, where she stops and turns towards him.
‘Let’s hear how far you’ve got,’ Jackie says, and gestures to the piano.
He sits down, opens the score and brushes his fringe from his forehead. He puts his right thumb on the right key and spreads his fingers.
‘Opus 25,’ he says with jokey solemnity.
He starts to play the notes that Jackie set him for homework. Even though she’s told him not to, he can’t help looking at his hands the whole time.
‘It must be awful for you to have to listen to this,’ he says. ‘I mean, if you’re used to beautiful music.’
‘I think you’ve been very good,’ she replies.
‘Can you get music scores in braille – you must be able to?’ he asks.
‘Louis Braille was a musician, so that happened fairly naturally … but in the end you have to memorise everything anyway, because of course you need both hands when you’re playing,’ she explains.
He puts his fingers on the keys and takes a deep breath, then the doorbell rings.
‘Sorry, I’ll just get that,’ Jackie says, and stands up.
Erik watches her go out into the hall and open the door. Outside stands her daughter, next to a tall woman in gym clothes.
‘How was the match?’ Jackie asks.
‘One-one,’ the girl replies. ‘Anna scored our goal.’
‘But СКАЧАТЬ