The Troubled Man Read Online Free

she explained. It was genuine and all-consuming love, something she had never experienced before.
    Wallander made up his mind to try hard to view his future son-in-law more sympathetically. Via the Internet and with the aid of the bank manager who handled his modest affairs in Ystad, Wallander found out as much as he could about the finance company Hans worked for. He discovered what hedge funds were, and many more details alleged to be the basis of a modern finance company’s activities. Hans von Enke invited him to Copenhagen and took him on a tour of his opulent offices at Rundetårn. Afterward, Hans invited him to lunch, and when Wallander returned to Ystad he no longer had the feeling of inferiority that had affected him at their first meeting. He called Linda from the car and told her that he had begun to appreciate the man she had chosen.
    “He has one fault,” said Linda. “He doesn’t have enough hair. Otherwise he’s okay.”
    “I’m looking forward to the day when I can show him my office.”
    “I’ve already shown him. Last week when he was here visiting. Didn’t anybody tell you?”
    Needless to say, nobody had said a word about it to Wallander. That evening he sat at his kitchen table, pencil in hand, and worked out Hans von Enke’s annual salary. He was astonished when he saw the final figure. Onceagain he had a vague feeling of unease. After all his years in the police force, his own salary was barely 40,000 kronor per month. He regarded that as a high wage. But he wasn’t the one getting married. The money might or might not be what would make Linda happy. It was none of his business.
    In March Linda and Hans moved in together in a big house outside Rydsgård that the young financier had bought. He started commuting to Copenhagen, and Linda carried on working in Ystad. Once they had settled in, Linda invited Kurt to dinner at their place the following Saturday. Hans’s parents would be there, and obviously they would like to meet Linda’s father.
    “I’ve spoken to Mom,” she said.
    “Is she coming too?”
    “No.”
    “Why not?”
    Linda shrugged.
    “I think she’s unwell.”
    “What’s the matter with her?”
    Linda looked long and hard at him before answering.
    “Too much booze. I think she’s drinking more than ever now.”
    “I didn’t know that.”
    “There’s a lot you don’t know.”
    Wallander accepted the invitation to dinner to meet Hans von Enke’s parents. The father, Håkan von Enke, was a former commander in the Swedish navy and had been in command of both submarines and surface vessels that specialized in hunting down submarines. Linda wasn’t sure, but she thought that at one time he had been a member of a team that decided when military units were allowed to open fire on an enemy. Hans von Enke’s mother was named Louise and had been a language teacher. Hans was an only child.
    “I’m not used to mixing with the nobility,” Wallander said somberly when Linda finished speaking.
    “They’re just like everybody else. I think you’ll find you have a lot to talk about.”
    “Such as?”
    “You’ll find out. Don’t be so negative.”
    “I’m not being negative! I just wonder …”
    “We’ll be eating at six o’clock. Don’t be late. And don’t bring Jussi. He’ll just make a nuisance of himself.”
    “Jussi’s a very obedient dog. How old are they, Hans’s parents?”
    “Håkan will be seventy-five shortly; Louise is a year or two younger. And Jussi never takes any notice of what you tell him to do—you should knowthat, since you’ve failed to train him properly. Thank God you did better with me.”
    She left the room before Wallander had time to reply. For a moment or two he tried to get annoyed by the fact that she always had to have the last word, but he couldn’t manage it and returned to his papers.
    It was drizzling unseasonably over Skåne on Saturday when he set off from Ystad to meet Hans von Enke’s parents. He had been sitting