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one knee and could make out faint traces of car tyres. He could feel Akerblom's eyes on his neck. He went back to the car and called Martinsson and Svedberg. They'd just got as far as Skurup.
    "We're at the start of the dirt road," Wallander said. "Be careful when you turn in. Don't drive over the tyre marks."
    "Roger," Svedberg said. "We're on our way now."
    Wallander turned into the track, avoiding the tyre marks.
    Two cars, he thought. Or the same one going in and coming back.
    They shuddered along the muddy and badly maintained road. It was supposed to be a kilometre to the house that was up for sale. To his surprise, Wallander saw on the map that the house was called Solitude.
    After three kilometres the track petered out. Akerblom stared uncomprehendingly at the map and at Wallander.
    "Wrong road," Wallander said. "We couldn't have missed the house. It's beside the road. Let's go back."
    When they emerged onto the main road, they drove slowly and came to the next turning a few hundred metres further on. Wallander repeated his investigation. Unlike the previous road, this one had a great many tracks, one over the other. The road also gave the impression of being better maintained, but they could not find the house here, either. They caught a glimpse of a farmhouse through the trees, but it didn't look anything like the description they had. Wallander stopped after they had gone four kilometres.
    "Do you have Mrs Wallin's number?" he said. "I get the feeling that she has a poor sense of direction."
    Robert Akerblom said that he had and took a small address book from his inside pocket. There was a bookmark shaped like an angel between the pages.
    "Call her," Wallander said. "Explain that you're lost. Ask her to give you the directions again."
    The phone rang for some time before the widow answered. It turned out that Mrs Wallin was by no means sure how many kilometres it was to the turn-off.
    "Ask if there is some other landmark," Wallander said. "There must be something we can use to get our bearings. If not, we'll have to send a car and bring her here."
    Wallander let Akerblom talk to Mrs Wallin without switching the phone on to the loudspeaker.
    "An oak tree struck by lightning," Akerblom said. "We turn off just before we get to the tree."
    They drove on, and after two more kilometres saw the oak. There was also a road going to the right. Wallander called Svedberg and explained how to find it. Then he searched for the third time, looking for tyre tracks. To his surprise he found nothing at all to suggest any vehicle had used this road for some time. That wasn't necessarily significant. The tracks could have been washed away by rain. Nevertheless, he felt something approaching disappointment.
    The house was where it ought to have been, by the road, one kilometre in. They stopped and got out of the car. It had started raining, and the wind was blowing in gusts.
    Akerblom set off at once, running towards the house, yelling out his wife's name in a shrill voice. Wallander stayed by the car. It happened so quickly, he was taken by surprise. When Akerblom disappeared behind the house, he ran after him.
    No car, he thought. No car, and no Mrs Akerblom.
    He caught up with Akerblom just as he was about to throw a brick through a window at the back of the house. Wallander grabbed his arm.
    "It's no good," Wallander said.
    "She may be in there," Akerblom shouted.
    "You said she didn't have any keys to the house," Wallander pointed out. "Put the brick down and we'll look for a door that's been forced. But I can tell you now, she's not there."
    Without warning Akerblom collapsed to the ground.
    "Where is she?" he said. "What's happened?"
    Wallander felt a lump in his throat. He had no idea what to say.
    Then he took Akerblom by the arm and helped him to his feet. "No point in sitting here and making yourself ill," he said. "Let's look around."
    There was no door that had been forced. They peered in through uncurtained windows and saw