Never Safe and Sound, Ch. 1
"You're never safe and sound until all your doors are closed,
When you're awake on your own,
Shadows turn into ghosts
Soon it will all fall apart
And their roads will have no way"
- Ghosts, Gabrielle Aplin
Officers milled about, going around as if no one was remembering what had happened a year ago. Twelve months ago, everything was normal, up until Anne-Britt Hoglund died, no one really knew how she died since no one talked about it. A month after her death, Kurt Wallander's team broke apart and the newbies were brought in. Magnus Martinsson and the plump Gustav Nyberg stayed by his side while Louise Riley, Eleanor Christoph, and Carl Edenholm were chosen from a few applicants in the main police force. Anna Bystrom and the notorious Brigid Wright had been taken from the main forensic laboratory in Linköping and relocated to Ystad.
Now, the team was sitting around the large, wooden table that had papers scattered all over it. Coffee cups sat in front of their respective owners, and the two original detectives looked utterly depressed. The other five sat quietly, shuffling papers around to fill the awkward silence. No one wanted to express their condolences and bring the devastating event up in a conversation, but they knew it would come to light eventually. Suddenly, Anna’s phone vibrated with a phone call, which she answered immediately.
“I’ll be right back.” She mouthed to her friends at the table, a few nodded and she walked out of the room, answering the phone as she closed the door behind her. “Hello?”
“Hey, it’s Linda.”
“Oh, hey, how are you?”
“Fine, fine. How’s my dad? I’ve been worried about him, he’s been thinkin’ about Anne-Britt lately. It’s not healthy.”
“I think he’s okay.” Anna looked through the glass wall at Kurt, who sat silently with a grim face as he went through the papers from the case they were working on. “No one’s mentioned Anne yet, I don’t think we will. I mean, none of us knew her well, except for Magnus and your dad. I knew her, but she was just a friend before I joined Ystad.”
“Okay, well, please keep an eye on him, I want to know how he’s handling it.”
“Sure, sure, I’m sure Nyberg and him will go out for a drink later or something of that sort.”
“Just as long as he has someone with him. I don’t want him doing something stupid.”
“Look, I have to go, okay? I’ll call you if anything happens.”
“Alright, thanks, you’re the best Anna.”
“Don’t mention it. Bye.” She hung up without a second thought and went back into the room to sit at her seat.
“Who was that?” Louise nosed, watching her intently.
“Oh uhm, no one.”
“By the way you were talking, it was definitely someone.” A small smile spread across Magnus’s lips, and Anna felt a blush creep across her face.
“It was Linda, just calling to say ‘hi’.” Kurt’s head popped up, eyeing her suspiciously.
“Why did Linda call you?”
“We’re friends.”
“She failed to mention that.” He grumbled and focused back on his work, the other detectives followed and continued shuffling their papers around. No one was in the mood to make a comment and upset him, so they stayed quiet for an hour or so before it was time for lunch. A few stomachs grumbled and they all started to get restless. Louise and Carl stood up to stretch, Anna let out a yawn, and Eleanor, voicing her plans to the team, had decided to go out to lunch.
