He asked for directions to the Ekonomikum, and once he was there he stopped a couple of young female students and asked them for directions to Student Town. They pointed the way for him, and as he walked he noticed he was part of a small migration, students with ruddy faces, more vigorously wrapped up against the cold than he was, most of them wearing gloves and woolen hats. A couple of times he saw a hat bobbing along that reminded him of Jonas, and he couldn’t help but smile.
Apart from the snow, the accommodation blocks could have been part of any university, anywhere in the world. He looked at the lights appearing in windows, people here and there sitting at their desks or moving about their rooms, preparing for the evening ahead, some of them perhaps preparing for the meal at Domtrappk?llaren.
He guessed the blocks would have some sort of security to prevent strangers getting in. He didn’t want to check—there were plenty of students moving about in the shadows as they headed back to their rooms, and he didn’t want to stand out any more than he probably already did.
But if Anders Tilberg was in one of those blocks, then Finn’s original thought, which had been to pay him and Hailey a visit first thing in the morning, might not be practical. He’d probably have to intercept them between leaving the restaurant and arriving back here, a simple plan that would leave him with a big headache—what did he do with Hailey overnight?
He’d deal with that when the time came, he supposed, but he thought of her now and appreciated how exciting it all probably seemed, to be immersed in this student world. She was probably a little nervous, too, that she might be out of her depth, that she’d be found out, but this would be a story she’d tell for years to come, how she once ran away and lived for a while with a boy at Uppsala University.
She was out there right now, perhaps in one of the blocks in front of him, perhaps elsewhere in the city, living life. And though she was living life a few years too early, and though he disliked the way she’d treated her parents and Jonas, in some way he envied her, for doing what he had neglected to do for too many years.
Chapter Sixteen
It was eight fifteen by the time Finn got back to the restaurant, but he could see immediately that Hailey’s party wasn’t there yet. On the other hand, although there were a few tables empty, they were all set for four people, not the large student party he was expecting.
A waitress showed him to his own table, the room lively enough with cheesy music and people chatting over each other that no one paid him any attention. She left him, and he stood again and walked down the small arched tunnel to look into the back room, full but also with small parties.
He’d no sooner got back to his table than the waiter from earlier in the day came down some stairs and directly across to him.
“Hello again. Are you ready to order?”
“No, I’ve only just arrived.”
“Oh, okay. I’ll give you a little while. Something to drink while you’re waiting?”
“Just some water for now—I’ll look at the wine list.” He looked around the room and said, “I thought it would be busier.”
The waiter glanced at the room, a little confused as he said, “Well, it’s busy enough. Those tables are reserved, but we had a party cancel so that made it easier.” He smiled awkwardly. “I’ll get your water.”
The waiter made off, exchanging chatty comments with some of the diners as he went. With one group those comments were in English, so the slightly standoffish air Finn was picking up from him was nothing to do with Finn being foreign. He wondered if he was acting suspiciously, if his casual questions were coming out as forced or strange, whether in the last six years he’d lost the knack for this.
Of course, that was possibly the least of his problems. “Remember Isandlwana,” one of his old history tutors had been fond of saying. “Never forget to laager your camp.” It had been a catchall piece of advice, essentially boiling down to: “Prepare for all eventualities.”
And Finn had spectacularly failed to laager his camp. If the party that had canceled was that of Hailey and Anders Tilberg, he’d be left without a lead. He didn’t even have a number on which he could contact Jonas. He’d be able to dip back into their Facebook pages, but beyond that he’d be left with the even more suspicion-inducing option of asking the university office for Tilberg’s address.
The waiter headed back with a jug of water, and Finn looked quickly at the menu and ordered while he was there. He seemed better disposed now and said, “You’ll enjoy the reindeer—it’s great.”
“Good, and I’ll have a bottle of the C?tes du Rh?ne to go with it.” He pointed at the wine menu.
The waiter nodded, smiling in appreciation. In some way, ordering good food and a decent bottle of wine had brought Finn back on side. He wouldn’t ask any more questions, not for now, but the change in mood was so marked that he probably could have asked the waiter outright for Tilberg’s phone number.