Trapped, page 41
He was about to say that he wasn’t one of them, but stopped himself when he realized how that would sound. Instead, he poured coffee into a paper cup and went in.
‘Lena,’ said the woman, shaking his hand. ‘I don’t know how much you know already, but there’s no need to say more than you want to. Not even your name. There’s obviously a risk that other people as well as me will recognize you from the TV, but if you’re here then I guess you’ve got more important things on your mind.’
‘Hmm, OK, thanks,’ was all he managed to say.
He sat down on one of the plastic chairs while he searched for the right thing to say, but couldn’t think of anything. At the same time, perhaps it wasn’t the craziest plan in the world to join them for a session. That would allow him to observe the other participants in peace and quiet. It might be useful to know how this Anna worked.
The room began to fill up with people who all sat down in the circle. But he saw no young woman with a dolphin tattoo on her calf. She still wasn’t there when the meeting began.
He listened to their accounts of lost and regained hope, of courage and strength, but also of letting themselves down. Anna didn’t seem to be coming.
‘We’ll take a break for a few minutes,’ said Lena after a while. ‘There’s coffee and cake on the table as usual.’
Vincent got up and went into the foyer. He only hoped that anyone who recognized him didn’t happen to work for any of the tabloids. However, Lena had been right about the fact that him being here meant he had more important things to think about. Even if she’d misunderstood the reason for his visit.
‘Some coffee?’
A bearded man blocked his path and gesticulated towards the table.
‘No thanks, I’m going,’ Vincent said, smiling.
‘Sensible choice. Not the leaving, that is. The coffee. I always bring my own. My name’s Kenneth.’
The man proffered his hand.
‘Force of habit,’ he said apologetically. ‘You don’t have to tell me what you’re called if you don’t want to. I’m guessing it’s your first visit? I think I left halfway through my first. It can be a bit much.’
Vincent shook Kenneth’s hand but without introducing himself.
‘I’m looking for someone,’ he said. ‘She has a dolphin tattoo.’
‘You must mean Anna,’ said the man, laughing. ‘I think that dolphin has been joined by a small zoo lately.’
He fetched a plastic bag from by the coat rack and pulled out a thermos.
‘She doesn’t always come,’ he said. ‘Are you friends?’
‘No, she got me a job, or so you might say. Indirectly. I just wanted to thank her.’
An older lady in a purple shawl joined them by the coffee. She moved through the room with grace, as if she were traversing a grand apartment rather than a meeting room.
‘Olga,’ said Kenneth to the lady. ‘Do you know when Anna usually comes?’
‘Da. Thursdays,’ she said in a heavy Russian accent.
Vincent wasn’t convinced it was genuine.
Kenneth nodded.
‘Thursday. Try then,’ he said. ‘Sure you don’t want a spot of coffee?’
Vincent smiled as politely as he could. This was going nowhere.
‘Next time,’ he said.
He would have to ask Mina for help again. He should have told her at once.
94
Sara Temeric rubbed her temples. She had been working for the police for almost ten years. First for the National Criminal Police, and then at NOA, the National Operations Department, when it superseded the former. At NOA, she’d investigated terrorist financing and had been on the team responsible for the national task force. These were weighty duties for someone who had only just turned thirty, but she had been good at her job. So good, in fact, that four years ago she’d been offered a new job in NOA with a new title and a temporary posting to New York. She was supposed to be an operations expert, whatever that meant.
She hadn’t hesitated for one second and had moved to the USA. And of course she had met a man. She and Michael now had two children, Leah and Zachary, the apples of her eye. But it had been part of the deal for her that the children weren’t going to grow up in America but in Sweden. Michael had had nothing against this as a plan. So the deal was for them to do a few years in the USA while the kids were really small and Michael had a chance to get established as a games developer, before they moved the whole family to Sweden. She was now effectively the vanguard and was tasked with finding a family home and an office for Michael at the same time as she bedded into her new job.
She loved her job and found house hunting deeply satisfying. She loved being back in Sweden. But she missed her family every day and longed for when they would join her.
Since she had returned in the middle of the summer, she had primarily relieved the operations analysts. In practice, this was below her pay grade, but it felt good to be involved in practical operations while waiting for circumstances around her job to clarify.
Regrettably, it also meant that she was in the unfortunate position of having to deliver surveillance analysis to Ruben Höök. She had only met him once previously before she left for the USA. But once was enough. He had quickly glanced at her and said something like ‘Heist would have been better’. It was only afterwards that she found out that Heist was a brand of underwear for women who needed to hold in or lift up parts of their body.
She had always been proud of her womanly figure, but after the encounter with Ruben she had spent the rest of the day feeling like everyone was staring at her and she was overweight. Her boyfriend at the time had been obliged to spend the whole evening protesting how beautiful she was and that Ruben was an idiot who was probably turned on by anorexic school girls.
Some barbs were hard to get out. Ruben Höök had managed in five words to make her feel fat and ugly. She had never forgiven him for it. And now she had to meet him again. This time she had at any rate googled men’s underwear and found a brand called Addicted that made underpants with extra padding both at the front and over the behind. To enhance your masculinity, as it said in the adverts. If Ruben so much as opened his mouth in a way she didn’t like, she’d be making an order for a five-pack of Addicted pants in his name.
When she reached the meeting room, to Sara’s great relief she discovered that Julia had called in the rest of the team to attend the presentation. She liked Julia. It was clear she hadn’t got where she was because her father was the commissioner; Julia was as sharp and as smart as her dad, if not more so. And she had the measure of Ruben.
Sara greeted them all one after the other. When she shook Ruben’s hand she shifted her gaze at the last moment to Peder, who was just behind Ruben. It was an ugly power play not to make eye contact with the man she was greeting and instead look at someone else, but he deserved as much. He probably didn’t even remember that they had met previously. What was more, Peder had helped her to sort through the traffic data. She couldn’t recall Ruben ever lending a hand.
She hooked her computer up to the screen in the meeting room and started her slideshow. A grid containing figures and columns appeared on the monitor.
‘My name’s Sara, for those of you who haven’t met me before,’ she said. ‘I’ve been helping Analysis to trace your phone call. The network operators’ traffic lists are a jungle. But as luck would have it, we have a pretty sharp machete in the shape of Peder.’
Peder smiled with pride despite the rings under his eyes. She clicked the mouse and one of the data points was highlighted with a square.
‘This is the call you received.’
‘That I received,’ said Ruben.
‘Oh really?’ said Mina. ‘As far as I know, you weren’t even in the room when it came in. Badminton, wasn’t it?’
‘You shouldn’t believe everything you hear,’ said Ruben, gritting his teeth. ‘And it was padel tennis.’
‘Did you get anything out of the content, by the way?’ Sara asked, turning to Julia. ‘Have the results come in for secondary and background noise analysis?’
‘Yes, but there was nothing of interest. The background acoustics indicate that the caller was in a medium-sized room without much furniture. There was a faint hum of traffic, so a built-up area. But no unique background sounds. We’re hoping that your findings will help pinpoint the location, because based on psychological analysis provided by an external consultant we believe that the caller was in fact the murderer,’ said Julia.
‘One of the murderers,’ said Ruben, rolling his eyes.
‘Quite so. We’re now working on the premise that two people carried out the murders. One of whom might be Jonas Rask,’ Julia explained.
‘I don’t know if this will help,’ said Sara, bringing a map up on the screen, ‘but the mobile phone that made the call was connected to a base station right here in town. On Kungsholmen, to be precise. It’s a pity the sound analysis hasn’t provided you with any more information about what kind of place it was.’
‘I assume you’ve checked who the phone number is registered to?’ said Mina.
Peder slurped coffee from a mug with the words Best Dad in the World emblazoned on the side, but with the word best crossed through and replaced with Sleepiest. It looked like he’d made it himself. Or his wife had.
‘Sorry, it was pay as you go,’ Sara said, switching back to the columns of figures again. ‘But that was to be expected. While the phone is switched on, we can track its patterns of movement by seeing which base stations it connects to. So we’ve checked where it’s been in the last two months – unfortunately, the network operators don’t keep data for any longer than that. I can tell you that this phone hasn’t been anywhere – before or after the call.’
‘Burner?’ said Julia, who was taking notes by hand as Sara spoke, even though a summary would be emailed out afterwards.
She guessed it was a way for Julia to think.
Sara nodded. ‘The caller bought a cheap phone and a SIM card to call the hotline without leaving a traceable history.’
‘I assume you had to get permission for this?’ said Mina, pointing at the figures.
‘We applied for an SSC,’ said Sara. ‘Secret surveillance of electronic communication. Our prosecutor had to petition the court for it. But it came through quickly, due to the circumstances.’
‘Can the tracking remain active, so that you can see if the phone number shows up again?’ said Mina. ‘Not on two-month-old lists but in real time? You never know.’
‘I’ll speak to the prosecutor. It shouldn’t be an issue, given the nature of the crimes under investigation. But there’s every likelihood this phone is lying smashed up in a bin somewhere.’
Sara shut down her presentation and prepared to leave. However, she didn’t intend to let out a sigh of relief until she was no longer in the same room as Ruben.
‘Well, well,’ said Ruben in a measured tone, at the very moment she thought of him. ‘In other words, Sara’s little PowerPoint gave us nothing. We could be dealing with someone who lives or works on Kungsholmen – or someone who happened to be passing through but lives in Norway.’
‘You do realize we’re on Kungsholmen right now, don’t you?’ said Christer, sounding almost cheerful. ‘It could be a colleague in this building. Wouldn’t that be a treat?’
95
Mina stepped into the familiar room. She was starting to tire of it. Not just the venue, but the whole thing. It was the same people every time, telling the same addiction stories, sitting on the same plastic chairs in the same circle, drinking the same dishwater coffee from the pump thermos and eating the same uninspiring baked goods.
Today when she peeked into the tin on the table she saw raspberry cookies. That was at least an upgrade. One of the alcoholics might have done some baking. She looked with distaste at the crumbs already covering the white paper tablecloth. The seven people who had arrived before her had probably touched every single cookie before choosing which one they wanted. She wouldn’t eat any of those that were left, even if she could blowtorch them first.
There were several new faces today. No sign of the dolphin girl, Anna, whom Vincent had asked about. Kenneth came through the door and nodded to her. She knew it was time for the obligatory small talk and she’d come prepared.
‘How’s your wife?’ she asked, before pointing to the thermos. ‘Do you want coffee?’
‘Thank you for asking. She’s better now. And no thanks,’ Kenneth said with a look of amusement. ‘You’re awfully talkative today.’
She shrugged in reply.
‘But while we’re on the subject of her,’ Kenneth said, producing his own thermos. ‘She’s going to be in hospital for a few more weeks and I’m not up to taking care of everything at home. I know it’s asking a lot, given you’ve already been looking after Bosse all this time, but do you think he could stay with you for the rest of the summer? I can pay.’
She stopped mid-movement and stared at him.
He looked back with his eyes pleading. Not completely unlike Bosse’s favourite expression, as it happened.
This was hard to swallow. Kenneth didn’t know that Bosse currently had a far better home with Christer than she would ever have been able to offer. And this was definitely the wrong occasion to mention that. What could she even say? Hello, I’ve lent your dog to someone else?
‘Oh, just a second, my work phone is ringing,’ she said, hurrying away with an apologetic look.
‘Like I said, I can pay,’ she heard Kenneth say behind her.
She ran into the ladies’ and locked the doors. Then she called Christer. He picked up after three rings.
‘Hi, Mina, how’re things? Did you leave something on your desk? I just passed by, we were heading for the kitchen, I can go back if you like …’
‘It’s not that,’ she interrupted him. ‘It’s about Bosse.’
‘He’s right here next to me,’ Christer said happily. ‘That’s why we were heading for the kitchen. I think he’s saying hello, by the way. Er, Mina, why are you whispering?’
She realized that she was not only whispering but that she had also curled up into a crouching position next to the toilet seat. She got up and continued in a somewhat louder voice, although low enough that hopefully it wouldn’t be audible through the door.
‘I don’t know how to say this,’ she said. ‘But I just spoke to Bosse’s owner.’
There was silence on the other end.
‘Oh no,’ Christer said, clearly dejected. ‘He wants him back, doesn’t he? And just when we were going to hit town today and find some nice brushes for his coat. Maybe one of those silk ribbons too.’
Mina closed her eyes. Bosse was a big, playful golden retriever. With lively eyes and a lolling tongue. The last things she would associate with that dog were hair brushes and silk ribbons. But this wasn’t the moment to tell Christer that. If he’d got it into his head that Bosse was a show poodle then that was up to him. So long as he was happy, given what she was going to say.
‘That sounds great,’ she said. ‘Because it’s actually the opposite: the owner asked whether I could keep him for the rest of the summer. I’m sure you’ve got plans, but perhaps we can—’
‘Splendid!’ Christer interrupted her.
It was the closest to a hoot of joy she’d ever heard from the otherwise rather laconic policeman.
‘Bosse and I are going to have the best summer ever,’ he said. ‘Pass on my best and my gratitude!’
When she emerged from the toilet, Kenneth was still by the coffee. He looked at her with the same amused expression as before.
‘Do you take all your work calls in the loo?’ he said.
‘It’s confidential,’ she replied, trying to put on a trouble-free smile.
It came out rather stiffer than she’d intended.
‘But I can take him. Bosse. No problem. Just let me know when you want him back. After all, we see each other here. Are you offering some proper coffee?’
Kenneth thanked her over and over as he cheerily poured coffee from his own thermos into a fresh mug. She accepted it, though she had no intention of drinking any. The gesture was important – a way of keeping in Kenneth’s good books. And a way of moving the conversation away from Bosse.
She went back into the meeting room with the mug in her hand and sat down on one of the chairs, positioning herself so that she could see the door. Perhaps it was time to change things. If she was so sick of the same thing happening every time she was there, then the solution was to ensure that things went differently this time.
As she thought about this, she almost sipped the coffee in the mug, but realized at the last moment what she was about to do. She quickly set the mug down on the floor under her chair and hoped that Kenneth wouldn’t see.
She had already engaged in friendly conversation as a warm-up. Perhaps today it was her turn to share.
By the time everyone had taken their seats, she had made up her mind. She nodded to signal that she wanted to begin. Everyone looked at her. Curious. Expectant. Mina already regretted it. But now it was too late to change her mind. The train had already pulled away from the platform and was under way.
She stood up and cleared her throat.
Then she sat down again.
The passengers on board the train had pulled the emergency brake. She couldn’t do it.
Kenneth looked at her intently.
Mina turned her head away. Her issues were hers to own. No one else’s.
96
The Tantolunden park in Södermalm was full of people lounging on picnic blankets, youths playing volleyball and families with children enjoying the summer sun. There was a smell of food from the hot dog and burger stands along the shoreline promenade, and he could hear at least five different styles of music emanating from different places in the park. Vincent loved it. He always felt at his best in a swarm of people, despite the fact that it really ought to have drained him. But in a crowd, he could feel like he belonged. That he was one of them, a picnic pro who had packed his basket full of strawberries and champagne or biscuits and juice or lager or whatever it was they brought with them. He didn’t actually know.
