LITMIR.BIZ

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dealing with a serial killer here, or at least—”

      “Just leave it, for God’s sake!” Benny interrupts, looking Joona in the eye and slapping the table again.

      “It was somebody settling a score,” Petter goes on. “Loans, debts, gambling …”

      “A gambling addict,” Benny says.

      “Very well known at Solvalla. The local sharks were into him for a lot of money, and he ended up paying for it,” says Petter, bringing the matter to a close.

      In the silence that follows, Joona drinks some water and finishes the last of his sandwich. “I’ve got a feeling about this case,” he says quietly.

      “Then you need to ask for a transfer,” says Petter with a smile. “This has nothing to do with the National CID.”

      “I think it has.”

      “If you want the case, you’ll have to go and join the local force in Tumba,” says Petter.

      “I intend to investigate these murders,” says Joona calmly.

      “That’s for me to decide,” replies Petter.

      Yngve Svensson comes in and sits down. His hair is slicked back with gel, he has blue-grey rings under his eyes and reddish stubble, and, as always, he’s in a creased black suit.

      “Yngwie,” Benny says happily.

      Not only is Yngve Svensson in charge of the analytical section but he’s also one of the leading experts on organised crime in the country.

      “Yngve, what do you think about this business in Tumba?” asks Petter. “You’ve just been having a look at it, haven’t you?”

      “Strictly a local matter,” he says. “A loan enforcer goes to the house to collect. Normally, the father would have been home, but he’d stepped in to referee a football match at the last minute. The enforcer is presumably high, both speed and Rohypnol, I’d say; he’s unbalanced, he’s stressed, something sets him off, so he attacks the family with some kind of SWAT knife to try and find out where the father is. They tell him the truth, but he goes completely nuts anyway and kills them all before he goes off to the playing field.”

      Petter sneers. He gulps some water, belches into his hand, and turns to Joona. “What have you got to say about that?”

      “If it wasn’t completely wrong it might be quite impressive,” says Joona.

      “What’s wrong with it?” asks Yngve aggressively.

      “The murderer killed the father first,” Joona says calmly. “Then he went over to the house and killed the rest of the family.”

      “In which case it’s hardly likely to be a case of debt collection,” says Magdalena Ronander.

      “We’ll just have to see what the postmortem shows,” Yngve mutters.

      “It’ll show I’m right,” says Joona.

      “Idiot.” Yngve sighs, tucking two plugs of snuff under his top lip.

      “Joona, I’m not giving you this case,” says Petter.

      “I realise that.” He sighs and gets up from the table.

      “Where do you think you’re going? We’ve got a meeting,” says Petter.

      “I’m going to talk to Carlos.”

      “Not about this.”

      “Yes, about this,” says Joona, leaving the room.

      “Get back in here,” shouts Petter, “or I’ll have to—”

      Joona doesn’t hear what Petter will have to do, he simply closes the door calmly behind him and moves along the hall, saying hello to Anja, who peers over her computer screen with a quizzical expression.

      “Aren’t you in a meeting?” she asks.

      “I am,” he says, continuing towards the lift.

       10

       tuesday, december 8: morning

      On the fifth floor is the National Police Board’s meeting room and central office, and this is also where Carlos Eliasson, the head of the National CID, is based. The office door is ajar, but as usual it is more closed than open, as if to discourage casual visitors.

      “Come in, come in, come in,” says Carlos. An expression made up of equal parts of anxiety and pleasure flickers across his face when Joona walks in. “I’m just going to feed my babies,” he says, tapping the edge of his aquarium. Smiling, he sprinkles fish food into the water and watches the fish swim to the surface. “There now,” he whispers. He shows the smallest paradise fish, Nikita, which way to go, then turns back to Joona. “The murder squad asked if you could take a look at the killing in Dalarna.”

      “They can solve that one themselves,” replies Joona. “Anyway, I haven’t got time.”

      He sits down directly opposite Carlos. There is a pleasant aroma of leather and wood in the room. The sun shines playfully through the aquarium, casting dancing beams of undulant refracted light on the walls.

      “I want the Tumba case,” he says, coming straight to the point.

      The troubled expression takes over Carlos’s wrinkled, amiable face for a moment. He passes a hand through his thinning hair. “Petter Näslund rang me just now, and he’s right, this isn’t a matter for the National CID,” he says carefully.

      “I think it is,” insists Joona.

      “Only if the debt collection is linked to some kind of wider organised crime, Joona.”

      “This wasn’t about collecting a debt.”

      “Oh, no?”

      “The murderer attacked the father first. Then he went to the house to kill the family. His plan from the outset was to murder the entire family. He’s going to find the older daughter, and he’s going to find the boy. If he survives.”

      Carlos glances briefly at his aquarium, as if he were afraid the fish might hear something unpleasant. “I see,” he says. “And how do you know this?”

      “Because of the footprints in the blood at both scenes.”

      “What do you mean?”

      Joona leans forward. “There were footprints all over the place, of course, and I haven’t measured anything, but I got the impression that the footsteps in the locker room were … well, more lively, and the ones in the house were more tired.”

      “Here we go,” says Carlos wearily. “This is where you start complicating everything.”

      “But I’m right,” replies Joona.

      Carlos shakes his head. “I don’t think you are, not this time.”

      “Yes, I am.”

      Carlos turns. “Joona Linna is the most stubborn individual I’ve ever come across,” he tells his fish.

      “Why back down when I know I’m right?”

      “I can’t go over Petter’s head and give you the case on the strength of a hunch,” Carlos explains.

      “Yes, you can.”

      “Everybody thinks this was about gambling debts.”

      “You too?” asks Joona.

      “I do, actually.”

      “The footprints were more lively in the locker room because the man was murdered first,” insists Joona.

      “You never give up, do you?” asks Carlos.

      Joona

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