The Inner Circle (aka Unknown)

by Mari Jungstedt

  "Isn't it awfully expensive for a student to come over here?"

  "My parents pay for it," said Feathers, unperturbed.

  "How long have you been studying archaeology?"

  "About three years, off and on."

  "What do you mean by 'off and on'?"

  "I've dabbled in a little of everything—traveled, sailed. I compete in a lot of windsurfing contests."

  That's the reason for the muscles and the athletic look, thought Jacobsson.

  "Have you made any friends here during your visits?"

  "I've met a lot of people, of course, but the ones you meet in the summer, at the beach or in a pub, are often from somewhere else. So I haven't met very many people who actually live on Gotland."

  "Can you mention any at all?"

  "Sure. A few who live in Visby."

  Jacobsson took down their names and phone numbers.

  "How long are you planning to stay here this time?"

  "The course goes until the middle of August. After that I plan to stay a couple more weeks."

  "Where are you going to stay?"

  "With friends in Visby."

  "The ones you gave me the phone numbers for?"

  "Yes. I'm going to stay with Niklas Appelqvist."

  "Did you meet Martina during your previous visit to Gotland?"

  "No."

  "What were you doing on the night she disappeared?"

  "Why do you ask?"

  "It's routine."

  "I was drinking beer with some others in the group on the hotel porch after the concert. Martina was there, too."

  "How long did you stay?"

  "As long as the others did, until three or four or so. After that we all went to bed. Jonas and I share a room, so we were together all night."

  "So he can confirm that you were with him all evening and all night?"

  "Sure. I can vouch for him, too."

  THURSDAY, JULY 8

  The next day Martin Kihlgård arrived, accompanied by an NCP colleague. The forensic psychiatrist Agneta Larsvik had been called in to help with interpreting the special circumstances surrounding the murder, in particular the modus operandi.

  When Kihlgård showed up in the corridor of the criminal investigation division, he was greeted with enthusiastic shouts and slaps on the back. The jovial inspector had become very popular in Visby during his previous visits to assist Knutas with homicide investigations. Jacobsson seemed especially delighted to see him.

  "Hey there," she cried when he appeared in the doorway. She threw herself into his arms and was completely swallowed up by his massive body.

  "Good gracious, what a reception," he said happily. "How are things out here in the country?"

  "Well, one strange thing after another seems to be happening," said Jacobsson. "We're having a meeting in a minute, so you'll get to hear more about it."

  "I've already heard a lot. Sounds damned nasty."

  "It really is. Come and say hello to Anders. I think he's in his office."

  She took her stout colleague by the arm and escorted him to her boss's office.

  "Hi, Knutie." Kihlgård's face broke into a smile when he caught sight of Knutas sitting at his desk.

  Knutas shook hands with him, keeping a straight face. Martin Kihlgård was the only person who would even consider calling him by that disgusting nickname.

  Kihlgård's colleague Agneta Larsvik had a gentle and less brusque manner. A tall and slender brunette with her hair pulled back into a knot, she greeted Knutas pleasantly.

  After a little small talk the investigative team gathered to inform the detectives from the NCP about the latest events.

  "Do you need to have to something to eat?" Jacobsson knew what sort of appetite Kihlgård had.

  "Yes, that would be great. Don't you think?"

  He turned to Larsvik, who looked surprised. She made an attempt to say something but was stopped by Jacobsson.

  "I'll order sandwiches."

  "Thank you."

  With a pleased look on his face, Kihlgård sat down between Lars Norrby and Birger Smittenberg. It didn't take long before all three were engrossed in a lively discussion about which of the Greek islands was the best vacation destination.

  Someone came in with a platter loaded with open-face shrimp sandwiches, as well as a tray with light beer and Ramlösa mineral water. A moment later chocolate cookies and coffee also appeared on the table. The team wasn't used to such extravagance. Knutas cast a glance at Jacobsson. She certainly hadn't spared any expense to make Kihlgård feel welcome.

  He looked at his colleagues. Everyone was talking and laughing with the jovial inspector from the NCP, eager to hear the latest gossip from Stockholm. It was always the same thing. As soon as Kihlgård showed up, the meetings were transformed into some sort of social gathering.

  Knutas loudly cleared his throat to get their attention. He welcomed Martin Kihlgård and Agneta Larsvik.

  Then the team devoted more than an hour to going over what the investigation had produced so far. The interviews from the previous day were reviewed. The most interesting item that had emerged was the news about Staffan Mellgren's infidelities, as reported by the teacher Aron Bjarke. They agreed that it was a lead that merited investigation.

  When they were almost finished, there was a knock on the door and Erik Sohlman came in. Judging by his expression, he had something interesting to tell them.

  "I have something to add," he said when Knutas paused.

  "Let's hear it."

  "The divers who have been dragging the bay near Warfsholm have found a ring that belonged to Martina."

  "Where?"

  "In the water near the youth hostel, on the sea floor near the reeds, meaning in quite shallow water. It's a big, rather ungainly silver ring with several stones of various colors. We've cordoned off the area and are presently looking for more evidence. I have to go back."

  "Where's the ring?"

  "In the lab."

  Knutas leaned back in his chair. "It matches the ME's theory. That's where she was drowned. Then the perp stuffed her body in his car and drove out to Vivesholm to complete his work."

  "Presumably he held her head underwater for the requisite amount of time," said Sohlman. "She had sand and sludge under her fingernails. Most likely it got there when he was holding her under. The bottom is swampy there, so her fingers would have sunk in a bit. That may have been how she lost the ring. It's the kind with an opening in the band and has to be squeezed tight to fit."

  A gloomy mood had settled over the room. Maybe they were all thinking about the same thing: the image of Martina, futilely fighting for her life in the reeds while her friends were partying only a few hundred yards away, having no idea what was happening.

  "It sounds premeditated," said Kihlgård, "and ice cold. He must have counted on getting her alone so that he could carry out the deed. I mean, who goes around with a knife and a rope and things like that in his car for no reason?"

  "Maybe he'd been spying on her for a while," Jacobsson tossed out. "We don't know how long he may have been waiting for the right opportunity. Maybe it was just a lucky chance that it happened that night."

  "Can we be sure that it was Martina he was out to get?" asked Kihlgård. "Who's to say he wasn't just after some random victim, anyone at all?"

  "That might also be the case," Knutas admitted.

  "Another thing that strikes me is that this crime required time," Kihlgård went on. "He must have needed at least a couple of hours to get everything done."

  "Then there's the ritualistic element. What does that tell us?" said Knutas. He turned to look at the forensic psychiatrist.

  "It's much too early for me to make any sort of evaluation," said Agneta Larsvik. "I want to see more pictures of the victim and study more of the facts. I also need to wait for the autopsy report. In addition, I'd like to see the crime scene before I say anything specific."

  "But what's your first reaction?" Knutas ventured.


  "What we see here," she said with a glance at the photo of Martina, which filled the entire screen, "is an expression of extreme and improbable violence. It's a very strange act, which makes me think of a solitary, gravely ill perpetrator with a strong hatred for women. Possibly inexperienced sexually. The knife wound in the abdomen may signify a curiosity about the female body in the same way that other perps insert objects into the vagina to examine it. The fact that the victim is naked might imply a sexual association, but as I said, at this stage it's impossible to draw any definite conclusions."

  "Do you think this is the perp's first crime?" asked Jacobsson.

  "Probably not. I would guess it's a young killer who has committed violent crimes before. This sort of macabre crime is not something a person would do his first time out."

  "Why do you think he's young?"

  "An individual who is sick enough to be capable of a crime of this nature wouldn't be able to get along in society for very long. To put it simply, he wouldn't get very old before he was caught. But keep in mind that these are only my initial thoughts."

  Knutas was looking resolute. "Can you say anything about the modus operandi?"

  All eyes were fixed on Larsvik.

  "The fact that the perpetrator hung the body up in the tree may mean that he wants to be seen. By exposing his victim, he's saying to us that he's dangerous, almost like 'Look what I can do!' It may indicate that the murderer wants to tell us that we'd better stop him in time, before he does the same thing again."

  Late that afternoon the preliminary autopsy report arrived by fax from the forensic medicine lab in Solna. In his mind Knutas sent the ME words of thanks; then he closed the door to his office and started leafing through the pages.

  It turned out that Martina had died from drowning after all. Her lungs were severely inflated; she had foam in her windpipe and seawater in her stomach. Traces of sperm were found in her vagina, but there were no injuries to indicate a sexual assault. The sperm sample had been sent to the Swedish Crime Laboratory in Linköping. The knife wound in her abdomen was deep; it had injured the aorta and intestines. Her blood alcohol level was .12, which meant that she was definitely intoxicated when the murder was committed.

  The discovery of the ring and the autopsy results indicated that the murder had occurred at Warfsholm—to be more precise, at the shoreline in front of the youth hostel, not far from the front door and the parking area but hidden by the surrounding juniper bushes. The killer had presumably been so bold as to park right there. When Martina was dead it would have been a simple matter to carry her to his car. The bushes would have hidden him from view. After that he most likely drove straight out to Vivesholm. It would have been about 2:00 or 3:00 a.m. At that hour all the summer guests would have been sound asleep in their houses.

  The perpetrator must have parked his car near the fence, far enough away that it wouldn't be seen from the gate or the summer houses. Then he lifted out the body and carried it into the grove of trees.

  He had probably prepared the site earlier. Hoisting up a corpse was heavy work. It was unlikely that a woman could have done it, unless she'd had help. Of course, there could have been two or more perpetrators.

  Why had the killer chosen to hoist up the body, thereby making it visible and easier to discover? For one thing, it decreased any lead he may have had. For another, executing the maneuver itself entailed a risk of discovery. Was it as the forensic psychiatrist had thought: that this was a way for the perpetrator to call attention to himself? Knutas had his doubts.

  Then there was the matter of the abdominal wound. If it didn't have anything to do with Larsvik's assumption about sexual curiosity, what did it mean? Was the killer trying to desecrate his victim? Was it the assault itself that gave him some sort of satisfaction?

  Otherwise, as Knutas saw it, there was only one other reason: to drain the body of a great deal of blood, just as had been done with the horse. The blood would then be used for some specific purpose.

  The question was: What?

  Gunnar Ambjörnsson, Social Democrat and local politician, lived alone. He had done so all his adult life, and that was how he preferred it. To be his own master, to avoid always having to negotiate with others about one thing or another, to compromise, to give and take. He'd done enough of that while he was growing up with four siblings in a cramped row house on Irisdalsgatan in Visby. He'd always had to share a bedroom. The sofa in front of the TV in the living room was always occupied. The chairs around the dining room table were always crowded together. He never had even a corner to himself. The only place he could find any peace was in the bathroom, but never for very long.

  When he moved away from home, he first went to Göteborg to study at the university. There he lived in a student dorm with a shared shower and kitchen, so there wasn't much private space there, either. When he finished his degree, he immediately got a job with the county of Gotland, and he'd been on the island ever since. He found an apartment on Stenkumlaväg—centrally located but not in the middle of downtown. A two-room place with a kitchen and a view of the street. On the fourth floor of the building. He would never forget the feeling when he entered his apartment for the first time. Empty, newly remodeled, and fresh. He remembered how he ran his finger over the shiny tiles in the bathroom, sniffed at the new paint in the kitchen, and admired the pristine moldings in the living room. He was delighted by the solitude and by how orderly it all was.

  Gradually he worked his way up to better apartments, and for the past twenty years he had lived in his own small house with a garden surrounded by a wall—in Klinten itself, the picturesque residential area across from the cathedral, which was the most attractive area in all of Visby. In the past it been the poorest neighborhood, with a gallows hill so that the condemned could be seen from all over the city and serve as a deterrent. The view was magnificent, with the entire medieval city spread out below with its narrow lanes, its ruins, and the ring wall. On the other side of town was the sea, forming a blue backdrop.

  Gunnar Ambjörnsson had never married, nor did he have any children, and at the age of sixty-two he realized that he never would. He'd had women in his life, but the relationships had never resulted in living with any of them. A few had tried to get him to do so, but each time he had backed out at the last minute. Of course he had been interested, and even in love, but he didn't think it was worth giving up his solitude.

  For the past few years he'd had a steady relationship with a woman from Stånga. Berit was a teacher, and she was very busy with her job and the small farm where she lived. She would never give up her life in the country to move in with him in the city, and that suited him perfectly. They each lived their separate lives and got together on the weekends. That was precisely the way he wanted it.

  Right now he was on his way home after taking part in a golf tournament in Slite. Golf was one of his great passions in his free time, aside from politics. He'd been a Social Democrat since childhood, having grown up in a true working-class family; he was a member of the city council, belonged to several commissions, and served on various boards of directors. He didn't work during the summer, so he took the opportunity to travel a great deal. In a few days he would be heading for the Moroccan city of Marrakech. He had fallen in love with the place as a teenager and had gone back regularly over the years. He always traveled alone. That was the whole point, in his opinion. That made it possible for him to meet new people in an entirely different way than if he'd had a traveling companion. Berit didn't care; she was so busy with her farm, her animals, her children and grandchildren.

  He barely managed to maneuver his car between the small, low buildings and turn onto Norra Murgatan, which was up the hill next to the northeastern section of the ring wall. He parked the car in the slot reserved for him. He was looking forward to taking a shower and then sitting in the garden reading Aftonbladet with a shot of whiskey. It was a warm evening with no wind. He glanced at his watch as he climbed out of the car. Nine
fifteen and as bright as daylight. The Swedish summer was unbeatable when the weather was good. He opened the trunk and took out his heavy golf bag. Then he got out his key and unlocked the gate in the seven-foot-high fence that shielded his property from view. The garden consisted of several beds of roses, a rectangular plot of grass with patio furniture, and a barbecue area. There was also a shed where he kept his gardening tools.

  This was his oasis, a little piece of green paradise in the midst of the city. He had even put in a pond with a fountain that murmured in blissful tranquility.

  After he closed the gate behind him and walked along the well-weeded gravel path to the front door of his house, something made him stop short. Something had changed since he left the house early that morning.

  Ambjörnsson was a very meticulous person with set routines; he always did everything in exactly the same way each day. Something was different, but he couldn't figure out what it could be.

  He set down his golf bag and scanned the deep red climbing roses on the trellis that separated the sitting area from the lawn and the facade of the house. The neighbor's black cat was perched on the fence facing the street, watching him from her elevated position.

  Then he realized what was out of the ordinary. The fountain wasn't on. He didn't hear it splashing. At first he thought that some problem must have arisen to shut off the water. Then he saw that the broom wasn't in its usual place, leaning against the wall where it normally was. Now he was certain: Someone had been here. He was positive. Had there been a break-in? He hurried over to the door and tried it. No, it was locked and undamaged, as far as he could tell. With fumbling fingers he unlocked the door and went in. The house had only one floor, so it didn't take long to search it. His original painting by Peter Dahl hung undisturbed on the wall above the sofa in the living room, along with the Zorn etching. He pulled out the drawer in the chiffonier; the silverware was still there, as was his coin collection.