She was bombarded by unanswered questions.
What did they do to you? Why do you disinfect your victims’ penises and insert letters inside?
Sanna sighed. She still couldn’t help concluding that the killer was a man.
She went back inside to fetch a notebook and pen and returned to the balcony and began to write:
– Sexual abuse?
– Revenge?
The answer must lie with the members of the group. They must know what was going on and why.
– Question all the members of the shooting club.
A wilted, white clematis blossom floated onto the floor of the balcony. She bent down to pick it up and her thoughts turned to her sister, Malin. One day, long ago, Sanna had plucked the first three white blossoms of the season to give to her. Remembering Malin was still painful.
She leaned back on the chair, raised the volume on her iPhone and closed her eyes to the sound of Sarah Brightman singing: Anytime, anywhere.
THE LIGHT GLOWED IN THE SECRET ROOM. Kim was reviewing the plans again. This time they needed to be better prepared. It was always hard to foresee what might happen – that was part of the game. Nevertheless, every detail would have to be examined and re-examined. On the whiteboard, Kim moved some of the post-it notes around, changing the order of the remaining Subjects. Afterwards, she reached for a black file on the bookshelf and opened the section headed: “Completed Subjects”.
They crossed out number 6.
Recently Kim had been feeling less and less guilty. They were single-minded in their determination to achieve their immediate goal, which was to move on to the next Subject and complete the entire project.
AS SHE LISTENED TO Allan Jonsson talk about his home life, Cecile Thorén’s good mood evaporated. Although she had suspected something was wrong it was a shock to hear that things were this bad.
“Why do you stay?”
As he struggled to contain his emotions he found it hard to keep focus on the road ahead.
“You must document your injuries. Have you done that?”
No answer.
A stream of cars overtook them, flashing their lights in irritation as they sped past.
“Pull over and I’ll drive!” said Thorén.
“No!”
“Yes! Stop the car. I’ll drive,” insisted Thorén.
He finally relented.
She was furious, sad too. She couldn’t just close her eyes and continue as if everything was normal. This wasn’t the first time she had heard stories of men being subject to domestic abuse but it was the first time it had involved one of her friends. In the short time they had been working together they had developed a close friendship and now she found herself in a dilemma. She couldn’t tell anyone about Allan’s situation. She could only do her best to be there for him and provide emotional support.
Allan pulled over onto a slip road.
He looked downcast. Thorén walked around the car and jumped into the driver’s seat.
Her head was spinning. She didn’t know how to begin to make sense of the situation. If only he would open up and tell her everything. It was hard to imagine that a well built, physically fit man who also happened to be a police officer could be a victim of abuse.
“Allan, I just want you to know that I’m here for you. Remember, you can always talk to me,” she said.
He nodded and ran his fingers through his closely cropped hair, forcing a smile.
SAMIR MOHAMED ENTERED Sanna Johansson’s office and handed her a piece of paper. Judging from his expression, it was important.
She read the message.
“… Anonymous. When did this arrive?”
“In the morning post. It looks like internal correspondence. There’s no stamp. I asked the receptionist who delivered the letter but she was pretty sure that the envelope was lying on the counter when she came back from the toilet. Since there was no address she opened it and sent it to me for registration and further handling.”
Sanna looked at the message again. It was made up of words and letters in different colours cut from different newspapers.
‘You’ve got the wrong man! The Ingarö victim died on 7th August at 3 o’clock in the morning. I’ll give you more details… later.’
Sanna’s face drained of colour.
“Who the hell is this?”
“The killer,” replied Mohamed hesitantly. “Don’t you see? He tried to call you but you didn’t answer.”
‘Rang Johansson but she didn’t pick up… pity…’
Sanna was speechless.
“Damn! Somebody rang this weekend from an unknown number … I never answer those calls.”
“Same here.”
“Damn, damn, damn! I can’t believe I missed it!”
The message confirmed her suspicions. She already had a gut feeling that they were holding the wrong man. All she could do was wait and hope the killer would contact her again.
“Look at the surveillance camera recordings from yesterday and today. There must be footage of the person who delivered the letter.”
She picked up the phone.
“Thorén, let the thirty-two year old man go. He’s not our guy.”
“Okay then,” replied Thorén, hesitatingly.
“Wait, don’t let him go yet!” exclaimed Javier as he burst into Sanna’s office. “I just found out that he threatened Berg.”
IT DIDN’T TAKE LONG BEFORE the press began to speculate.
‘The Police are reticent to disclose details about the man who has been arrested. He is suspected of involvement in the series of brutal homosexual murders that have occurred over the last few years. According to our sources the charge is manslaughter or murder.’
CHAPTER 21
Sanna re-evaluates the report
IT WAS QUARTER PAST SEVEN on Monday morning when Sanna entered the main entrance of the police station. She had been working at home all weekend reviewing the criminal profiling report to make sure that nothing had been missed during the meeting. After reading a few pages she ascertained that the group had been using deductive profiling, one of the standard disciplines and a method that involves conducting a detailed forensic study of the crime scene to establish an accurate profile of the killer.
The expert group had assessed each murder individually, studying the latest crime scene and carrying out a reconstruction of the murder. However, in this particular case the procedure was quite straightforward as the crime scene had been completely cleaned. In addition, they looked at the autopsy and forensic reports from all the murders, highlighting important reference points as well as collecting witness statements that provided information about the victims’ backgrounds and the actual crime scene. The most interesting information came from anonymous phone calls. Reconstruction of the earlier cases was impossible since too much time had passed since the murders were committed.
After a thorough analysis of each murder investigation the expert group arrived at a number of theories relating to the killer’s behaviour, characteristics, fantasies and motivation. One theory, based upon how the victims were tortured, was that these were hate crimes; another was that the murders were the result of sadomasochistic games, which had spiralled out of control as the killer delighted in the suffering of his submissive client. There was plenty of evidence for this particular hypothesis.
The question as to why there were such long intervals between the murders remained unanswered. The criminal profilers stated that, in this case, they could only speculate since there was nothing concrete to build a hypothesis on. They couldn’t rule out the possibility that the killer had been in prison during these periods or living abroad.
Sanna was sceptical about the group’s findings. The killer’s routines clearly contradicted the profilers’ theories. And there was the mystery of the letters inserted in the victims’ penises. So far they had recovered the letters a, and t as well as another i or l, which was found in Konrad Bergs’ penis.
After
six months hard graft, she felt that the situation was becoming unsustainable. However, at least they now knew a lot more about the victims’ habits, including the fact that all of them were members of the shooting club and liked to indulge in sex orgies. A new piece of evidence had recently emerged implicating Konrad Berg in blackmail. It remained to be seen whether these discoveries would lead them to the murderer.
The most remarkable recent development was the fact that the killer seemed to know exactly how the investigation was progressing and had taken the bold step of calling her as well as sending an anonymous letter, which had been analysed without result.
On top of everything they had the press breathing down their necks. Hungry scavengers that would stop at nothing to ferret out information that the police had no intention of divulging.
There had been intensive media coverage for more than a month, periodically slowing down only to increase again as soon as a known blogger commented on a thread about homophobic murders.
Sanna strolled through the open-plan office, almost empty at this early hour. A man waved at her while leafing through the morning newspaper and sipping a mug of coffee.
Sanna waved back and continued towards her office. She hung her black leather jacket behind the door and locked her handbag inside one of the desk drawers. It was going to be a long day. She tucked a file under her arm and went to fetch a café latte before heading to the investigation room.
The killer’s modus operandi was unique in Sweden’s criminal history. Without doubt the victims had been carefully selected. Three victims, three identical murders.
She entered the investigation room and walked over to the whiteboard. One of the victims was Thom Mark from Simrishamn, a married man with two children and a wife who was ten years younger than him. He had drawn his last breath in Gothenburg, when, in all likelihood, he was being unfaithful or at least intending to be. However, a very different fate awaited him. The man’s life had been callously snatched away by a brutal murderer. His shaved head, heavily tattooed arms and throat and lean, well-maintained body should have deterred anyone from confronting him. Nevertheless, so far the killer had always managed to overpower his victims.
Sanna stood back to get an overview. The killer’s approach was always the same. He repeated the same procedure time and time again. A serial killer was always careful to ensure his work was never confused with somebody else’s.
Sanna re-attached a photograph that was about to fall off the board and focused her attention on victim number two, or at least the man they assumed was the second victim according to when the bodies had been found. Dexter Fleming from Växjö, living with a woman of the same age, no children. He had brown eyes with long eyelashes, bushy eyebrows and thick curly hair.
Konrad Berg from Härjedalen, the third and most recent victim, had long hair tied neatly into a ponytail, which had almost completely detached from his skull. His body had been discovered on the island of Ingarö.
With growing unease Sanna contemplated the grim scenario – a series of similar murders at several locations in the country. There were so many unanswered questions. Why these particular men? What were they guilty of? Had something happened during the sex orgies? Were all of them engaged in extortion?
Sanna sipped her café latte and studied the display.
After a moment of reflection, she placed a clean whiteboard next to the original one. She took down the photos and placed them at the top of the new board.
Directly under each image she wrote the victim’s name and proceeded to copy all the existing information in a different order.
Sanna stood back. She had forgotten to add the letters that had been inserted into the victims’ penises; Thom Mark ‘A’, Dexter Fleming ‘P’ and Konrad Berg ‘I’ and ‘T’, ‘I’ or ‘L’.
She looked at the image at the top of the board – a blank face with a huge question mark.
Who are you? Sooner or later you’ll make a mistake and when you do I’ll be right there, she thought.
Outside in the corridor somebody was having a coughing fit. A colleague rushed to his aid and slapped him hard on his back.
There was the sound of laughter as Thorén, Javier and Kalle entered the investigation room clasping mugs of coffee. As usual, Kalle was also carrying one for Sanna.
He handed it to her.
“Thanks! Lucky you’re telepathic,” she smiled.
Kalle smiled back.
Allan Jonsson entered the room with a bottle of water in one hand and a file under his arm.
The team studied the new display.
“That’s much better. It’s easier to see what information is missing,” said Thorén.
“Why does ‘heterosexual’ have a question mark?” asked Javier.
“Because we don’t actually know for sure whether the victims were heterosexual.” answered Sanna, rotating her shoulders to relieve the stiffness in her neck.
“It’s impossible to tell,” added Thorén.
“But we know that all the victims had heterosexual relationships – two of them were married and the other lived with a woman,” pointed out Javier.
Thorén shook her head and smiled. She ran her fingers through her hair and straightened her fringe. “How can you be so sure? You can never be absolutely certain of somebody’s sexual orientation. There are lots of men and women out there living double lives and not daring to come out. Nowadays it isn’t that unusual for somebody who’s been married for a long time and has grown up children, to finally admit they’re homosexual then get divorced and marry someone of the same sex.” She finished her coffee and threw the cup into the bin. “Look at me, for example… I could easily be a lesbian but I choose to be heterosexual because it’s easier that way.”
Javier’s jaw dropped and Kalle, Allan and Sanna stared at her in astonishment.
It was Javier who eventually broke the silence. He had a mischievous glint in his eye.
“No way,” he said. “I’d bet my life that you’re a true heterosexual.” He feasted her with his eyes. Since she was at least ten centimetres taller than him he had to lift his head to make eye contact. “I’ve seen how you flirt with guys. I’ve never seen you doing that with women,” he continued.
“Moi?” replied Thorén indignantly.
Kalle roared with laughter and Allan glowered while Sanna smiled to herself.
“Loosen up Sanna! I never hear you laugh!” teased Thorén.
“I have,” said Kalle.
“Tha a a nks!” replied Thorén drawing out the word. “Good to know.”
“I’m not laughing because it can’t be easy living a double life. Imagine how hard it must be to spend your life with a man if you were really attracted to women or vice versa,” said Sanna.
Everyone nodded in agreement and then returned to the job in hand.
Monika Lind and Samir Mohamed entered the room and sat down.
“Okay, I concede,” said Javier. “There’s no way of knowing whether the victims lived a double life or not.”
“We’ll have to get back to that issue later.”
Monika Lind typed a reminder note onto her tablet computer.
“The purpose of the killer’s signature behaviour is to ensure that we won’t confuse their work with others. In addition, the murderer has the gall to surreptitiously let us know that they’re closely following the investigation. It’s redundant at this juncture to say that their victims are selected carefully and their murders planned with great precision. The same MO in every case.”
“MO?” asked Allan Jonsson.
“Modus Operandi,” explained Thorén.
“Right,” continued Sanna. “Everything’s so carefully calculated it’s hard to believe we’re dealing with a psychopath.”
Blom entered the room and sat down beside Sanna.
“My conclusion is that this is about revenge. There are three important elements to consider, one of which could very well lead us to the murderer. Number one: sex orgies. As far a
s we know, the victims were willing participants. Perhaps at some point events spiralled out of control and somebody got hurt. That could also be the reason they stopped meeting on Ingarö. Number two: Niklas Fors’ statement. He says he saw the men with women who were either intoxicated or drugged. This could mean they were raped. Regardless of the motive and the long gaps between each murder I’m convinced that they intend to kill again.”
“And number three?” asked Blom.
“Blackmail. Perhaps the killer got so sick of the blackmail and threats they couldn’t stand it any longer.”
“Could that drive someone to murder?” asked Monika Lind.
Sanna nodded.
“We’ve got to hurry and find out if the victims tick any of these boxes. Why are they being punished? Every piece of information must be checked and cross checked again and again to see if there’s anything else that might connect the victims.” Sanna gazed around the table. “Javier and Thorén, you find out if any of them were engaged in extortion.”
“At the moment I’m looking into why the thirty-two year old man threated Berg,” said Javier.
Sanna threw a hasty glance at Javier. “I figured that. Check out whether he knew the other victims. He has a history of violence and until we know the victims’ sexual orientation we’ll have to look at every possible alternative.”
“I’ve already started to look into whether the victims were engaged in extortion,” said Thorén. “So far, I haven’t found anything on Thom Mark or Dexter Fleming to substantiate that theory. It’s pretty clear that both of them were hard-core BDSM practitioners. I don’t yet know if they were sexually attracted to men. Monika’s helping me get information.”
Sanna gave her the thumbs up.
Segelström entered the room, nodded in greeting and sat down beside Blom.
“Now that we know Thom Mark and Dexter Fleming were involved in the BDSM group, I’m convinced the shooting club is the link.” continued Thorén. “So, the question is whether they are guilty of rape. We also have information about a hot-tempered man from Norrland who hung out with Berg, and there’s a man with a Norrland accent in the DVD films we seized. I’ll check whether there are any rape charges against him.”
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