The Nightmare

by Lars Kepler

  And she knows without a doubt that there is no possible way for them to speed away from it.

  Motor rumbling, she steers toward Björn, and as she gets closer, she slows and stretches a boat hook toward him. The water is so cold, and he looks exhausted and so frightened. His head keeps bobbing under the surface. She jabs the boat hook his way and accidentally strikes his forehead. He starts to bleed.

  “Hold on to it!” Penelope cries out.

  The black inflatable is rounding the island. She can clearly hear the roar of its motor. Björn grimaces in pain, but after several attempts, he finally manages to wrap his elbow around the boat hook, and Penelope hauls him as quickly as she can to the swimming platform. He reaches the edge and holds on. She lets go of the boat hook and it drops into the water and drifts away.

  “Viola is dead!” she screams, and hears the panic and despair in her own voice.

  As soon as Björn grabs the ladder tight she runs back to the steering console and hits the gas.

  He climbs over the railing and she hears him yell that she should steer straight across to the island of Ornö and its spit.

  She can hear the rubber boat draw closer. She turns in a tight curve and the boat thuds heavily underneath the hull.

  Penelope can’t speak, she can only whimper. “That man killed Viola!”

  “Watch out for the rocks!” Björn warns through chattering teeth.

  The inflatable has rounded Stora Kastskär and is now picking up speed on the smooth open water.

  Blood runs down Björn’s face.

  They are swiftly reaching the large island. Björn turns to see that the rubber boat is now only three hundred meters behind.

  “Head for the dock!”

  She hits reverse, and shuts off the motor as the prow of the boat slams the dock with a crunching sound. The waves of their wake race toward the rocky shore and roll back, making the boat tip to the side. Its ladder breaks to pieces. Water sloshes over the railing. Penelope and Björn jump off and race across the dock toward land as the rubber boat roars closer. Behind them they can hear the hull knock against the dock in the swells. Penelope slips and steadies herself with her hand, then clambers up the steep rocks that edge the forest. The motor of the rubber boat falls silent and Penelope knows their head start is insignificant. She rushes into the trees with Björn. They head deeper into the woods as her thoughts whirl in panic and her eyes dart back and forth for a place where they can hide.

  4

  the swaying man

  Paragraph 21 of the police law states that a police officer may enter any building, house, room, or other place if there is reason to believe that a person has died, is unconscious, or is otherwise unable to call for help.

  The reason Criminal Assistant John Bengtsson has received the assignment to examine the top-floor apartment in the building at Grevgatan 2 on this Saturday in June is that Carl Palmcrona, the general director of the National Inspectorate of Strategic Products, has not appeared at work and has missed an important meeting with the foreign minister.

  This is certainly not the first time that John Bengtsson has had to enter buildings to search for deceased or injured persons. He remembers silent, fearful parents waiting in the stairway while he enters rooms to find young men barely alive after heroin overdoses, or worse, murder scenes: women in their living rooms, battered to death by spouses as the TV drowns out the sound.

  Bengtsson carries his breaking-and-entering tools and his picklock through the entry door and takes the elevator to the top floor. He rings the bell and waits. He examines the lock on the outer door. After a while, he hears shuffling. It sounds as if it is coming from the stairwell one floor below. It sounds as if someone is sneaking away.

  Bengtsson listens for a moment, then tries the door handle. The door swings open silently.

  “Anyone home?” he calls out.

  Nothing. He drags his bag over the threshold, wipes his feet on the doormat, closes the door behind him, and steps into a large hallway.

  Gentle music can be heard from one of the rooms so he continues in that direction, knocks at the door, and enters. It’s a large drawing room, sparsely furnished—three Carl Malmsten sofas, a low glass coffee table, and a tiny painting of a ship in a storm on the wall. An ice-blue sheen comes from a music system with a modern flat, transparent design. Meandering, melancholy music comes from the speakers.

  Across the room is a set of double doors. Bengtsson swings them open to reveal a salon with tall Art Nouveau windows. The late-spring light is broken by the multiple small panes at the top.

  A well-dressed man swings in the middle of the white room.

  John Bengtsson stands quietly in the doorway and stares at the dead man for an eternity before he notices the laundry line fastened to the ceiling-lamp hook.

  The body seems poised at the moment of a jump into the air. His ankles are stretched and his toes point to the ground. He’s hanged—but there’s something that does not fit. Something is not as it should be.

  Bengtsson cannot step through the double doors; he must keep the crime scene intact. His heart pounds and he feels the heavy rhythm of his pulse. He finds he cannot look away from the swaying man in the empty room.

  The whisper of a name begins to echo in Bengtsson’s brain: Joona. I have to talk to Joona Linna immediately.

  There is no furniture in this room. Just the hanged man, who, in all probability, is none other than Carl Palmcrona, the general director of ISP.

  The rope is fastened to the center of the lamp hook emerging from the rosette in the center of the ceiling.

  There’s nothing for him to climb on, Bengtsson thinks.

  The ceiling height must be at least three and a half meters.

  Bengtsson calms himself, collects his thoughts, and registers everything he sees. The hanged man’s face is as blanched as damp sugar and John Bengtsson can see only a few blood spots in the wide-open eyes. The man is wearing a thin overcoat, a light gray business suit, and black leather-soled oxfords. A black briefcase and a cell phone lie on the parquet floor a short distance from the pool of urine that has collected directly underneath the body.

  The hanged man suddenly shakes.

  Bengtsson takes a sharp breath.

  A heavy thud from the ceiling above. The sounds of a hammer in the attic. Someone walks across the attic floor. Another thud and Palmcrona’s body shakes again. The sound of a power drill. Silence. Someone calling for more cable: “Cable reel.”

  Bengtsson notices how his pulse begins to slow as he turns to walk away from the salon. He sees the outer door is open and he stops, sure he’d closed it. He knows he could be wrong. He leaves the apartment, but before he reports to his department, he picks up his cell phone and calls Joona Linna at the National Criminal Investigation Department.

  5

  the national homicide squad

  First week of June. For several weeks the people of Stockholm have been waking up much too early. The sun rises at three thirty a.m. and remains bright almost the entire night. The weather has been unusually warm. The exuberant bird cherries and lilacs bloomed at the same time. Dense sprays of buds spread their aroma from Kronoberg Park all the way to the entrance of the National Police Board headquarters.

  The National Police Board, Sweden’s only centrally operating police organization, is responsible for combating serious crime at both the national and international level.

  The head of the National Criminal Investigation Department, Carlos Eliasson, is standing by the low window on the fifth floor, scanning the view over Kronoberg Park while pressing the phone to his ear and dialing Joona Linna’s number. Once again, he hears his call connect to voice mail. He sets the phone down and glances at the clock.

  Next door, a tired voice tries to deal with a European arrest warrant and the Schengen Information System.

  Petter Näslund enters Carlos’s office and, clearing his throat carefully, leans against a streamer that declares: WE MONITOR, MARK THE SPOT, AND DI
STURB.

  “Pollock and his guys will be here soon,” Petter says.

  “I can tell time,” says Carlos.

  “The sandwiches are ready,” Petter says.

  Carlos suppresses a smile and asks, “Have you heard they’re recruiting?”

  Petter’s face turns red as he looks at the floor, collects his thoughts, and looks up again. “I would … Can you think of anyone better who would work well in the National Homicide Squad?”

  There are five experts who make up the National Homicide Squad. The Commission, as they’re known, works systematically using a methodology known by its initials, PIGC, Police Investigation of Grave Criminality. The burden they carry is enormous. They are in such demand, they barely have time to get to the police station for a meeting.

  The paradise fish in Carlos’s aquarium calmly make their turns. As he reaches for fish food, the phone rings.

  “They’re on the way up,” says Magnus in reception.

  Carlos tries one last time to reach Joona Linna by phone, then gets up, checks himself quickly in the mirror, and goes to welcome his guests. Just as he reaches the elevator, the doors soundlessly slide open. Seeing the entire Commission together makes an image flash in his mind: a Rolling Stones concert he attended a few years back with some of his colleagues. The band on the stage looked like relaxed businessmen, and just like the National Homicide Squad, they were all dressed in dark suits and ties.

  Nathan Pollock steps out first, his distinctive silver hair in a ponytail. Following him is Erik Eriksson. He likes eyeglasses decorated with diamonds, hence the nickname “Elton.” Behind him saunters Niklas Dent, next to P. G. Bondesson, and walking behind all of them is Tommy Kofoed. Kofoed is the forensic technician. He’s hunchbacked, and stares sullenly at the ground.

  Carlos shows them to the meeting room, where Operating Commander Benny Rubin is already sitting at the round table, waiting for them, a cup of coffee before him. Tommy Kofoed takes an apple from the fruit basket and bites in loudly. Nathan Pollock looks at him with a smile and shakes his head slightly. Kofoed stops right in the middle of a chew.

  “Welcome,” Carlos begins. “It’s good we can get together. There are several serious issues on the agenda.”

  “Shouldn’t we wait for Joona Linna?” asks Tommy Kofoed.

  “Well …” drawls Carlos.

  “That man does just what he pleases,” Pollock says quietly.

  “Hey, come on now,” Tommy Kofoed says defensively. “Give the man his due. The Tumba murders last year? He had them all figured out and I still don’t know how he did it.”

  “Against all fucking logic,” Elton says with a smile.

  “I’d say I’m fairly well versed in forensics,” Tommy Kofoed continues, “but Joona walked in, took a look at the blood spatters … He knew right away when each murder had occurred … Amazing …”

  “It’s true, it’s true. He could see the whole picture,” Pollock says. “The degree of violence, the level of force, the stress level, how the footprints found in the apartment lagged more, which showed more exhaustion than those in the locker room.”

  “Fucking awesome,” Tommy Kofoed mutters.

  Carlos clears his throat, returns to his informal agenda.

  “The Coast Guard called this morning,” he tells them. “An old fisherman found a dead woman.”

  “In his nets?”

  “No, he saw a large motorboat drifting with the current near Dalarö. He rowed out, boarded the vessel, and found her sitting on her berth in the fore.”

  “That doesn’t sound like something for us,” Petter Näslund says, and smiles.

  “Was she murdered?” asks Pollock.

  “Probably a suicide,” answers Petter quickly.

  “There’s no need to make snap judgments,” Carlos says as he helps himself to a slice of sugar cake. “But I wanted to bring it up.”

  “Anything else?”

  “We had a request from the police in West Götaland,” Carlos says. “The form is on the table.”

  “I won’t be able to take it on,” Pollock says.

  “I know how busy you are,” Carlos says, slowly sweeping crumbs from the table. “Let’s skip to the other end of the agenda: recruiting someone for the NHS.”

  Benny Rubin looks around with a sharp glance and explains that the leadership is aware of the heavy workload, and they therefore, as a first step, have allocated funds for expanding the Commission by one fulltime position.

  “What does everyone think?” Carlos asks.

  “Shouldn’t Joona Linna be here?” asks Tommy Kofoed. He leans forward and takes one of the wrapped sandwiches.

  “I’m not sure he’ll make it,” Carlos says.

  “What about a bite before we get into this?” says Elton, reaching for the tray.

  Tommy Kofoed methodically unwraps the plastic from his salmon sandwich, peels back the bread, plucks off a sprig of dill, squeezes lemon juice over the salmon, and reassembles his sandwich.

  Suddenly the door to the meeting room swings open and Joona Linna steps in. His short-cut blond hair stands straight up.

  “Syö tilli, pojat,” he says in Finnish.

  “That’s right!” Nathan Pollock laughs. “Eat your dill, boys!”

  Nathan and Joona grin at each other. Tommy Kofoed’s cheeks turn red and he shakes his head with a smile.

  “Tilli.” Nathan Pollock repeats the Finnish word and laughs out loud as Joona walks past Tommy and sticks the dill back onto his sandwich.

  “Let’s get back to the meeting,” says Petter.

  Joona shakes hands with Nathan, then takes an empty chair, slinging his black jacket over the back as he sits down.

  “Please pardon my being late,” he says.

  “Let me welcome you as a guest of this meeting,” says Carlos. “We were just bringing up recruiting. I believe I’ll hand the floor over to Nathan.”

  “All right, and I want everyone to know that I’m not alone in this,” Nathan Pollock begins. “Rather … we’re all in agreement. Joona, we’re hoping that you’ll come on board with us.”

  The room falls silent. Niklas Dent and Erik Eriksson nod. Petter Näslund is a dark silhouette in the backlight.

  “We’d really like to have you,” Tommy Kofoed ventures.

  “I appreciate the offer,” Joona answers as he runs his hand over his hair. “You’re hardworking guys, and you’ve proved your mettle. I respect your work …”

  Everyone around the table smiles.

  “But as for me … I just can’t be tied down to your strict methodology. To any strict method of investigation,” he explains.

  “We know, we understand,” Kofoed says quickly. “The way we work is a little rigid, but it’s shown …”

  Kofoed falls silent.

  “We just wanted to ask,” says Nathan Pollock.

  “It’s just not the way I work,” Joona explains.

  To a man, they look down at the table; someone nods. Joona’s cell phone rings and he excuses himself to answer it. He stands up from the table and leaves the room. A minute later he returns and slides his jacket off the chair.

  “Sorry. I would like to stay, but—”

  “Something serious?” asks Carlos.

  “That was John Bengtsson from Routine Patrol,” Joona says. “He’s just found Carl Palmcrona.”

  “Found?” asks Carlos.

  “Hanged,” Joona answers. His eyes gleam like gray glass.

  “Who is Palmcrona?” asks Nathan Pollock. “I can’t place the name.”

  “He’s the general director for ISP,” Tommy Kofoed says quickly. “He makes the final decisions on Swedish arms exports.”

  “Isn’t everything at ISP classified?” asks Carlos.

  “True,” Kofoed answers.

  “So let the guys at Säpo take it.”

  “I’ve just promised Bengtsson I’d come in person,” Joona answers. “There’s something not quite right about the scene.”

  “What?�
� Carlos asks.

  “He said … well, I really have to see it myself.”

  “Sounds interesting,” Tommy Kofoed says. “Can I come?”

  “If you want,” Joona answers.

  “I’ll come, too, then,” Pollock says swiftly.

  Carlos tries to remind them about the meeting in progress but sees it is pointless as the three men get up and walk out into the cool hallway.

  6

  how death came

  Twenty minutes later, Detective Inspector Joona Linna parks his black Volvo on Strandvägen and gets out to wait for his colleagues from the National Criminal Investigation Department. They pull up moments later in a silver-gray Lincoln Town Car and together they walk around the corner and enter the building at Grevgatan 2.

  While they ride the ancient, rattling elevator to the top, Tommy Kofoed asks what information Joona’s already been given.

  “The National Inspectorate of Strategic Products had put out a bulletin that Palmcrona was missing,” Joona says. “He has no family and none of his colleagues knew him socially, but when he didn’t show up for work, the police were asked to investigate. John Bengtsson went to Palmcrona’s apartment and found him hanging. But he’s not sure it’s a suicide.”

  Nathan Pollock’s weather-beaten face frowns in concentration.

  “Why does he suspect something’s wrong?”

  The elevator stops and Joona slides the gate open. Bengtsson is waiting at the door of the apartment.

  “This is Tommy Kofoed and Nathan Pollock from the CID,” Joona says.

  They shake hands quietly.

  “So the door was unlocked when I arrived,” John tells them. “I heard music and found Palmcrona hanging in one of the large rooms. Over the years, I’ve cut down a number of people, but this time … I mean … perhaps it is suicide, but given Palmcrona’s position in society, I thought I’d better check it all out.”

  “You did the right thing to call,” Joona agrees.