When Civil Servants Fail

by John Schou

said.

  “And did you actually see her?”

  “No. I had just bought cigarettes, and then I heard a shot up at the station. I never entered that area. It was a sign of trouble, so I went away again before anybody noticed me.”

  “Wrong. If you are driving a red Ferrari at Nørrebro, this is the opposite of discrete,” Erlandsson mentioned. “Several witnesses reported your escape.”

  “It wasn’t an escape. I just wanted to avoid trouble.”

  “Instead, trouble came to you,” I concluded.

  “Which reason did you have to meet Miss Brehm and when did you see her the last time?” Mr. Smith wanted to know.

  “I haven’t seen her since we stopped our brief relation, as you called it. I also did not see her today, as I mentioned. I went there since I received an SMS on my mobile, I can show you.”

  He took out his mobile, but Mr. Erlandsson grasped it right away. “I’m sorry, this is confiscated – possibly to your advantage.”

  “OK. It said I should meet Miss Brehm concerning the threat to my father at three p.m. precisely at the station. Still, I was a bit late – fortunately, it seems.”

  “It had been better if you had not arrived at all – perhaps Miss Brehm had then still been alive,” Erlandsson suggested.

  The doorbell rang again. Two policemen entered and immediately proceeded into Mr. Smith’s office.

  “This is the suspect. You may wait with the handcuffs until we are out of the house – Mr Smith is very careful about his guests.”

  “In particular, when you adopt this American tradition with handcuffs on the hands on the back. If I can save Mr. Lockwood that torture, you can use the handcuffs on the front in this very room, understanding that it is anyhow just a few seconds before you would use them.”

  “I am sorry, the present standard demands handcuffing on the bag at first arrest,” one of the policemen informed.

  “Amnesty International condemns your tradition as torture,” I informed.

  “We are open for compromises,” Erlandsson answered. In here and in front! You can thank Mr. Smith that you are saved the pain.”

  Andrew Lockwood bowed his head towards Mr. Smith: “I have nothing to do with this murder. Would you please inform my father?”

  “Shall be done, right away. Will you then inform us when you are freed, probably this evening?” I answered for him.

  Erlandsson smiled. “He will call you in twelve years.” And off they went.

  I called Mr. Lockwood senior in the firm immediately and gave the phone to Mr. Smith when I was finally connected. He informed the father of the bad news and talked a little while with him. Then he gave me a tired glance. “Eric, we have also got a new case.”

  9 – Culprit or Victim?

  „Ask Juanita to prepare the dinner at seven,“ Mr. Smith suggested. We normally eat at eight in the evening, but yesterday René was here, so we could manage a bit simpler.

  Juanita was only happy to finish an hour earlier, but she stayed in the house over night in case Mr. Smith would need help during the night.

  I did not even try to get further information about the murder in Nørrebro station. The police was taken care of that, how could I contribute? Instead, I wrote my report of the day’s events, which I finished after dinner, in order to include the day’s last events.

  After the police left, Mr. Smith’s concentrated on Bruckner‘s 8th Symphony. Respecting his demands for a meal without business discussion, I returned to the office at ten to seven.

  “I have invited Mrs. Lockwood tomorrow for 10:30 – shall I call it off again?”

  “No, it is perfect. She can call it off if she desires. Otherwise we shall be prepared,” he claimed, meaning that he would have finished breakfast and not yet started lunch while I should be prepared.

  Mr. Smith took out the gallows, which were disguised behind his big chair. Juanita brought the wheelchair, which had been kept invisible nearby, covered by a blanket for the curious eyes of any visitor; Mr. Smith tried to hide his dependence to those who had not already gained knowledge of it. Then he swung himself over to the wheelchair, so to speak as Tarzan in the jungle, had he only had a different corporal stature.

  We shall leave his subsequent visit to the toilet – an important part of his daily occupancy – to the privacy sphere. Then we went to the dining room, in the North-East corner of the house, the one with a beautiful view over the sea.

  Even a small dinner demanded at least one hour. We had just finished shortly after eight as the doorbell rang. It was Andrew.

  “I thought I would bring the news directly rather than by phone,” he said.

  “You must have a brilliant lawyer. Normally they put people to jail day and night but only release them the following day, generally shortly before the 24 hours limit for presenting the case for a judge.”

  “Even that is a mercy. Back in Britain, you may be declared a terrorist suspect and sent to jail for weeks without being charged of anything. At least, that is better in Denmark, although the terror neurosis is also felt here.”

  We entered Mr. Smith’s office just as he had finished the transfer from the wheelchair, which I now parked and covered. Juanita had retired to her own rooms.

  “Mr. Lockwood, I did not expect to see you so soon.”

  “Yes, Mr. Smith, what my trouble is concerned, you have already been relieved from the case.”

  “Not quite. Your father asked to assist in finding the murderer of Miss Brehm, not just in proving your innocence. But tell me, what convinced Mr. Erlandsson to let you run away again so fast?”

  “My father’s lawyer helped him to reach this decision. The SMS on my mobile and a similar in Miss Brehm’s demonstrated that we were invited to meet each other at precisely three o’clock at the station. Mr. Erlandsson concluded that I was supposed to be framed as the murderer. The real culprit escaped with the train, by the way. I was delayed because I bought two packets of cigarettes before I intended to go up the stairs, but the shots convinced me not to seek trouble. The trouble came in spite of that, but perhaps in a weakened form.”

  Mr. Smith thought it over. I showed Andrew not to disturb the genius. His face was almost motionless, his eyes closed but he was breathing intensely. After a few minutes he spoke:

  “The question is, if Mr. Lockwood was expected to be the framed murderer or was also the target. In that case, you are still in danger, the murderer is still at large. The murderer is not very skilled, it seems. The use of SMS to your phones gives his adversaries an important track – how did he come in possession of yours and Miss Brehm’s phone number? But there, we may already have a small advantage to the police: Miss Brehm reacted curiously as we mentioned the description, which we gave her this morning – she was here, for your information, - so it is plausible that we are looking for the same person in both cases. Mr. Gusto drove her home this morning. Is it not plausible that she contacted, possibly threatened our Mr. X, who then decided to get rid of her? The question is then, why you should be involved. Perhaps the answer lies in connection with information you gave us just before your arrest, that you have serious economic troubles. Why? Are you being blackmailed? Is perhaps also Miss Brehm involved in that affair?

  “You are getting far out with your deductions. It’s all hypotheses,” Andrew said, visibly insulted of being made subject to blackmail.

  “Do not be afraid of hypotheses. Later we may find support for some of them, occasionally even proof. It stimulates where to search. Besides, I have not quite finished.”

  “Please go on. Even if it is not necessarily true, it’s certainly interesting.”

  “The next issue relates from the obvious connection between the two crimes. It is hardly plausible that any secret service could have the desire to murder Miss Brehm. You must in some way be important to gain the right of such an execution. That implies that the first crime, the assault on your father, was also not a secret service action. The similarities with the Kelly murder and his con
venient admission of the leakage of the Downing Street Minutes would suffice to lead us on the wrong track. So we have a killer with some, probably negative relation to the firm who is after the two Lockwoods and who knows Miss Brehm – or better: she knows him and that was enough to endanger her life. Then it can be expected that Mr. X is British, explaining how he received the tablets, used in the attempted murder of your father; of course, nowadays it is also possible to get these drugs over the internet, setting another track to be pursued by the police. No, my instinct tells me he is British and was fired from your father’s firm during the last 12 months, which should be surveyable. Wouldn’t you just relieve your heart and tell me about your economic problems?”

  Andrew Lockwood was not yet ripe. “Let me think it over during the coming night.”

  “All right, but do not try to contact anybody about it. Miss Brehm’s fate should be a warning to you. And for the same reason, I cannot recommend you just to go out of that door. Please allow us to require police protection, they shall come here and drive you home – and let Mr. Gusto take care of your flagship. It is also meant as a protection of your family.”

  Andrew thought he had seen enough police today, but he was rapidly persuaded. I called Mr. Erlandsson and delivered the phone to Mr. Smith when connected:

  “Mr. Erlandsson, I want to congratulate you for your recognitions in the day’s murder case …” In a small intermission, one could hear words of protest. “Nevertheless, recognition is something to celebrate, it is leading the right way. We have made further recognitions here: in front of me is sitting a potential victim of today’s murderer. We want police protection.”

  I took up the extra earphone and heard Erlandsson say: “You are not talking about Andrew Lockwood, I hope?”

  “Congratulations again, you hit the bulls eye. And it would certainly not look good if Mr. Lockwood was hit after he was the planned victim or a murder attack which already claimed one life.”

  “Just a moment, I have hardly come to accept that he is not the murderer himself, but it is hard to see him as a potential victim.”

  “If you come here, I shall explain it – and bring two officers along for his protection.”

  “We don’t have any ready for such a service. Go and search for yourself!”

  “In that case, there is no reason for you to come. I presume, you and Mr. Lockwood have seen enough of each other today,” whereupon Mr. Smith hung up.

  “Get hold of Fred or someone else from your telephone but give me first the Lockwoods on this one,” he told me. I obeyed and left the room. Andrew understood that he was only passively involved and called somebody on his mobile.

  I was lucky to get hold on Fred, who was again lucky that I did, since he had no job for a long time. “Fred, come here immediately, and bring your handgun along. I shall explain the job when you are here.” I hoped that by then I would also know it. Then I went back to Mr. Smith’s office.

  “As you please. I would have preferred another solution. But your son will come along with Mr. Gusto and …”

  “Mr. Frederik Nielsen” I added.

  He repeated it with a ”soon” added. Then he said to Mr. Lockwood: “Your father wishes to speak to you.”

  Andrew finished his own conversation and approached the telephone, which Mr. Smith was holding with obvious strain, as for the other to feel guilty about the delay. “Yes dad …” and then he changed for a different language, which I did not understand.

  After he finished, Mr. Smith asked: “So you are Welch?”

  “You speak Welch, too?”

  “No.”

  “But you understand it?

  “Marginally only. Just enough to confirm that you and your father have roots in Wales,” he lied. Mr. Smith is a linguistic genius who since young age masters many languishes and various dialects. Only Danish is too