Death Angels

by Ake Edwardson

  Bolger lit an outdoor brick fireplace that he had recently built on the rocks. He had insisted that Winter join him. The evening was a vault above them. The logs caught fire and Winter saw them shift from orange to crimson. Bolger’s features faded in and out. The flames rose with the smoke. For a moment Winter thought he saw something move in the fire, shadowy figures or writhing bodies.

  39

  WlNTER READ THE TWO LETTERS THAT THE BURGLAR HAD WRlTten. The way he described the bloody clothes and the phone call he had heard from under the bed took on a new and ominous significance in light of a couple of the most recent developments. Bloodstains had turned up in Vikingsson’s Gothenburg apartment, and Macdonald had found more in the Stanley Gardens flat.

  Blood drips no matter how careful you are, Winter thought.

  The stains in Gothenburg were composed of both human and animal blood. It could have been the same mix as on the clothes the burglar had seen, but who knew? The blood in London hadn’t even been analyzed yet.

  What a strange conversation the burglar had overheard. Vikingsson had used the word “celluloid”—what was that all about?

  They had traced all the calls Vikingsson had made from his cell phone. He never phoned London. He didn’t call anyone in Gothenburg very often either. He had dialed a downtown pay phone the day the burglar was there.

  This was all assuming there was some truth to the burglar’s claims and he wasn’t just another lunatic. He seemed sane enough, but you never could tell.

  Vikingsson had come back, and they had convinced the D.A. to issue a detention order, which gave the investigators a chance to proceed more deliberately.

  They tried to postpone the hearings for an arrest warrant as long as possible. The judge could rule at any time, but Winter hoped he would wait the four-day limit. We’ll never get him arrested on the evidence we have right now, Winter thought, putting the copy of the letter back on his desk.

  Four days max.

  They would place Vikingsson in a lineup. Beckman, the streetcar driver, would stand on the other side of the glass wall. They would find out how good a memory for faces he actually had.

  Winter had read a lot about the cognitive neuroscience of memory. A lineup could either make or break the prosecution’s case.

  Police screwups always resulted from clumsiness or ignorance. The human psyche was specially equipped to distinguish between different faces, no matter how similar, and the brain employed a separate system for storing and processing facial information.

  He dialed Ringmar’s extension. “Could you come in for a minute, Bertil?”

  Ringmar arrived, a flush of excitement in his face.

  “You’re looking frisky,” Winter said.

  “This might be the light at the end of the tunnel.”

  “What tunnel?”

  “The one at the beginning of the light.”

  “I’ve read through Beckman’s interrogation, and I think he’d be willing to tell us more now,” Winter said.

  “Could be, but he’s not much of a witness. He didn’t actually see a crime being committed.”

  “We’ll question him again, and take a more cognitive approach.”

  “You took the words right out of my mouth,” Ringmar said sarcastically. There were certain expressions that always perturbed him. Winter didn’t understand why.

  They would ask Beckman new, more open-ended questions. Leave more pauses for him to fill in. The purpose of the cognitive method was to impose various memory-improving techniques on the witness. They would get Beckman to describe each detail, to relate everything he had seen in a different order and from different points of view.

  “We can’t afford to slip up,” Winter said.

  “You’re starting to repeat yourself.”

  “I want seven decoys in the lineup.”

  “You got it.”

  Just enough people to fill the first couple of rows of a streetcar, Winter thought.

  They would do the same with Svensson, Jamie’s boss. He might be able to recognize the face of the new customer who had popped up at his bar from time to time.

  “It’s important to find exactly the right ones,” Winter said.

  “You mean the decoys?”

  “Yes.”

  “That goes without saying.”

  They couldn’t very well put Vikingsson next to seven homeless people. Finding the right combination was always a nightmare.

  “Cohen is going to question Vikingsson again,” Ringmar said.

  “I know. I’m about to head for his office now.”

  “We’ve found out a little more about Vikingsson’s background, or personal life.”

  “He hasn’t got a family, from what I’ve heard.”

  “Neither a wife nor children, if that’s what you mean by family.”

  “Yes.”

  “He’s not gay.”

  “I thought so at first,” Winter said.

  “Really?”

  Winter remembered the unauthorized search he and Macdonald had conducted in London. No need to mention it, not yet at least. He had seen certain signs, little details that were familiar to him. He thought of Mats. “It doesn’t mean much one way or the other,” he said.

  “Except that all the victims were young males.”

  “And that there might be a sexual motive that has escaped us thus far.” Winter suspected that such a motive did exist, at least indirectly. The murderer had taken advantage of the victims’ confusion, their search for a sexual identity. It was the simplest thing in the world to do. They might call themselves the ironic generation, or maybe it was adults who referred to them that way. Perhaps they had it together on the outside, but they were looking for something deeper. Beneath it all was a kind of faith. That was both their salvation and their vulnerability. “Kids are so defenseless,” he said.

  “Only kids?”

  “They’re the easiest people to lead astray.”

  “You’re not so old yourself.”

  “People take advantage of me, but not that way.”

  “You mean it’s all society’s fault.”

  “Certainly.”

  “Has it always been like that, do you think?”

  “Society ends up with the adults it deserves. It’s just a little more obvious nowadays.”

  “So there’s nothing left to hope for?”

  “I don’t know, Bertil.”

  “What are you doing next New Year’s Eve?”

  “If you’re asking whether I’ll have a reservation at a restaurant, the answer is no.”

  “You’ll sit in your living room and play Coltrane for a beautiful woman.”

  “That’s a pretty safe bet.”

  “Which reminds me. We’ve already talked to a couple of Vikingsson’s female acquaintances in Gothenburg. He’s got his share.”

  “I saw that in the report. Does he sleep around?”

  “You’re thinking about another time.”

  “What time was that?”

  “Just before a homosexual flight attendant brought HIV from Africa to New York.”

  “Have you asked him about that urban legend?”

  Winter felt Vikingsson’s eyes on him as he walked into the interrogation room. He was taller, his hair longer, than the photos had suggested, and he looked like someone who could account for his actions. He’s got a good memory, Winter thought.

  Cohen shuffled his papers. Winter nodded briefly and sat down. Vikingsson fidgeted in his chair, searching for the right defensive posture.

  “This is Chief Inspector Erik Winter,” Cohen said. “He’ll be sitting in on our conversation.”

  Winter nodded again. Vikingsson raised his index finger as if to say he had decided to play along.

  Cohen began this interrogation the same way he had so many before. He focused on what Vikingsson was doing at the time of the murders.

  At several points, Vikingsson apologized sarcastically for not having walked around with a diary strapped to hi
s chest.

  COHEN: The friend you claim to have been with on Saturday is unable to confirm that you spent the whole evening together.

  VIKINGSSON: Nobody’s got a perfect memory.

  COHEN: Are you saying she forgot what happened?

  VIKINGSSON: Yes.

  COHEN: Okay, we’ll get back to that. Tell us what you did on the twenty-fourth.

  VIKINGSSON: I had just returned from London and picked up a few things at my apartment.

  COHEN: What kinds of things?

  VIKINGSSON: Toiletries.

  COHEN: You have two apartments, is that correct?

  VIKINGSSON: You already know . . .

  COHEN: I didn’t catch your answer.

  VIKINGSSON: That’s not something you have to ask me.

  COHEN: How long have you had two apartments?

  VIKINGSSON: I wouldn’t call it an apartment.

  COHEN: What wouldn’t you call an apartment?

  VIKINGSSON: The place in Gothenburg. It’s more of a . . .

  COHEN: I didn’t hear what you said.

  VIKINGSSON: It’s a crash pad.

  COHEN: How long have you had it?

  VIKINGSSON:A while. You can check up on that easier than I can.

  COHEN: I’m going to ask you again how long you’ve had the apartment.

  VIKINGSSON: Six months, maybe.

  COHEN: Why did you rent it in the first place?

  VIKINGSSON: The pad in Gothenburg?

  COHEN: Yes.

  VIKINGSSON: I wanted somewhere to get together with friends when I wasn’t working.

  COHEN: But you don’t get together with friends in Gothenburg. VIKINGSSON: What?

  COHEN: You can’t prove that you were with anyone at the times we asked about.

  VIKINGSSON: That’s your misfortune.

  No, it’s your misfortune, Winter thought. He scrutinized Vikingsson. There wasn’t a drop of sweat on his forehead, nor was he squirming in his chair anymore. No nervousness to his gestures. Winter wondered how crazy he actually was.

  COHEN: You said you rented the apartment so you could get together with friends.

  VIKINGSSON: That’s right.

  COHEN: Where do you see your friends?

  VIKINGSSON: What kind of question is that?

  COHEN: Give us an example of where you meet your friends.

  VIKINGSSON: At somebody else’s place, not at mine because it’s not very big.

  COHEN: Have you ever had any guests there?

  VIKINGSSON: Only a woman or two who weren’t in the mood for their husbands.

  COHEN: Your neighbors say that people often come to see you.

  VIKINGSSON: Not when I’m there, anyway.

  COHEN: Do you work out much?

  VIKINGSSON: What?

  COHEN: Do you spend a lot of time at the gym?

  VIKINGSSON: No.

  COHEN: Are you sure?

  VIKINGSSON: I get all the exercise I need on the job.

  COHEN: On the job?

  VIKINGSSON: Yes, I spend the whole flight going up and down the aisle.

  COHEN: So you don’t work out at all?

  VIKINGSSON: Once or twice, but that was a long time ago. Anyone who claims that he’s seen me at a gym is lying.

  COHEN: Nobody has claimed that.

  VIKINGSSON: Good.

  COHEN: On the other hand, you’ve been spotted with a big duffel bag more than once.

  VIKINGSSON: What?

  COHEN: You heard what I said.

  VIKINGSSON: That’s for the stuff I carry between Gothenburg and London.

  COHEN: We didn’t see it in your Gothenburg apartment.

  VIKINGSSON: It’s in London.

  COHEN: We couldn’t find it there either.

  VIKINGSSON: Did you go into my London apartment?

  COHEN: Assistant Chief Investigator Ringmar informed you that we searched it.

  VIKINGSSON: Like hell he did.

  COHEN: You’ve been informed of everything you need to know.

  VIKINGSSON: This is nuts.

  COHEN: Just tell us where your duffel bag is.

  VIKINGSSON: What?

  COHEN: Where is your duffel bag?

  VIKINGSSON: If I had to guess, I’d say that one of your men got his grubby fingers on it.

  COHEN: Do you ever keep it anywhere else?

  VIKINGSSON: It’s in London, for God’s sake. The other flight attendants can verify that I had it the last time I was there. Yesterday, I mean.

  COHEN: It’s not in your apartment.

  VIKINGSSON: Then the cops have it.

  COHEN: We talked to the other flight attendants, and none of them saw you carrying a duffel bag.

  VIKINGSSON: Then they must have had more important things on their mind.

  COHEN: Do you have two duffel bags?

  VIKINGSSON: What?

  COHEN: Just answer my question.

  VIKINGSSON: Are you guys starting to see double?

  COHEN: Cut it out.

  VIKINGSSON: The answer is no.

  COHEN: Do you own a car?

  VIKINGSSON: No.

  COHEN: Is there a car in Gothenburg that you drive occasionally?

  VIKINGSSON: Do I ever borrow somebody else’s car? Sure, once in a while.

  COHEN: Any car in particular?

  VIKINGSSON: I don’t understand what you’re talking about.

  You understand exactly what he’s talking about, you bastard, Winter thought. Hold on a minute and you’ll understand even better.

  COHEN: Is there any particular car in Gothenburg that you borrow on a regular basis?

  VIKINGSSON: No.

  COHEN: You never drive a 1988 white Opel Kadett Caravan, license plate number ANG 999?

  VIKINGSSON: What?

  COHEN: Just answer the question.

  VIKINGSSON: What was the question again?

  COHEN: Do you ever drive an Opel Kadett Caravan, license plate number ANG 999, recently reregistered?

  VIKINGSSON: No.

  COHEN: We found it a couple of blocks from your apartment in a paid parking spot on Distansgatan Street.

  VIKINGSSON: And?

  COHEN: The parking spot belongs to an acquaintance of yours named Peter Möller. According to him, you sublease it from him.

  VIKINGSSON: That’s a lie.

  COHEN: It’s a lie that you sublease it?

  VIKINGSSON: It’s a lie.

  COHEN: So you’ve never seen the car?

  VIKINGSSON: Nope.

  COHEN: It’s registered in the name of Viking Carlsson.

  VIKINGSSON: You don’t say?

  COHEN: Is that a coincidence?

  VIKINGSSON: Is what a coincidence?

  COHEN: The name of the owner.

  VIKINGSSON: What was his name again?

  COHEN: Viking Carlsson.

  VIKINGSSON: I don’t have a clue.

  COHEN: You don’t own the car?

  VIKINGSSON: For the umpteenth time, no. You just said who the owner was.

  COHEN: We found fingerprints in the car that match yours.

  VIKINGSSON: That’s a lie.