“And the customer was trustworthy? Not some Mafia type who was trying to launder his money?” Elin smiled and winked at him.
“No, he was from around here. He works at Saab. We weren’t worried about it.”
Elin had found out what she wanted. She asked a few more questions, told him that she needed to think about it, and said goodbye.
63
Lars was thrilled to get his hamburger—or rather (he corrected himself in his head), his cheeseburger.
“So how did it go?”
Elin told him what she had found out.
“And they just told you that outright?”
She explained how she had gone about it.
Lars was impressed. “Great job. You really are talented.”
Elin smiled. “Thanks, but the sales guy made it easy for me. I was surprised he even took me seriously. I don’t look at all like someone who would buy a Land Rover.”
“Oh, I don’t think there are any clear-cut standards for that kind of thing these days.”
“Yeah, maybe. Anyway, we now know that Erik bought the car new and that he paid cash. That makes him even more suspect, doesn’t it?”
“Absolutely. A sudden windfall like that is always suspect, and in his case, it doesn’t match his financial situation. What does a Land Rover like that cost?” Lars asked.
“Around 500,000 bucks.”
“Yeah, right. Why would he have that much in cash?”
Elin nodded and started chowing down on her hamburger.
When they were done eating, Elin headed to her car. She was supposed to continue monitoring Erik Lind’s movements. Lars had taken a picture of him and sent it to her cell phone.
Lars’s plan now was to drive to the house of Erik’s potential girlfriend, so he started the car and drove out of the parking lot.
The house was easy to find. It was more of a summerhouse, but it was listed as the woman’s address, and from the looks of it, she lived there year-round. It was situated on a gravel road at some distance from the nearest neighbor. Lars had driven past the place and parked two roads farther down. Now he was standing by a tree, observing the house. There seemed to be nobody home. There was no car in the driveway and no sign of movement. Lars looked around. The street was also completely deserted. He slowly moved closer. His leg hurt, especially in this kind of weather. He stood by the first window and peered inside. The room he was seeing was the kitchen. There were some dishes lying around, but there was no one there.
Lars walked around the outside of the house. From the rear of the house, he could see into the living room. No one here, either. He was wearing his leather gloves, so he pulled on the terrace door handle. To his amazement, the door was unlocked. That meant he could enter the house, but it also might mean that the occupant was not too far away. Lars hesitated. Should he risk it? He figured he should be able to hear in time and disappear out the back in case a car drove up. He looked around the garden. There was a lawn beside the small wooden porch. Behind that stood a greenhouse, and behind the greenhouse were some trees. There was not a house in sight. In a pinch, he should be able to escape here unnoticed.
Lars opened the door all the way and went in. He carefully wiped his shoes on the mat to avoid leaving tracks. He listened intently, but all he could hear was a sound like the ticking of a clock. He was right: there stood an old grandfather clock in a large wooden casing with pictures painted on it. The living room was simply but comfortably furnished with a wooden chair and couch from IKEA and a big flat-screen TV. A couple of landscape paintings hung on the walls. To the left, a dining table stood directly next to the service hatch to the kitchen.
Lars stepped into the narrow hallway. Going left, it led to the little kitchen, inside of which was a small table for two with the leftovers from breakfast. Going right were some stairs to the upper level, although from what Lars could tell from the outside, there couldn’t be more than one room up there. There were two more doors in the hallway. One had a sign that unmistakably indicated a toilet. Lars cautiously opened the other door. There was no one inside the room, and it was otherwise also fairly empty. It was small, maybe three by two and a half meters. There was a bed on one side. Two cardboard boxes stood in front of it, and a large drywall panel was leaning against the wall. Were they renovating the room? Lars examined the walls but could see nothing that needed repairing. Then he saw the holes, and a chill ran down his spine. He stepped over to the window. Yes, indeed, on either side of the window were three holes that had held some screws. He inspected the drywall panel. There they were—the six screws—and the spacing matched the holes on the wall. Someone had covered the window with the panel. There couldn’t be too many logical reasons for that.
Lars sat down on the bed and pulled over one of the boxes. He pushed the flaps apart and examined the contents. A wig with long, red hair was lying on top. Beneath that were several dolls, children’s books, and a Playmobil farm with a number of different figures. It all matched the description Saga had given of her prison cell. Lars looked inside the second box. This one was smaller, and all it contained was a Wii with every conceivable type of cable and two remote controls. Lars knew all about this. His daughters also had a device like this. He had set it up and played on it many times with them, even if he had to admit that he stood no chance against his kids. So this was where they had held Saga hostage. The kidnappers had probably moved the TV from the living room into this one so that Saga could play with the Wii.
As Lars was pondering whether to immediately inform the police or first speak with Liv, the door flew open to reveal this woman from the night before. She stood there and glared at him, a large kitchen knife in her hand.
“What are you doing here? What business do you have snooping around?” she demanded.
Lars raised his hands in the air as he reviewed his options. He had no wish to fight someone with a knife, and the woman looked determined. She had an athletic build, was about thirty years old, and was wearing a pink jogging suit. All she had on her feet were thick socks, which explained why Lars hadn’t heard her footsteps. But he still had no idea where this woman had come from so suddenly. Was she already here in the house? Even with no car outside?
Lars started to stand, but the woman snapped at him: “Sit down and don’t move! You and I are going to have a little chat.”
64
Elin knew that Lars had planned to drive to the house of Erik’s potential girlfriend, but he had not been too forthcoming about where that was. In Elin’s view, he could easily have let her in on it. But the obligation to share information apparently only applied to her end. She didn’t want to whine about it, though. She was happy to just be part of the team.
Elin shifted her position in the front seat—one of her legs was tingling and starting to fall asleep. Erik hadn’t shown yet, and the Land Rover was still parked in the same spot. It had started to rain again. While the weather this November had been surprisingly mild with lots of sun, usually rare for that month, December seemed to be getting worse: for two days, all they had had was rain.
Elin took a sip from her water bottle. That hamburger had been awfully salty. But it had tasted good. She didn’t eat that kind of thing too often. Fast food wasn’t Maja’s thing.
Suddenly a man burst out of the building. Was that …? Yes, it was—Erik Lind. Elin set her water bottle back in its holder and got ready. And, yes, he was sprinting to the Land Rover, with the key already in one hand. The Rover’s blinkers briefly lit up, and the man jumped into the driver’s seat. The engine started, and the car backed out of the parking space and took off like a shot to the exit. Wow, he was in a rush.
Elin followed at a distance. She had stuck a tracking device on the Land Rover and now had her laptop on the passenger’s seat beside her, a procedure that had already proven effective and was almost routine for her. This way, there was no way Erik could get away from her.
The man was headed toward Linköping and was not observing the speed
limit at all. Elin followed him at a leisurely pace, and the Land Rover soon vanished in the distance. As she watched the dot on the screen, she saw the car turn right toward downtown Linköping. She continued to follow at her own speed as the distance between them increased.
After a while, Elin noticed that the dot was no longer heading downtown but had switched to a more southbound course. Finally, it came to a stop. Elin was sitting at a red light, so she took the opportunity to read the location: Rättaregatan. That was where Erik had his apartment. Why was he in such a rush to get home, especially now, when it was way too early for quitting time?
The light turned green, and Elin resumed driving to Erik’s apartment. She had almost arrived when the dot began to move again. Now Erik was heading north to the university. Elin decided to turn around. That way, she could take a shortcut if Erik changed his mind and drove back to Saab. At first, it did in fact look like he planned on heading back when he turned west before the university. But then he took County Roads 23 and 34 heading north and eventually passed under the freeway. It still seemed like he was trying to make warp speed, because the distance between them was rapidly growing again. Elin followed as well as she could while sticking to the speed limit.
Finally, the Rover turned west, took a few more turnoffs, and came to a halt in a residential area near the woods. Elin continued to follow, although it took her more than five minutes to reach the destination. There, she saw the Land Rover sitting in front of a small house. She drove another fifty meters, parked the car on the side of the road, and raced to the house. If the guy had been in such a hurry to get there, whatever it was must be important, and she didn’t want to miss it.
There was no one in sight as Elin approached the house. She crept up to the Land Rover to use it as a cover. Then she heard voices and noticed something moving in the window to the left. She hunched down and ran over. She couldn’t make out what they were saying, but she could hear the voices of two men. One of them sounded like Lars. Was that possible? She peered cautiously through the window. Yes, there was Lars, sitting on the bed. But what did that mean?
Elin knew that she had to get in there. She slunk over to the front door and pulled down on the handle. The door was unlocked. Now she could hear more clearly what the other man was saying.
“Let’s make short shrift of this snoop. There’s no guarantee he won’t talk. Move it, pal—up!”
That didn’t sound good. Elin darted into the hallway. One of the doors was wide open, and Erik was standing inside the doorway with his back toward her. It looked like he was a holding gun. Damn it all—Lars’s life was in danger. She had to do something now.
Elin got a running start and rammed the man full force from behind. The impact thrust him forward, and he stumbled and crashed into the woman, who was standing by the wall. The shot that went off from the gun in that small space was deafening. Elin fell to the floor in front of the couch. Lars was lying next to her. She sat up and grabbed him by the shoulder.
“Oh my God, Lars, are you hit?” she cried.
Lars reached for the gun, which had also fallen to the floor. “No, I’m OK. I just dropped to the ground.”
Right at that moment, the woman shrieked, “No, no! Erik!”
Elin looked up. Erik was slowly collapsing onto the floor. The woman was staring at him, horrified. Then Elin saw the knife: it was sticking out of his stomach, and the blood was gushing forth. Erik had turned as he was falling and was now sitting with his back to the wall. He was groaning.
The woman was squatting beside him. “Oh my God! This is not what I wanted!” she wailed.
She tugged at the knife. Erik screamed, but by then, she had already pulled it out. Erik was moaning loudly, and his face was contorted. The blood was spurting out of the wound and had already formed a large pool on the floor.
Lars pointed the gun at the woman. “Drop the knife!” he ordered.
The woman stared back at him, a blank expression on her face. Then she looked at the knife and threw it into the corner. She was kneeling next to Erik in the pool of blood.
“We have to help him—fast!” she screamed.
Lars ripped the blanket off the bed and threw it to her.
“Here!” he cried. “Press down on the wound as hard as you can!”
Elin had already grabbed her cell phone. “I’ll call an ambulance,” she said.
Lars sat down on the bed, still holding the gun in the crook of his arm. He looked at Elin.
“It’s a good thing you came,” he said. “And not one second too soon. Thanks.”
Friday, December 4
65
Martin had arrived at Liv’s an hour ago. Lars and Elin had just made it there. Martin had already heard over the phone about some of what went on, but now he and Liv would be getting a coherent version of the whole story.
After everyone had gotten their drinks, they all sat down on the group of sofas in front of the fireplace. Martin was looking at Elin and Lars. They seemed tired.
“When did you two get back to Stockholm?” he asked.
“Just a few hours ago,” Lars answered. “The police had a lot of questions. They didn’t let us go until noon today.” Addressing both Martin and Liv, he added: “We had to tell them everything—about the kidnappings, too. They also want to speak with both of you.”
Liv nodded. “I know. They already came by today and questioned me. Next week, they want to talk to Saga.”
“What happened with the kidnappers?” Martin asked. “Did they confess?”
“Well …” Lars started to answer, but Elin jumped in.
“Erik Lind is dead. The police just told us today. The knife severed the abdominal aorta, and they weren’t able to save him. By the time the ambulance finally arrived, he was already unconscious and had lost so much blood that the hospital could no longer do anything for him. No surprise, the whole room was swimming in blood.”
Liv put her hands to her mouth and her eyes opened wide. “That must have been awful.”
“Yes, it was,” Elin said. “And it’s my fault. I was the one who shoved him toward the knife.”
Lars laid his hand on her arm. “Elin, there’s no need to blame yourself. You had no idea the woman was holding a knife in her hand. Besides, I probably would have died if you hadn’t jumped in.”
“I know,” replied Elin. “But I still don’t feel good about it.”
Martin turned to the two detectives. “Now tell us the whole story from the beginning.”
Lars and Elin told Liv and Martin about their day in Linköping, and they listened without interrupting.
“So that means that my Saga was held hostage in that summerhouse? Is that certain now?” Liv asked.
“Yes,” Lars answered. “It’s certain. We found all the paraphernalia that Saga described to us. Also, from what the police have told us, the woman confessed. Yesterday, they still weren’t giving us any information, but today they were reasonably sure that we were just witnesses, and they believed our account. At that point, they gave us more information.”
“Did those two pull the whole thing off by themselves?” Martin asked.
“Yes,” Lars replied. “That’s what the woman claims.”
“But that would mean that Erik was the one who kidnapped Saga at her school. So why didn’t she recognize him?” Martin looked at Liv.
“I’ve been thinking about that as well,” Liv said. “As I told you before, we had very little contact with my husband’s family. I believe Saga only met Erik twice, and they never talked at all. Saga always immediately went off to play with her cousins. And I only saw Erik from a distance at my husband’s funeral.”
“Right, and if he changed his appearance and disguised his voice …” Elin added.
“I don’t know the woman at all,” Liv continued. “The police showed me a picture, but I’ve never seen her before.”
“But why did they kidnap Saga?” Martin asked. For him, that was the central question.
“Someone apparently paid them to do it,” Lars replied. “We don’t yet know who it was, but I’m assuming it was the Russians who bought your company. Who else would have a motive? And since you never paid ransom, Erik must have been paid by someone else—especially given the fact that he paid cash for his Land Rover, and the police found even more money later on.”
“How much?” Martin asked.
“They wouldn’t tell us.”
Liv was staring down at the coffee table. “So then it was all about the company?” she asked.
Lars nodded. “That’s what we’re assuming,” he said.
Martin gave Lars a questioning look. “So what’s the scenario here?” he asked. “Were the Russians initially in contact with Liv’s husband, and then, when that didn’t work out, they turned to his brother?”
“Yeah, it could have played out like that,” Lars answered. “They may have also been pressuring Liv’s husband in some way, since they wanted to buy the company at a cheap price. I’m afraid we’ll never know exactly what happened. We can no longer ask Thomas and Erik, and the Russians will never tell us anything.”
“But then why didn’t they just go straight to Liv?”
“We can only guess. They may have been aware of her attitude from her husband. And they may have found out that she would never have even considered their price.”
For a moment, there was silence. Then Elin turned to Liv.
“I’m so sorry it all turned out this way. Losing two members of your family must be a terrible thing, even if they had such bad intentions.”
Liv shook her head. “To be honest, I don’t know whether to be happy or sad. I still find it impossible to believe that those two were capable of that. It’s probably better that I’ll never have to deal with them again.”
In spite of her words, Liv had tears in her eyes. Martin placed his hand on her arm.
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