The Torso dih-2

by Helene Tursten

  While they were waiting for food, they each ordered a large beer. Freshbaked bread appeared. Its smell was seductive, and it was still warm enough for the butter to melt when it was spread.

  So far, the day had been overwhelming. It was important to process all the new information. Peter and Hannu avoided talking about what they had seen and gone through during the last few hours. And Irene started to relax. The tension in her neck and shoulders began to ease, due to a combination of the beer and Glady’s comfortable atmosphere. The restaurant, located in an old potato shop on the bottom floor of one of the larger stone buildings on Avenyn, was spacious but the architect had preserved small storage rooms and narrow passages, which added intimacy to the restaurant. The bare brick walls had been washed, and lighting points and candles placed in the holes in damaged stones. The chairs, in a late-eighteenth-century Gustavian style, were painted in sober light gray and covered in a blue-and-white-striped cotton fabric. White linen tablecloths and napkins completed the fresh look. Airy striped cotton curtains framed the only window, where the police officers were sitting. Irene could watch the passersby through the gauzy fabric without being seen herself. An ideal lookout spot, she thought. She realized a second later how much her work had affected her psychologically. She had to make an effort to concentrate on the conversation and the good food.

  THEY WATCHED the videos with Peter one more time. Jonny joined the group before they started.

  It was easier this time, since they knew what was coming. When the last painful image had faded from the screen, Irene said, “Why didn’t Emil include the entire dismemberment process? It’s easy to copy a videotape so that both Emil and his accomplice could have had one.”

  They pondered the question for a while. Finally, Hannu said, “He didn’t want the other part. That’s not what turned him on.”

  Peter nodded.

  “Blokk said something similar. He said that the dismemberments with the saw reduced Emil’s anxiety and gave him pleasure.”

  “The other one probably wanted the other pictures of the abuse of the body. Opening the abdomen and removing the internal organs and all that. Incidentally, I wonder if the murder itself is on tape?” Irene asked.

  “It’s very possible. But not certain. The primary thing wasn’t to kill a person but what they did later with the body,” Peter answered.

  It sounded very much like what Yvonne Stridner had said at the beginning of the investigation.

  “So the other guy is supposed to be the doctor, if I’ve understood this correctly?” Jonny jumped in.

  “Yes. We think so since Marcus spoke. .” Irene started.

  “What if he’s just as fake as the policeman?” Jonny said triumphantly.

  “Fake?”

  “Emil wasn’t a police officer. Just dressed up like one. What if the doctor isn’t really a doctor, but is just pretending. Goes around in a white coat and stethoscope and all that.”

  Irene stared at Jonny, amazed. It was the most intelligent thing he had come up with during the entire investigation. And he could very well be right. Irene nodded and said, “That’s very possible. I’ve been thinking about the picture that was stolen at Tom’s. The man in the photo, maybe he’s the doctor. I’ve been trying to come up with a way of getting in touch with the photographer who took the pictures. He should know who the man in the backlit picture is.”

  “Have you asked Tanaka?” Peter wondered.

  “Yes. Tom doesn’t know who he is. It’s a high-quality picture-”

  She was interrupted by Jonny’s loud snort but continued, “-and there shouldn’t be that many photographers who could have taken it. The question is where to start looking.”

  “Among the photographers,” Hannu answered.

  Sometimes he really could be irritating. Irene told herself to be patient and waited for further exposition.

  “He’s a freelance photographer,” said Hannu.

  Jonny raised his eyebrows in surprise and started to say, “How do you-” but stopped himself.

  At least he had learned something, thought Irene.

  A freelance photographer? Probably. A photographer of this class probably worked on his own. But he might have a studio with employees. Irene realized that it was going to take time to find the photographer but they would find him.

  PETER MØLLER left just before five o’clock. He planned on reaching his home by ten if all went smoothly. Hannu, Jonny, and Irene went to Superintendent Andersson’s office in order to bring him up to speed on the surprising developments in the case.

  Andersson declined to watch the videos. He fully trusted their judgment of the tapes’ authenticity, he said.

  They agreed that they would start the search for the photographer the next day.

  Chapter 15

  THE GIRL IN THE lab was a godsend. By nine o’clock she had made five sets of copies of Tom Tanaka’s Polaroid pictures, as well as a good enlargement of both pictures. Irene had gone around among her colleagues with the picture of the man with the ponytail, and asked if anyone had seen him before. No one recognized him. Only she and Hannu seemed to have a feeling of familiarity. Or was it just their imagination?

  Irene focused on the picture and tried to be objective. Yes, there was certainly something familiar about the high cheekbones and the contour of the ear, the chest and the arms. She stared at the picture until her eyes started burning.

  She gave up. His identity was somewhere in the back of her mind, she was certain of it. She would eventually come up with it. She hoped it wouldn’t take too long. They were working under a time constraint; the risk that the murderer would kill again was constantly increasing. It was obvious that the man in the backlit picture had known Marcus Tosscander. It was possible that he knew quite a bit about both Emil and Marcus. It was even conceivable that he was involved in the murders. It was very important to find this man.

  Hannu was going to try to reach Anders Gunnarsson, and Birgitta was going to try Hans Pahliss. Irene took it upon herself to get in touch with Pontus Zander since she needed to speak with him anyway. There was a good chance that one of them would recognize the man in the photo. Maybe he moved in the same circles they did.

  Irene realized pretty quickly that it wasn’t possible to divide up photographers based on their areas of specialty. So they divided those listed in the Yellow Pages in four, with the same number of names in each. They would have to go through each list methodically, one by one. It was just a matter of getting started.

  Irene started writing in the photographers’ addresses on the map, in order to work out a systematic route. If she didn’t get any leads quickly, it would take up most of the day and a good portion of the next one. But it would be worth it if they could put a name to the man in the backlit picture.

  IT WAS three thirty and Irene had begun to feel a bit dejected. None of the men or women she had met during the day as she wandered between photography studios had been able to give her any tip as to who the photographer could be. However, several people had recognized Marcus. Apparently, he had done a lot of modeling before the design company got off the ground.

  Now she was both sweaty and thirsty. The early summer heat had been pleasant at lunchtime but it had become oppressive during the afternoon. It was the first real summer day of the year, and one that had been longed for, but as far as Irene was concerned, it could definitely have held off a while longer. The car was boiling hot and her clothes were sticking to her body. Her deodorant sure wasn’t lasting twenty-four hours, like the commercial had promised, a fact of which she had become awkwardly aware during the last couple of hours. She longed intensely for a cool shower.

  Without any expectations whatsoever she slowly trudged up the worn steps to E. Bolin’s Commercial Photography Company, Incorporated, on Kastellgatan. “Corporation” always sounded fancy, but the facade of this office was not impressive. The outer door was insignificant and its paint had peeled off in big patches. The bell didn’t work, so Irene had to kn
ock hard.

  The man who opened it was a surprise. Her first thought was that he must be a photo model. He was a bit taller than average, slim, and looked like he was in good shape. His eyes were amber brown and matched his short hair perfectly. The bangs were longer and stood straight up in straggling pieces. The look was so nonchalant and sporty that it must have taken him at least half an hour to arrange it. After more scrutiny, she realized that he was older than he had seemed at first glance, over thirty rather than under.

  He smiled charmingly and said, “Hi. What can I help you with?”

  “Hi. Irene Huss, from the police.” She had her ID ready and pulled it out of her pocket.

  The man raised his eyebrows slightly but didn’t move from the doorway.

  “Really?” he said.

  “I’m looking for the photographer Erik Bolin,” Irene said.

  “At your service,” said the man at the door.

  He made a slight bow and took a step into the hall so that she could get past. Irene entered his studio.

  If the exterior wasn’t impressive, the interior certainly was. It was obvious that the entire premises had recently been renovated.

  The walls in the hall were painted light gray, and the floor was a warm cherrywood. The studio itself, a large illuminated room, was located straight ahead. Those walls were white but the floor was the same as in the hall. The door to the right stood open and led into a rather large and airy kitchen. Black, steel, and cherrywood flooring.

  “When did Marcus Tosscander design this interior?” she asked.

  Now Bolin arched his eyebrows. “Did you know about it or could you tell?” he asked.

  “I could tell.”

  “Bravo. He has, or had, his own style. Absolutely luscious. I love it.”

  “When did he design it?”

  “A little more than a year ago. The renovation itself was done last summer. Would you like some coffee?”

  “Yes, please.”

  They went into the ultramodern kitchen. Irene sat on a kitchen chair, which certainly wasn’t any ordinary kitchen chair. The welded-steel frame and the skillfully woven chair seat of sturdy hemp told her that it was “designed.” Erik Bolin turned on an espresso machine. He was busy for a long time with all of the utensils required to press out an itty-bitty cup of coffee from the sputtering and puffing machine. Irene preferred huge buckets of Swedish coffee but for lack of anything better, this would have to do. Caffeine was caffeine.

  Apparently the machine could make two cups at a time, because Bolin set down two minicups on the kitchen table’s slate top. He placed a small plate with rice cakes between them. Was the man dieting? He didn’t look like he needed to. Or maybe that’s why he looked like he did?

  Her thoughts were interrupted by Bolin’s question. “Is this about Marcus?”

  “In a way. Did you know each other well?”

  He smiled sorrowfully. “Yes. We were very good friends.”

  “How long had you known each other?”

  Bolin thought a bit. “Four years.”

  “Were you together?”

  “Together. . it happened in the beginning. . but we’ve just been friends the last two years.”

  “Did you take any pictures of Marcus?”

  His dark amber eyes began to glow.

  “Tons! He loved being in front of the camera, and the camera loved him. It’s like that with some people.”

  Irene pulled out the envelope with the two Polaroid pictures.

  “Did you take these?”

  He picked up the pictures and cast a fleeting look at them. “Of course.”

  Irene was close to yelling, “Bingo!” but she managed to stop herself. She apologized to Erik Bolin and excused herself for a little while. Then she called her colleagues on their cell phones and told them that she had found the photographer.

  “Do you know who the other man is?” she asked when the phone calls had been taken care of.

  “Nothing more than that Marcus called him Basta.”

  “Basta? What is that a nickname for?”

  “No idea.”

  “When were the pictures taken?”

  “Last summer, at the beginning of August.”

  “Almost a year ago. Where did you take them?”

  “In Løkken.”

  Løkken was in Denmark, on the west coast of Jylland, quite a ways from Copenhagen. But it was in Denmark! Irene had to force herself to concentrate on the follow-up questions.

  “How was it that you happened to choose Denmark specifically? And Løkken? It’s a ways to drive.”

  “Because of the amazing sand dunes. I took lots of wonderful pictures!”

  “There aren’t any sand dunes in these two photos,” Irene pointed out.

  “No. Marcus chose the pictures he wanted to have. He wasn’t at all interested in the sand,” Bolin answered knowingly.

  “I’ve seen another picture of Marcus. Where he’s leaning back against some large pillows. He’s a little fuzzy but his-”

  “Oh, that old picture. We took that one here in the studio. It was one of the first naked studies I did of Marcus. Personally, I didn’t like it but Marcus loved it. I enlarged it and gave it to him as a Christmas present. I took it at the beginning of our friendship.”

  “What were the photographs used for?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Were they going to be printed in magazines or did you make posters or. .”

  “Come,” said Bolin.

  He got up quickly and went out into the hall and then led her farther into the large studio. He gestured toward the walls.

  Framed black-and-white pictures hung all around them. Some were of naked people, both men and women, but most of them were portraits. All proved Irene’s first thought correct: a very skillful artist had taken them.

  “I take a lot of commercial photos since I work with advertising. It feels like a great privilege to work as an artist sometimes. I’ve had some exhibits that have gotten good reviews. The pictures from Løkken were displayed at my last exhibit half a year ago. I called it Affirmations. It was shown at the Pic Ture gallery.”

  Irene felt completely uncultured.

  “Come,” Erik Bolin said again.

  He went over to a door that was built into the white wall. When he opened it, Irene caught a glimpse of frames lined up in the closetlike space. He started flipping systematically. Occasionally, he stopped with a soft triumphant shout and pulled out a picture, which he leaned against the wall. When he had finished rummaging and selected six of them, he seemed satisfied.

  “These, plus five more, which are hanging on the wall behind you, were part of the exhibit,” he said.

  Irene heard the pride in his voice, and in her estimation it was justified.

  All of the pictures were very sensual. The picture of Marcus was somewhat different from the one Tom had on his wall. Here he sat leaning forward more, with his arms freely resting on his knees. His left hand loosely held his right wrist, and his right hand obscured most of his genitals. He was smiling a confident, sexy smile and looked right into the camera with eyes glittering mischievously. The wind was tousling his damp hair, and the sun glittered in the sea spray on his body. A perfect body, thought Irene. The body of a Greek god. Which Emil and his partner had turned into a torso.

  One of the pictures represented a young woman sitting on a chair with two small children. The smallest child appeared to be almost a newborn and slumbered, leaning against her chest. The older child stood with his head leaning against her knee and looked directly into the camera. At the most, he was two years old. All three were naked. The woman was a stunning beauty with Asian features. Her long black hair billowed around her and the children. Without doubt she could sit on her hair. The whole picture breathed love and warmth.

  “My family,” Erik said with pride in his voice.

  Irene’s chin dropped. She had thought that Bolin was gay. But now, if the woman and the children were his fa
mily-! She asked, “Is that really your wife and children?”

  “Yes.”

  “Does she know about. . you and Marcus?”

  Erik Bolin suddenly looked serious.

  “She knew that I was bisexual when we got married. With Marcus it was a short-lived passion. Though he and I kept in touch afterward.”

  Irene would have loved to have continued to dig into their relationship but she suspected that his answers wouldn’t be completely truthful. Instead, she concentrated on the picture of the backlit man. It was the same photo that had hung on Tom’s wall.

  “Did you take several pictures of this man?” Irene asked.

  “Yes. But there wasn’t much time. This was the best picture. It’s the kind of picture you dream about being able to time just right. With the sun rays spreading out from his glans. Wonderfully sexy! I named it Penis Power but the gallery didn’t think it could be called that, so it was changed to Manpower.”

  “Tell me about the meeting with Basta.”

  Bolin seemed to be searching his memory before he spoke. “Marcus’s cell phone rang. He answered and seemed really happy when he understood that Basta wanted to get together. Marcus explained where we were. It was easy to find us because there was an old lighthouse right next to where we were hanging out. After about an hour, I saw a jeep approaching on the beach. It turned out to be Basta.”

  “Weren’t there a lot of curious people standing around and watching what you were shooting? Marcus was naked after all.”

  “We were working a bit toward the north where there aren’t all that many people. And it was quite late in the afternoon. I started taking the first pictures of Marcus around five o’clock.”

  “And Basta came later?”

  “Yes, around seven. I finished the last roll of Marcus, and when that was done he suggested that I should photograph Basta. He was a good-looking guy so I agreed. It was actually Basta himself who came up with the idea of leaning with his back against the stone wall at the base of the lighthouse tower with his dick in the air. It turned out really well.”