by Karin Nordin
He simply had to remind himself that being remanded to a desk didn’t mean he was being punished. It was for his protection.
‘Are you changing the SIO for Louisa’s case?’
Rhodin’s lips stretched into an uncomfortably thin line. ‘For the time being I’m going to put Esme in control of the day-to-day operations of the investigation. She’s always been better at answering questions from the press anyway.’
Kjeld nodded. He couldn’t argue with that. He hated holding press conferences. They only agitated his temper. ‘Who’s going to assist her in the field?’
‘Sixten is the obvious choice.’
Kjeld withheld a groan but it was clear from the way his stance loosened that he disagreed. ‘He’s so green.’
‘Everybody’s got to start somewhere.’ Rhodin paused. ‘I could probably get Lindén to assist.’
Through the window Kjeld caught a glimpse of Esme on her phone. She looked tired and exasperated, but determined. She rang off with the caller and shoved her phone in her pocket. Then she fiddled with her fringe, making sure it covered her forehead. They were all on edge.
He glanced back over at Rhodin. ‘Is that it?’
Rhodin nodded. ‘Yes.’
Kjeld made for the door.
‘One more thing!’
Kjeld stopped. When he craned his head over his shoulder he saw an affectionate concern in the chief’s bristly face. It was the same look he’d given him when the forensic results came back on the Aubuchon case, proving that Nils was the killer they’d been looking for. The kind of fearful look that said he was worried about what Kjeld would do.
‘How’s your daughter?’
‘She’s fine. Kids are incredibly resilient, you know.’
‘And you?’
The corner of Kjeld’s lip turned upward in a half-smile. ‘I’m fine, too.’
‘Really?’
‘Really.’
Kjeld left the office, tugging the door shut so it wouldn’t roll open on its crooked hinges. Was he fine? No. Nor was it the first time he’d lied to the chief about how he was feeling. It was, however, the first time he felt guilty about it.
Chapter 39
‘Nothing changes,’ Esme said, a tad louder than planned. She was reassuring herself as much as she was the rest of the team. It was the first time she’d been put in charge of an investigation and even though they all knew each other well and she undoubtedly had the team’s support, she felt like she needed to appear more confident. More firm in her ability to handle this responsibility. She cast a sidelong glance to Kjeld who sat slumped in his chair, his focus intent on the contents of his coffee mug. Esme cleared her throat. ‘We continue as we have been. We now have two murders that have a high likelihood of being committed by the same killer. Our priority is to go through everything we know about Louisa and Jonny. Try to find a connection between them. We’ve already established that they were both involved in previous high-profile murder cases. What else do we know?’
‘They were both Kjeld’s cases,’ Sixten said.
Kjeld shot Sixten a discerning look, but Sixten’s focus was solely on Esme and the whiteboard.
‘That’s true. He was the secondary investigator on the Cellar Sadist case and he was lead on the Graduation Massacre.’ Esme wrote Kjeld’s name at the centre of the whiteboard between the columns she’d already made for Louisa and Jonny. Andrea’s column had been erased and moved to the corner of the board. ‘What else?’
Axel stretched backwards in his chair. ‘They were both survivors.’
Esme quirked a brow. ‘What do you mean?’
‘Louisa was the only surviving victim of Gjur Hägglund and Jonny was the only student who didn’t drink the poisoned cider. They weren’t just victims of old cases. They were survivors of old cases.’
‘And not just survivors,’ Sixten added. ‘They were literally the last ones alive when they were found.’
‘That’s interesting.’ Esme tapped a finger against her lips. She turned back to the board and wrote “last one alive” beneath Kjeld’s name. She stared at the phrase thoughtfully. There was something about it that left her with a cold chill at the back of her neck. ‘What else do we know?’
‘They both appear to have struggled with getting over what happened to them,’ Sixten said, less confident about this theory than his earlier statement. ‘We know Louisa basically became a recluse and according to Jonny’s mother he was a completely different person afterwards.’
Axel popped his chair forward and leaned his arms on his desk. ‘How else would they be? They were traumatised.’
‘I’m just saying that could be a connection. They both had trouble getting over their tragedies.’
‘The commune,’ Kjeld said.
They all glanced over at him, anticipating more to his thought, but he didn’t continue. Instead he turned his focus onto his computer screen. Axel and Sixten both looked to her expectantly.
Esme could feel her confidence wavering. She kept pushing back an anxious worry that she wasn’t capable of handling the lead on an investigation. Kjeld always made it look so easy. So natural. He was always relaxed, almost nonchalant, when he was telling other people what to do. Meanwhile that quiet insecure part of herself she perpetually fought to keep hidden from her colleagues made her feel like she needed to ask permission to be direct and authoritative.
‘Right. They both potentially have Second Life in common.’ Esme added that to the list. ‘That could also go hand-in-hand with them struggling to recover from their traumas. Maybe they both saw it as a last chance to help them move forward with their lives.’
Sixten scratched the back of his head. ‘But you said Brother Björk denied ever seeing Louisa at the commune.’
‘He’s a cult leader,’ Axel mocked. ‘He was probably lying.’
Sixten nodded. ‘We should talk to him again.’
‘We’ll need more than just an assumption that he’s lying before we talk to him again. We’ll need some actual proof that Second Life is a viable connection to both of them. Hearsay isn’t going to get us through the door a second time.’ Esme dropped the pen on the whiteboard tray. ‘I know this might sound like a long shot, but I think we should look into Kjeld’s old cases.’
Esme looked at Kjeld, but his focus remained glued to his computer. It bothered her that he was so quiet. Granted, he wasn’t technically on the case anymore, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t lend her some support. And yet again she found herself mentally comparing the two of them and wondering why she doubted her ability to take command.
‘And look for what exactly?’ Axel didn’t sound convinced.
‘A profile that matches our other two victims. Someone who either survived being the victim of a serial murder or a group killing.’
‘With Second Life as a connection, too?’ Sixten took out a pad of paper and began jotting down notes.
‘Not necessarily. But if we find a connection to Second Life let’s make sure we put that file at the top of the line.’
Axel scoffed. ‘You do realise that if we find anything we might end up stepping on SU’s toes. Half of Kjeld’s old cases are under investigation. No offence, Kjeld.’
Kjeld responded with an indecipherable grumble.
‘SU isn’t going to impede a murder investigation. We’re all on the same side here. We all want these cases solved and the killers brought to justice. It’s good for the department, but more importantly it’s good for the community and the people of this city.’
‘Survivors of multiple murders by a single killer?’ Axel shook his head. ‘Well, at least it can’t be a very long list.’
‘What about one of Nils’s victims?’
The room went deathly quiet and Esme felt the air between them tense. Sixten’s face flushed, no doubt instantly regretting his question. Axel purposefully looked down at the desk to avoid catching Kjeld’s gaze. But Kjeld didn’t flinch. If anything, he acted as though he hadn’t heard anything. Tha
t bothered Esme more than anything. Kjeld didn’t usually have the patience to curb his temper when Nils came into the conversation.
‘Nils didn’t have any surviving victims,’ Esme said, interrupting the silence. ‘Not that we’re aware of. And besides, he’s not in a position to be committing these murders.’
‘I’ll start compiling a list of potential targets from the old case files. And maybe the crime scenes themselves could be a link to the killer? I can get us a map.’ Sixten added this to his notes.
‘That reminds me,’ Esme said. ‘Where are we on fingerprints from the cabin?’
Axel sighed. ‘Nothing. Technicians combed the entire area and the only prints they recovered were Jonny’s.’
‘What about on the punch bowl and cup?’
‘Also Jonny’s.’
‘Toxicology?’
Sixten shuffled through a few sheets of paper in search of the document Ove had sent over. ‘No traces of ketamine or any other incapacitating drugs normally used in kidnappings. He was chock full of recreational drugs, however. Uppers and downers. And, of course, antifreeze.’
Esme narrowed her eyes. ‘What are you saying?’
The door to the incident room flung open and Rhodin stepped in. His face was haggard and his skin sallow. Esme noticed that he was wearing the same shirt and tie from Friday and it looked as though they hadn’t been washed since.
‘Suicide,’ Rhodin said, dropping a file on the desk in front of Esme. ‘Frisk just sent over his findings and there wasn’t anything to indicate that someone else was involved in his death. The medical results read like a suicide. Poor boy took his own life.’
‘But—’
Rhodin cut Esme off by raising a hand. ‘I know. The original crime was made to look like a mass suicide as well. I get it. But unless you lot can prove someone else was in that cabin holding a gun to Jonny’s head, forcing him to drink poison, then this case is closed.’
Rhodin turned to leave, but stopped beside Kjeld’s desk to exchange a glance with him. Then he shook his head and left.
Esme frowned. This turn of events potentially threw a spanner into their theory. ‘I still say we move forward with the idea that the killer is choosing their victims from similar cases. The person responsible for Louisa’s death is smart. They know how to cover their tracks.’
‘But the chief just said—’
‘I know what the chief just said,’ Esme interrupted.
Sixten looked down, embarrassed. Esme felt a twinge of guilt for snapping at him.
‘He said we have to prove someone else was in that cabin forcing Jonny to drink that poison. To do that we need to know more about where he’s been and who he’s been around. Someone knows something. No killer is this careful. There’s always a witness. We just have to find that person before the murderer goes after their next victim.’
‘This could be our excuse for talking to the commune again,’ Sixten said. ‘We know Jonny was posting flyers for them. And his mother was under the impression he was living there.’
‘That’s a consideration, but I feel like we need to know more if we’re going to confront Björk again.’
‘What about someone else from the commune?’
‘I don’t know who else we could get to talk. If Björk is telling the truth then one of their principles is to not get involved in these kinds of things. But it’s something to look into. Axel, maybe you can find someone who was recently involved in the commune?’
Axel shrugged. ‘I can try.’
Esme turned her attention to Kjeld, hoping for some backup, but again he said nothing. ‘I know it feels like we’re at a dead end, but we’re not. We have a more substantial theory of the type of victim the killer is targeting. And we have more evidence now than we did a few days ago. There’s something in all of this that’ll bring the pieces together. We just have to find it.’
Axel and Sixten nodded, quickly picking up the phones and getting started.
Kjeld took a large gulp from his mug and stood up. Then he left without saying a single word, leaving Esme fuming.
Chapter 40
Kjeld refilled the coffee machine and set the pot under the drip, waiting for it to brew. He had a dull throb at the back of his head, no doubt spurred on by the stress of the case, the situation with Tove, fear that he’d already screwed things up with Bengt again, and his intense craving for a cigarette. Chewing gum wasn’t cutting it. He tossed two paracetamol in his mouth and swallowed them dry. Then he rinsed his mug out in the sink.
Esme jabbed her bony fist into the fleshy part of his upper arm and Kjeld whirled around, spilling some of the water from his mug onto his shirt. ‘For fuck’s sake, Esme. What’s that about?’
‘Why didn’t you back me up in there?’ She placed her hands on her hips and blocked his path to the coffee machine.
‘What do you mean? I didn’t disagree with anything you said.’
‘But you didn’t agree with me either. You just sat there staring off into space. You could have at least given me some support in front of the other guys.’
The red light on the coffee machine blinked that it was ready and Kjeld manoeuvred around her to fill one of the cannisters. ‘I didn’t think you needed me to do that. You had it all under control. You know you did.’
‘It would have been nice to have some encouragement.’
‘Since when have you needed my approval or my encouragement? You know you have my every confidence. And the others know that, too. You’re going to be a great SIO.’
‘Really?’ Esme frowned.
‘I wouldn’t have told Rhodin so if I thought otherwise.’ Kjeld screwed on the lid to the coffee cannister and filled his mug. Then he set it back on the warmer.
Esme’s shoulders relaxed. ‘I’m sorry. I’m just nervous. It hasn’t been the best week. And this case is really getting to me.’
‘I know how you feel.’ Kjeld would struggle to admit it, but he hadn’t been sleeping or eating well since the start of this case. He seemed to be functioning solely on coffee and brash obstinance.
‘How’s Tove doing?’
‘As well as can be expected, I suppose. It’s difficult to tell if she’s already forgotten about it or if she’s just pretending because she knows how much it upsets us.’
‘And Bengt?’
‘He’s upset, but not as much as I anticipated.’
‘I’m sure he knows it’s not your fault.’
‘Maybe.’ Kjeld took a sip from his mug.
Esme leaned up against the side of the counter. ‘Tell me your thoughts.’
Kjeld made a face. ‘On Bengt?’
‘On the case.’
‘I think you’re right. I think someone knows something and they either don’t know it or they aren’t saying it.’
Esme chewed on her lower lip. ‘I’ve been thinking about that call that Henny Engström received. The one that allowed her to find the second crime scene. What if it wasn’t a tip?’
‘What are you saying?’
‘I asked around with some of the other journalists who were on the scene of Andrea’s murder and none of them received a mysterious phone call. They were all prompted to the location because of Henny’s broadcast. I also talked to a couple of the reporters who were on site at Jonny’s crime scene and they all agreed that Henny was one of the first ones there after the police. Perhaps even the first one.’
Kjeld tried not to roll his eyes out of disgust. ‘That could just mean she has a source inside the department somewhere. A receptionist. An intern. That doesn’t mean she’s getting phone calls from the killer.’
‘But have you seen her recent blog articles? Or her YouTube videos?’
Kjeld shook his head. ‘I’ve been told to stay as far away from that woman as possible and I intend to. She doesn’t know news from a hole in the ground. She’s nothing but a bloodsucking slanderer.’
‘Some of the things she writes suggests she knows more than she’s saying.’ Esme paused. �
�And she was also the survivor of a heinous crime. Not unlike the other victims.’
‘But she wasn’t one of my cases.’ Kjeld paused, his expression drawn into a serious sulk. ‘You’re not suggesting that Henny could be the killer, are you?’
‘She does have a grudge against the police. And she’s had a personal vendetta against you for the last year.’
Kjeld considered the possibility. Henny did have a grievance against him that he didn’t entirely understand. And it wouldn’t take much to go from grievance to vengeance. But he couldn’t rationalise the idea of Henny killing other people to get back at him. Particularly people who’d suffered crimes as well. Why would she willingly murder other survivors when she was one herself? That seemed to go against everything he knew about her personal story. It was the crime committed against her, her survival, and her belief in the police’s incompetence that inspired her foray into amateur crime reporting. Murdering others who’d had similar experiences seemed contradictory to her message.
‘I don’t think Henny is involved in these deaths. Not directly. But do I think it’s possible that the killer has contacted her?’ Kjeld canted his head from one side to the other in thought. ‘That sounds more plausible. It makes sense that a killer who has gone to such extremes would want some kind of media attention. We’ve seen that before. And if there is a component of hatred towards me involved then Henny would be the perfect person to get under my skin.’
‘If only we could find out who’s been calling her,’ Esme said. ‘But unless we can uncover proof that the person she’s speaking to is connected to these crimes or find substantial evidence that she’s actively impeding the investigation, there’s nothing we can do.’
‘We know she believed the voice belonged to a man. And we know it’s someone who’s familiar with her vlog. We could have Axel do a search of her social media accounts and go through her followers. Check the comments on her videos for anything suspicious. Maybe we’d get lucky and find some similarities to the information we already have.’
