It was Nina.
“Nina, how nice. I was just thinking about calling you about Steven Mellström.”
I knew there wasn’t much more we could do. Mellström may have been an idiot but it wasn’t possible to get it to look like he was involved in the robbery any longer.
“It’s too thin,” said Nina. “Release him. The time is 12:48 p.m.”
I memorized the time.
“Report to me the time for completion later,” said Nina.
“It’s better if he’s out before the next robbery anyway,” I mumbled.
“Leona, I’ve received a strange message again,” Nina whispered into the phone.
“Who did it come from?” I said.
I realized of course who it was, but I wanted to gain time.
“Some man who calls himself ‘C.’ He wants to see me this evening at seven o’clock. Claims to have important information about the robberies.”
Christer Skoog didn’t know that Nina already knew that I was behind the robberies. That she would find this out again meant no additional damage, but it wasn’t a good idea for her to become aware that a journalist knew what I was up to. It bothered me that Christer had started to take his own initiatives and had contacted Nina like this.
“I’ll take care of it.”
“Do you know what it’s about? Who is he?”
“Uh, just a persistent journalist who is after me about the case, but it’s fine.”
“What! A journalist?”
Why had I said anything? Now Nina would hardly give up before she found out everything.
“What does he want?”
“I’ll take care of it. Nina, I have to go. I’ll be in touch later.”
After we hung up I immediately called Christer Skoog.
“Leona, I’ve called you a dozen times,” he said.
“What the hell do you mean by contacting Nina Wallin?”
It was best to start off hard. Christer was silent on the other end.
“You refuse to answer my calls. I need to know more.”
“Calm down. It takes time to get this sort of sensitive information.”
“Damn it, I don’t have time to sit and wait while you twiddle your thumbs, Leona, do you understand? I have to have something before my deadline runs out at three o’clock tonight. You’ll have to see about getting more info. If I haven’t heard from you before seven o’clock then I’ll meet with Nina and tell her what I know about you. She’ll probably take measures immediately and I’ll publish your name and your picture on tomorrow’s front page.”
“Okay, okay, take it easy, I’m doing what I can.”
“You’ll have to see about doing more than that. I haven’t got shit from you and I —”
“I gave you info about Dina.”
“I can’t get hold of her. Not by phone or at the address you gave me. As far as I know you may have made up her contact information.”
“I’ll fix it.”
I hung up. The situation with Christer was starting to get out of control. He sounded as if he meant what he said. Seemed desperate. I would be forced to involve Nina. Change strategy. I called her again.
“The journalist is threatening to publish information that I’m behind the girl robberies. You’ll have to go there and straighten that out. He’s not listening to me.”
There was silence for several seconds. Was she still there?
“What’s he after?” said Nina quietly.
“He wants to get facts about the politician case. I have nothing to give him at the moment.”
Nina sighed at the other end.
“I have to warn you, Leona. The politician case is a really corrupt affair, according to the rumors at the prosecutor’s office. Starting to snoop around in it is not a good idea.”
“I know! You’ll have to solve the problem with Christer tonight. I have other things to do,” I said.
That was the least Nina could do. Talking with journalists was something she did on a daily basis. Hardly any great sacrifice for her. By taking care of Christer she would be more involved, which was good. She sounded reserved, which worried me a little. But what could I expect? She had a lot to digest.
SIXTY
Christer had suggested the hotel lobby at the Amaranten on Kungsholmen. He was there in good time and was sitting at a table. In his bag he had brought the pictures of Leona, Ronni, and the little girl. He looked at the picture of Leona outside the bank. If it hadn’t been that he needed classified information about the Hooker Affair he would have dug deeper for evidence against her in the girl robberies right from the start. Evidently Leona was so certain that Christer would not put his threats into action that she couldn’t be bothered giving him more information. If he wasn’t going to get any more from her, then he had nothing to lose by informing the prosecutor and publishing it in the paper. Leona would have to live with the consequences. It was time someone stopped her.
But Christer knew it wouldn’t be easy. Accusing a police officer of anything at all was always unpleasant. Alleging that a police officer was behind these specific crimes involving a child, as well as being the detective who was investigating them, was an extremely serious accusation. Plus, there was the added element of her being a female detective. When he thought about it, it seemed so unbelievable that he started to have doubts. He quickly browsed through his papers. Wondered whether the pictures would be sufficient to convince Nina Wallin. Leona’s reaction to them clearly showed that she was involved, but it wasn’t enough that he knew it, he had to be able to prove it. He looked at them again. How would Nina react? Christer hadn’t met her before, only spoken with her on the phone and seen her on TV. Every time she spoke, she did so with clarity and sharpness, in a calm, firm voice. She was the kind of person people listened to.
Now he saw her enter the lobby. A waiter went over and led her to his table. She wore a black coat, belted at the waist. Dark, straight hair in a strict pageboy cut, with glasses, lightly madeup eyes, and shiny, natural-colored lips. Simple and tasteful. Christer stood up.
“Nina, nice to meet you. Christer Skoog.”
He extended his hand. She took it firmly. Didn’t say anything, but nodded curtly. The waiter hung her coat on the hanger behind her, pulled the chair out for her and lingered a little too long before he retrieved the menu. Nina undeniably had a special aura around her. Looked better in reality than on TV. The waiter turned to her.
“Something to drink before dinner?”
“Mineral water. I’m not staying to eat.”
Her abrupt manner made Christer nervous.
“A latte for me, thanks,” said Christer.
Nina moved her purse from by the chair to her lap. Picked up her phone, looked at the display, and quickly set it down again before she put her purse back on the floor.
“I assume that you’re going to tell me who you are and why I’m here?”
“I’m a journalist and I have important information to tell you about the bank robbery at SEB, for which you are the preliminary investigation leader. Probably also about the robbery at Forex.”
Nina’s expression did not change. This wasn’t going to be easy. He took out the folder and placed the pictures on the table in front of her. Waited for her to say something.
“What is this?” she asked.
“The pictures show that Leona Lindberg, the officer who is investigating the girl robberies, is involved.”
Nina raised her eyebrows. Looked at him as if he spoke a language she didn’t understand. His mouth felt dry. He cleared his throat. He pointed at the photograph where all three were sitting in the car.
“That’s Leona, as you can see. Sitting beside her is Ronni Palm, whom you perhaps remember from the arson at Sockenplan a number of years ago. I covered that incident and also had contact with Leona then.”
Nina leaned forward. Picked up the photograph and held it in her hand.
“You ran the preliminary investigation, if you recall. Ronni got fou
r years in prison.”
Christer tried to be calm, factual, and clear. Nina still said nothing but instead twisted and turned the photograph against the light.
“Ronni’s daughter is sitting in the backseat. She’s the little girl who carried out the robbery of SEB on Nybrogatan and Forex in Old Town.”
Nina looked up at him without batting an eyelash.
“Where did these pictures come from?”
“An associate at Aftonbladet was writing a major story about citizens who have been released from prison. He looked up a number of convicted criminals who had served longer sentences and had pictures taken of them in everyday environments. He knew that I had written about Ronni before and showed me the picture. I reacted immediately to Leona. Thought it was strange that those two were sitting in the same car.”
Nina set down the picture and looked at the others.
“I went down to our photo archive and searched for more pictures of Leona through facial recognition, if you know what that is?”
Nina nodded slowly. Christer was uncertain if she really knew.
“It’s where the computer searches and matches images that show the same faces. Several images came up. No others together with Ronni, but the picture where she is walking on Nybrogatan and the one when she is on her way into SEB I thought were very interesting.”
Nina pushed away the pictures on the table and leaned back in her chair.
“Do you have anything else?”
She took a lip balm out of her purse and started applying it to her lips while she looked at him questioningly.
“So these pictures don’t say anything to you?” asked Christer.
“How do you know this is the same girl as in the robberies?”
“She matches the descriptions from witnesses.”
“But dear, it’s not possible to identify the girl based on that grainy image. Besides, she appears to be dark-haired. The girl at the bank was blond. We can’t say for sure either if it’s Ronni because the picture is so dark. If you don’t have anything else I think we’re done here.”
Nina took a gulp of mineral water and leaned down for her purse. Christer sighed and shook his head.
“As usual within the legal system,” he mumbled while he put the folder into his bag.
Nina stopped and looked at him. “Excuse me, what did you say?”
“This is not the first time I’ve pointed out strange circumstances involving police officers or others within the legal system. But you always have each other’s backs, don’t you?”
Nina dropped the purse on the floor.
“What differs between our jobs is that within the legal system we don’t sit around guessing or making our own little assumptions about various events. We gather evidence that we then make use of in court. If you’re going to accuse someone of a crime, you need something that shows a connection between that person and the specific crime. Not fuzzy suppositions, but concrete evidence that shows that things are a certain way. What you have produced is nothing in the vicinity of what would be required to indict someone of a crime. There is not a prosecutor who would want to touch that.”
She was a good speaker. Clear and definite. She was probably right, besides, but he didn’t intend to give in.
“Don’t you think it’s the least bit strange that a police officer like Leona is in the same car as a criminal whom she put away a number of years earlier? That she goes into the very bank on Nybrogatan where a robbery is committed a couple of months later by a girl who resembles the girl who is sitting with her and Ronni in the picture? Is that just coincidence, or what?”
“You haven’t been able to show any connection,” said Nina. “Simply because a person is sitting in a car with an ex-convict doesn’t mean that the person is guilty of a lot of crimes. We have no idea why she is sitting there with Ronni, if that even is him. Leona is a police officer and she also works with informants. It may very well be the case that she is Ronni’s handler, we don’t know. The fact that she has had contact with him previously is an indication that that might be the case. Information about informants can absolutely not come out in the press. You do understand what that might mean for the informant. Direct mortal danger.”
Christer had to admit that in his eagerness to get information about the Hooker Affair out of Leona the thought hadn’t occurred to him before.
“I’ve shown the pictures to Leona. Her reaction was strong. She gave no hint that Ronni might be her informant.”
Nina smiled and shook her head.
“Do you think she would tell that to a journalist? This is the sort of thing police officers don’t even talk about with each other. Presumably she would do everything she could so that you would refrain from publishing that picture. Under no circumstances does a handler expose her informant.”
Christer could not think of anything to say.
“I was thinking about publishing this tomor —”
Nina snorted. “You would risk lives by doing that. Do you want that on your conscience? If you’re wrong you’re risking your whole reputation as a journalist based on what are only loose suppositions on your part. Explained briefly, you’re going to open up a nasty can of worms and be the one who loses most. As a prosecutor with many years of experience, I’m telling you that you have too little to go on to accuse a police officer of such a serious crime. Do as you wish, but keep in mind that I warned you.”
Christer sighed. She was right. Too much was at stake. He put the pictures into his bag.
“Maybe I don’t have enough evidence, but I still think it’s strange that you, as preliminary investigation leader, are not more interested in this.”
“Christer, I think you’re completely wrong but simply to show my good faith, I will look more closely at it. If I do, though, you will not move a finger for the time being. If you release the information on your own initiative without any evidence, I’m going to do everything to thwart you. You do not risk people’s lives or accuse someone for no reason. Do you agree?”
Christer understood that he didn’t have much choice. He nodded. Nina put on her coat, tied the belt around her waist, and left the lobby.
Christer remained sitting with his half-finished latte. Realized that it was much too risky to release any information in this situation. But he could still use the pictures to demand information from Leona. If it was as Nina said, Leona would clearly be prepared to do everything to protect that hoodlum Ronni.
SIXTY-ONE
During the drive to my parents I repeated some phrases in my head. I would swallow whatever they said. Not let myself be provoked.
Not argue.
Not get upset.
Simply tolerate the fact that they had never accepted me and presumably never would.
I needed money, so I would ask for it, say thank you, and leave the house. The swearing I could save for later.
I drove into the driveway. The windows looked dark. Strange. They should be home at this time of day. I walked up the steps and rang the bell.
“Leona, what a surprise. How are you doing?”
She was right. It was unexpected. I went inside. Took off my jacket. Mother looked at me.
“Is something wrong? Come in and sit down. I’ll put some coffee on.”
She went ahead into the kitchen. Even though I had grown up here I always felt like a stranger in this house.
“Where’s Dad?”
“He hasn’t come home from his round of golf yet. He’s playing with the usual gang.”
She cut three pieces from a sponge cake and set them out on a plate.
“I baked yesterday; it turned out really well. Take a piece while the coffee is brewing.”
Mother had always been good at baking. I took a piece, which fell apart on its way to my mouth. A few crumbs ended up on the table. Mother got up immediately and went to get a rag, wiped the table in front of me, and sat down opposite.
“Let’s hear it now.”
“It’s Benjamin. He
’s gotten worse. Needs to have surgery.”
“Poor little guy. How is he doing?”
“He’s at home now, but he’s been going back and forth to the hospital for a while. The bowel disease means that he can’t assimilate nutrients from his food. Before they removed a part of his intestine that was diseased, but it’s not possible to remove any more. He needs a bowel transplant.”
“Poor little guy,” she said again.
“It’s a complicated transplant that can’t be done at Sahlgrenska in Gothenburg where we did the previous operation. It has to be done in England.”
“Then of course you need someone to take care of Beatrice while you’re away. Of course we’ll do that.”
“The problem is that the county won’t pay the costs. They think that the operation is too expensive and the results too uncertain. There is evidently a major risk of complications with this kind of bowel operation. Rejection of the transplanted organ is just one of many things that can go wrong.”
Mother listened with a worried expression.
“We feel that we have to do the operation anyway. We can’t let him be in the kind of pain he’s in now. Soon he won’t be able to sleep a single whole night.”
At this point she should’ve understood why I had come. She nodded slowly. It was time to ask the question.
“So this means that we have to pay for all the expenses ourselves. Travel, lodging, the operation — everything. We have some money, but not enough to cover it.”
I stopped. Perhaps she would offer. She looked down. Didn’t say anything. I continued.
“So I would need to…borrow.”
“I see…I see…I don’t know. Your father isn’t at home…I would have to talk with him.”
It drove me crazy that she couldn’t make a single decision without asking him. Good Lord, her grandchild needs medical care, why not just lend me the money? I took a deep breath.
“How much are we talking about?” she asked.
“The whole operation costs sixty thousand pounds. We have half in savings but we would need to borrow the rest, about three hundred thousand kronor.”
Leona Page 25
