Studio Sex aka Studio 69 / Exposed

by Liza Marklund

  Using the pipe, she heaved him into the furnace. The last she saw of him was his feet following the rest of the body over the lip.

  She dropped the pipe on the concrete floor, the metal ringing out in the sudden silence.

  "Whiskas," she whispered.

  He lay behind the stockhouse, his breastbone slit open, a bubbling, sticky mass inside. Still breathing faintly, his eyes looked into hers and he tried to meow. She hesitated before picking him up. She didn't want to hurt him even more. She carefully pushed some intestines back into the belly with her forefinger, sat down, and held him in her arms. She gently rocked him as his lungs slowly came to rest. His eyes let go of her, turned blank and still.

  Annika cried, rocking the torn little body in her arms. The sounds coming from her were plaintive, drawn-out, monotonous howls. She sat there until the crying stopped and the sun was setting behind the factory.

  The concrete floor was hard and cold. She was shivering. Her legs were numb, and she clumsily struggled to her feet with the cat still in her arms. She walked toward the stairs, the dust dancing in the air. It was a long climb down; she moved toward the light, toward the shining rectangle. Outside, the day was just as clear, a bit chillier, the shadows longer. She wavered for a moment and then walked off toward the factory gates.

  ***

  The eight men still employed at the works had obviously just been leaving for the day. Two of them were already in their cars. The others stood talking while the foreman locked up.

  The man who spotted her gave a shout and pointed in her direction. She was covered in blood from her head down to the waist, carrying the dead cat in her arms.

  "What happened?" The foreman was the first to collect himself and run over to her.

  "He's over there," Annika said in a flat voice. "In a furnace."

  "Are you hurt? Do you need help?"

  Annika didn't respond, just walked toward the exit.

  "Come here, we'll help you," the foreman said.

  The men gathered around her; the two who'd started their cars switched the engines off and walked back. The foreman unlocked the door and escorted her into his office.

  "Has there been an accident?"

  Annika didn't answer. She sat on a chair, clutching her cat tight.

  "Check the forty-five-tonner in the old plant," the foreman said in a hushed voice.

  Three of the men walked away.

  The foreman sat down next to her, looking at the dazed woman. She was covered in blood but didn't seem to have any injuries herself.

  "What's that you're holding?"

  "Whiskas. My cat."

  She leaned her head and gently rubbed her cheek against his soft fur, blew softly into his ear. He was so ticklish, always used to scratch his ear with his back leg when she did that.

  "Do you want me to take care of him?"

  She didn't reply, only turned away, clutching the dead cat tighter. The man sighed and walked out of the room.

  "Keep an eye on her," he said to one of the men standing in the doorway.

  She had no idea how long she'd been sitting there when a man put his hand on her shoulder. How clichéd, she thought.

  "How are you, miss?"

  She didn't reply.

  "I'm Captain Johnsson from the Eskilstuna police department. There's a dead man in a furnace over there. Do you know anything about that?"

  She didn't react.

  The man sat down next to her. He watched her closely for a couple of minutes, then said, "You seem to have been involved in something really serious. Is that your cat?"

  She nodded.

  "What's her name?"

  "His. Whiskas."

  So she could talk. "What happened to Whiskas?"

  She started to cry again. The police officer waited silently by her side until she stopped.

  "He killed him, with his hunting knife," she said finally. "There was nothing I could do. He slashed his whole belly open."

  "Who did?"

  She didn't reply.

  "The men out there think the dead man is Sven Matsson. Is that correct?"

  She hesitated, then looked up at him and nodded. "He shouldn't have gone for my cat. He really shouldn't have gone for Whiskas. Do you understand?"

  The man nodded. "Absolutely. And who are you?"

  "Annika Sofia Bengtzon."

  He took out a notepad from his pocket. "When were you born?"

  She met his gaze. "I'm twenty-four years, five months, and twenty days old."

  "Well! You're very precise."

  "I keep a count in my diary," she said, and leaned over her dead cat.

  Epilogue

  Oh, hello! It's Karina Björnlund. Am I disturbing you?"

  The prime minister sighed soundlessly into the phone. "No, not at all. What can I do for you?"

  "Quite a lot, actually. As you must understand, I've been having quite a difficult time. In the middle of the election campaign and all…"

  She fell silent; the prime minister waited for her to continue.

  "Yes, well, I only got to work for eight months, so my severance pay wasn't very big."

  Yes, he had to agree with that.

  "So I was wondering if maybe I could go on working for the government. I've learned a lot and I think I could make quite a big contribution."

  The prime minister smiled. "I'm sure, Karina. Working that close to the eye of the storm changes one forever. And I'm positive you'll find new work soon. Nobody can take your merits away from you."

  "Or my knowledge."

  "True. But you know the ministers like to have a say when it comes to choosing their press secretaries. I couldn't make any promises."

  She gave a little laugh. "Of course you can. Everybody knows you're the one who decides. Nobody goes against your decisions."

  That was true, he thought to his amusement. Maybe she wasn't so dim after all.

  "Karina, I hear what you're saying. Okay? So you want to hang on, but I'm saying no. Are we agreed?"

  The woman on the phone didn't say anything for a while.

  "Well, if that was all…" The prime minister prepared to hang up.

  "You don't get it, do you?" Karina Björnlund said quietly.

  "I'm sorry?" A note of irritation was in his voice.

  "Maybe I didn't make myself clear enough. This is not a negotiation. I'm telling you that in these eight months I've gained knowledge you couldn't put a price on. What I'm telling you is that I have a lot to contribute and that I want to go on working for the government."

  The prime minister breathed down the phone; his brain had stopped working. How the hell…? What the hell had the woman found out-

  "Listen closely now," the woman said, "because I'm only going to tell you this once. I don't want to bring it up again, although the decision doesn't rest with me."

  His mouth was completely dry. "You're not even a Social Democrat."

  "What the hell does that matter?" she said.

  Article in Kvällspressen

  Date: 7 October

  Page: 1 of 2

  Written by: Sjölander

  Two Surprises

  in New Cabinet

  Body text:

  And so the prime minister has finally presented his new cabinet. The secrecy surrounding the new names has been profound. There were no leaks before the complete cabinet was presented yesterday at Rosenbad.

  "The pressure on the ministers is uncompromising," a source tells Kvällspressen. "Anyone that talks to the media beforehand is out."

  There are two big surprise names among the usual suspects. The new minister for foreign trade after Christer Lundgren, who was recently appointed head of SSAB in Luleå, is Evert Andersson, former chair of the local government social services committee in Katrineholm. He has no experience of politics on a national level but is said to be a close friend of the prime minister's.

  The other surprise is even bigger. Karina Björnlund, the former press secretary of Christer Lundgren, has been a
ppointed new minister for culture.

  "Media commercialization has gone too far," the new minister said in her first statement. "I will be appointing a committee that will take a look at media concentration in order to maintain variety and confine ownership. The media has far too much power."

  But the question is to what extent Karina Björnlund and the rest of the government will be able to implement any of their policies.

  This year's election results were the worst in modern history for the Social Democrats. They will have to rely on the support of at least two other parliamentary parties to push through any of their policies and (Page 2)

  Wire from the Local Press Association (FLT)

  Date: 10 November

  Section: Current Affairs

  Studio 69 Wins Media Award

  STOCKHOLM (FLT) The current affairs radio program transmitted live from Studio 69 in the Radio House in Stockholm has been awarded this year's big media award in the radio category.

  Studio 69 wins the prize for their investigation into the former minister for foreign trade Christer Lundgren's involvement in the murder of a stripper in July earlier this year.

  "It's a victory for investigative journalism," the presenter says.

  "The award is proof that it's worth going for serious programming and competent journalists."

  The award ceremony will take place on the 20th of November.

  Copyright: FLT

  Wire from the Swedish Central News Agency (TT)

  Date: 24 February

  Section: Home

  Jail Sentence for Porn King

  STOCKHOLM (TT) The 29-year-old man who ran the Stockholm strip club Studio 69 was yesterday sentenced to five and a half years imprisonment. The Stockholm City Court sentenced the man for fraud against creditors, fraudulent accounting, tax fraud, and obstruction of tax audit.

  The 22-year-old woman, originating from South America, suspected of having run the business in conjunction with the man is still at large. A detention order has been issued in her absence.

  Copyright: Swedish Central News Agency (TT)

  Excerpt from Lunchtime Eko

  Date: 15 March

  Section: Political Affairs

  Swedish Weapons Employed

  in Bloody Caucasian Civil War

  Report:

  (Studio Reporter) Heavy fighting resumed last September in the small Caucasian mountain republic. In excess of ten thousand people have been killed in the war between the guerrillas and government forces during the past six months. The Swedish Peace and Arbitration Society now claims that the government forces are using arms from Swedish weapon manufacturers. This accusation is today made in an op-ed piece in the newspaper Kvällspressen.

  The Swedish government are skeptical about the statement.

  The prime minister's press officer says, "These claims are highly dubious. There is an embargo on arms exports to the republic in question, and we cannot see how any Swedish weapons could end up there. The Swedish government have not and will not sanction consignments to the area within the foreseeable future." (end report)

  payoff:

  And the reporter was…

  News item in Eskilstuna-Kuriren

  Date: 23 June

  Page: 17

  Woman Convicted

  of Death of Bandy Star

  ESKILSTUNA The 25-year-old woman who last year in Hälleforsnäs killed the bandy player Sven Matsson was yesterday convicted of involuntary manslaughter by the Eskilstuna County Court. The woman was sentenced to a probational sentence.

  The prosecution presented the case as manslaughter, but the judges went with the defense counsel. The decision reached by the court was influenced by the man's prolonged abuse of the woman. The act was to some extent seen as self-defense.

  "The detailed description of physical and mental abuse as set down by the woman in her diary over the years has no doubt influenced the outcome of the case," the woman's lawyer stated.

  The woman has declined to comment on the sentence.

  "She has completely rebuilt her life following the tragic events," her lawyer says. "She lives in Stockholm and was yesterday, the day of the sentence, given a permanent position with her employer."

  (EK)

  Acknowledgments

  This is a work of fiction. The newspaper Kvällspressen doesn't exist, although it has traits of various existing media companies.

  The account of the government departmental organization and the division of responsibility and premises is based on the situation prior to the formation of the new Ministry of Industry, Employment, and Communications.

  Every character in the novel is a product of the author's imagination. All similarities between the characters in the novel and any real living persons are entirely accidental. Some existing political figures and civil servants do figure under their real names in the novel. They are to be found in the historical account of the twists and turns of the espionage carried out by the Swedish Social Democratic Party against the citizens of Sweden. All particulars in the case are based on previously known facts. However, the novel's assumption of the course of events and the repercussions of the IB affair are fictional.

  ***

  My sources for the IB affair were:

  Folket i Bild Kulturfront, no. 9, 1973, by Jan Guillou and Peter Bratt.

  Kommunistjägarna (The Communist Hunters), by Jonas Gummesson and Thomas Kanger (Ordfront, 1990).

  Aftonbladet, pullout section December 3, 1990, "Sanningen om den svenska neutraliteten" (The Truth about Swedish Neutrality), by Jonas Gummesson and Thomas Kanger.

  Report on TV4 News during the 1998 election campaign.

  ***

  The account and interpretation of the tarot cards were found in Tarot: själens spegel(Tarot- Mirror of the Soul), by Gerd Ziegler (Vattumannen Förlag).

  The details surrounding the running of a strip club I found in En strippas bekännelse(Confessions of a Stripper), by Isabella Johansson.

  ***

  I also want to thank all the people who have helped out with answers to my sometimes rather strange questions. They are:

  Jonas Gummesson, current affairs editor at the TV4 News Desk, for supplying me with source material, checking of facts, and sharing his knowledge of Swedish domestic and foreign espionage.

  Associate Professor Robert Grundin at the National Board of Forensic Medicine in Stockholm, for an introduction to the department's work.

  Claes Cassel, the Stockholm police press officer, for guiding me through various police premises.

  Kaj Hällström, filer at the Hälleforsnäs Works, for guiding and supplying trade terminology surrounding casting and deserted blast furnaces.

  Eva Wintzell, district prosecutor in Stockholm, for legal advice and analysis.

  Kersti Rosén, the press ombudsman, and Eva Tetzell, chief administrative officer at the Broadcasting Commission, for help with the analysis of media ethics issues.

  Birgitta Wiklund, information officer at the Defense Staff information department, for an exposition of the principle of public access to official records and mail routines.

  Nils-Gunnar Hellgren, senior administrative officer at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs' Courier Service, for background and rules governing diplomatic couriers and their bags.

  Peter Rösth, winner of the Round Gotland Race, for yachting terminology.

  Olov Karlsson, editor of TV Norrbotten, for special Piteå knowledge.

  Maria Hällström and Catarina Nitz for Sörmland detail.

  Nikolaj Alsterdal and Linus Feldt, my computer gurus.

  Sigge Sigfridsson, my brilliant publisher, who has yet to fail me.

  Lotta Snickare, management consultant at Föreningssparbanken, for continual fruitful discussions.

  Johanne Hildebrandt, TV producer, war correspondent, and good friend, for daily shouts of encouragement.

  And last and more than anyone, dramatist Tove Alsterdal, who read everything first; the perfect sounding board, r
eader, and critic.

  In the end, any faults that may occur are entirely of my own making.

  Liza Marklund

  ***

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