The coffee was hot and felt as if it was scalding his throat on the way down.
‘My son is the co-pilot on the hijacked plane. We didn’t realise that at first. I never know which flights he’s on.’
We don’t speak very often, he wanted to add, but felt it was too personal.
Eden sat down at her desk and gazed at Alex.
‘I understand,’ she said.
She rifled through a pile of papers in front of her and extracted a document.
‘Oh, yes, it’s on here,’ she said. ‘Erik Recht is your son?’
‘Yes.’
Alex drank some more coffee, which was still too bloody hot.
Someone knocked on the door. Eden looked up as it opened.
‘SAS have just sent over the lists of passengers and crew. We’re running them through our internal databases, and should have a result within a few minutes. I’ll take a closer look at any matches that might come up, see if they look interesting, and I’ll get back to you as soon as I know.’
‘Brilliant!’ Eden said, bringing both hands down on the surface of her desk.
The door closed.
‘Which databases will you be running the names through?’ Alex asked.
‘All of them. Every database and every register, then we’ll see if we find anything useful. I mean, we might get a match, but if it’s a speeding offence it’s of no interest.’
Alex understood; they were looking for connections with serious crime.
‘I mentioned our suggestion on the phone,’ Eden said. ‘Did you have time to talk to your colleagues about it?’
He had. It had been a brief discussion, because no one could come up with anything better.
‘We agree that it would be a good idea to contact the captain and suggest an emergency landing.’
‘Good. I’ve spoken to SAS, who have stayed in touch with the captain, and he hasn’t proposed anything else. So if he doesn’t have any ideas of his own, he ought to go for ours.’
Alex hoped so. He had been pleased to see that Karim Sassi was the captain. They had met at a birthday party at Erik’s, and Karim had made a very good impression. Steady, as Diana had put it. Reassuring. And sensible. A lovely wife and delightful children. He didn’t seem to drift off, as Erik was in the habit of doing.
Drifting off. Is that what you’re doing now, Erik?
‘By the way,’ Alex said. ‘We were talking about the relatives of the crew members. Should they be informed?’
‘Not yet. We’re keeping the lid on this for as long as possible, at least until we’ve tried bring about an emergency landing. If this gets out it could seriously jeopardise their safety.’
Alex nodded; he knew Eden was right. At the same time, he said a quiet prayer that everything would go well. It would look appalling if the worst came to the worst, if the plane was blown up and none of the relatives of the passengers or crew had been informed of what was going on.
That just couldn’t happen. Not under any circumstances.
If the plane was blown up, Alex’s life would be over. He had to take a deep breath, get some air.
‘Alex?’
‘I’m okay.’
‘Nobody would blame you if you decided to…’
‘I said I was okay.’
His tone was sharper than he had intended, but he couldn’t bear the thought of being excluded from the case at this stage.
‘Nobody would withhold information from you,’ Eden said. ‘Just so you know. If you took a step back you would still have the number of my direct line, and you could call me whenever you wanted to.’
He could see that she meant what she said, but he had no intention of taking a step back. He wasn’t like Peder, who had allowed his entire life to be destroyed just because he didn’t know how to keep his feelings in check.
‘Thanks, but I’m staying put.’
‘Fine.’
She picked up the phone and keyed in a number.
‘We’re going to make the call now,’ she said. ‘Do you want to be here?’
She hardly had time to put the phone down before the door flew open. A man of about fifty came in. He was tall and looked fit, and the only thing that made Alex think he was fifty were the lines on his face. They shook hands.
‘Alex Recht.’
‘Dennis.’
No surname, just a first name.
‘Dennis is the head of the investigation unit here at Säpo,’ Eden explained.
Dennis sat down next to Alex.
‘What’s the plan?’
‘If we call SAS, they will put us through to the plane. Don’t ask me how – it’s already passed over both Sweden and Norway.’
‘Where’s it going to land?’
‘We’ve spoken to the Norwegians, and they’re happy to accept the plane if the pilot turns back.’
Eden picked up the phone again and keyed in a number that she had written down on a piece of paper. She switched to speakerphone and put down the receiver. After three rings the call was answered, then redirected.
Erik, Alex thought.
17 11:45
But it was Karim Sassi who answered, not Erik. Of course. It was obvious that the officer in charge would answer when the police called.
Eden introduced herself, and explained that Alex and Dennis were listening in. Karim’s responses were brief, but the line was clear and they had no difficulty in hearing what he said.
‘What’s the atmosphere like on board?’ Eden asked.
‘Same as usual.’
Eden frowned.
‘I’m sorry?’
‘Nobody knows what’s happening except the crew.’
‘Okay, let me rephrase the question. What’s the atmosphere like among the crew?’
There was a rushing sound on the line.
‘We’re fine.’
‘Nobody has gone to pieces?’ Dennis said.
‘No.’
‘Good,’ Eden said.
She clicked on her computer as she carried on speaking.
‘What’s your course at the moment?’
‘We’re still on autopilot, on course for New York.’
Alex hadn’t thought about that. Should they still be heading for the USA, or would it be a good idea to stay away?
‘You haven’t considered an alternative route, in view of what has happened?’ Eden said.
‘No.’
‘But you had requested extra fuel before you took off?’
‘Yes. Storms are forecast for New York.’
‘How many hours are we talking about?’ Dennis asked, wanting to double check the information they had been given earlier.
‘I have enough fuel for just under twelve more hours.’
Alex felt his blood pressure plummet. Twelve hours wasn’t very long for two governments to accede to two impossible demands.
‘Karim, you’re doing brilliantly,’ Eden said. ‘We have a suggestion that we would like to put to you, and we would ask you to think it over.’
There was something impressive about the hierarchy that now became apparent; Alex hadn’t thought about it before. Eden Lundell, one of Säpo’s most senior representatives, was calling the pilot of an SAS plane and making a suggestion. Not giving an order or a directive, but making a suggestion. Because while he was at the controls of Flight 573, Karim Sassi alone was king.
‘Are you listening?’ Eden said when Karim didn’t reply.
‘I’m listening.’
And Eden began to explain.
‘No,’ Karim Sassi said.
Time stood still inside the glass cube. Alex asked himself whether they could have foreseen Karim’s reaction, but he thought not. It was entirely unexpected.
‘No?’ Eden said.
‘The answer is no. I am not prepared to go against the hijackers’ instructions and bring down the plane. I would be jeopardising the safety of everyone on board.’
Alex saw Eden swallow hard. She rested her elbows on the desk and put her head in her hands. When she looked up her expression was dark. She wasn’t used to being contradicted.
‘Karim, listen to me.’ It was clear that she was having to make a real effort not to sound angry. ‘We share your concerns, but as I said there are a number of logical arguments which suggest that the hijackers would have far too much to lose by blowing up the plane in mid-air. It takes time to land, and that would give the hijackers the chance to protest. In which case you just take the plane back up again.’