‘In what way?’
‘We’re assuming that Simon and Abraham managed to escape from their abductor, and that he chased them through the forest and out towards the golf course, where he shot them dead. But why was there a gap of twenty minutes between the two shots? And why did the one who was shot last leave the forest, if he had seen his friend go down?’
‘Because they’re children,’ Alex said, then immediately corrected himself. ‘They were children. The one who was still alive could have run over to the one who was shot first, thinking that something could be done.’
‘But twenty minutes is a long time.’
‘The second one might have stayed in the forest for a while before he broke cover. We did see indentations behind several trees, remember.’
Fredrika shook her head.
‘Even if the snowstorm had eased by the time they took off, it was still minus five out there. And they were barefoot. That means it would be impossible to lie still in the snow for twenty minutes, then start running.’
Why had no one seen anything?
It was hard to believe that two boys could have been running for their lives so close to Sweden’s head of state, and no one had seen or heard a thing.
Alex opened the door of the Snakes’ Nest.
‘They ran away and they were shot down,’ he said. ‘What else is there to say?’
It was obvious that he wanted to bring the discussion to an end, and Fredrika had to admit he was right; what else was there to say?
There was only one alternative to Alex’s brief summary of events, and it was totally improbable.
What if the boys hadn’t managed to escape, but had been released?
If that was the case, then why?
The Snakes’ Nest was a really bad name for a meeting room. It carried overtones of a sex club rather than an appropriate venue for a collection of highly skilled investigators. Apart from that, Alex Recht felt entirely at home in the room, because it looked exactly the same as the Lions’ Den.
He recognised everyone, but hadn’t worked with all of them in the past. Everyone introduced themselves briefly, and once again Alex thought back to his former team. There had never been any problem when it came to bringing in additional resources for high-priority cases, and the same applied this time.
‘Okay,’ he said. ‘Two young boys, Simon Eisenberg and Abraham Goldmann, were abducted in Östermalm yesterday afternoon when they were on their way to a tennis coaching session. Today they were found shot dead in the vicinity of Drottningholm Golf Club. We know that Simon was waiting for Abraham at a bus stop on Karlavägen, and we know that when Abraham was speaking to another friend on the phone, he said he had to end the call because he’d been offered a lift to the tennis centre. The weather was terrible yesterday, so I don’t think either of the boys would need to be asked more than once if they would like a lift rather than waiting for the bus – with the proviso that they knew the driver, which we believe they did.’
‘Do we know anything about the car that picked them up?’ a colleague on loan from the National Crime Unit asked.
‘No.’
‘Any thoughts about who might have been driving?’
‘No, again. We might have a better idea when we’ve spoken to the parents.’
‘But we think the person who picked them up is the same person who shot them?’
‘That’s our working hypothesis at the moment,’ Alex said.
He looked around the room: representatives from CSI and several investigators.
‘We’re expecting the post mortem report later, but the forensic pathologist has provided us with some key information that we need to take into account at this stage. First of all, there is no sign of sexual interference with either of the boys.’
A collective sigh of relief, as if such a crime wouldn’t have been eclipsed by the fact that they had been murdered. But in principle Alex felt the same; it was good to know that the children had been spared that ordeal.
‘Secondly, there are no defensive injuries whatsoever. There are no indications that they have been fighting, or that they have been hit. No bruises. However, they do have cuts and scratches on their feet and ankles from running through the forest.’
‘But how did they manage to get away from their abductor?’ asked a woman who hadn’t managed to get a place at the table, but was sitting in a corner.
‘We don’t know,’ Alex replied. ‘On the other hand, I’m sure none of us seriously believes that two ten-year-old boys managed to knock down an adult male who wears size 43 shoes.’
The room fell silent.
‘Have we heard anything about the murder weapon?’ someone asked.
‘Later this afternoon.’
‘Are we ruling out a link between this case and the shooting of the pre-school teacher?’
‘We’re not ruling out anything until we know for certain,’ Alex said. ‘The priority is to compare the murder weapons as soon as the information comes through.’
And then, he thought, we have to rule out the possibility that the shot fired from the roof the previous day might have been meant for one of the children standing next to Josephine. Or their parents.
The pressure was mounting. They had a lot to do.
‘I need hardly point out that we have major gaps in our knowledge at the moment,’ Alex said. ‘We know when the boys went missing and when they were found, but we have no idea where they were in the interim period, or what they were subjected to. Nor do we know if it’s pure chance that they were shot on the golf course, or if the location was chosen deliberately.’
‘So we’re sure they were shot there and not somewhere else, then moved to the spot where the bodies were found?’ a colleague asked.
Alex nodded to one of the CSIs to take over.
‘Based on their footprints in the snow, we have been able to conclude that they were shot where they lay. The bullets were fired from the front, and hit them in the chest. We found them lying on their backs, and there is nothing to suggest that they were moved even a millimetre. Then there are the larger prints in the snow. Shoes – men’s size and style. They show that the killer went over to the victims after he had shot them, probably to check that they were actually dead, and to put the paper bags over their heads.’
Fredrika raised her hand.
‘What else can you tell us about these larger prints? The pattern of movement in relation to the boys’ footprints?’
The question made the CSI lean over and confer with a colleague before he answered.
‘Actually, when it comes to the adult’s tracks we have come across a number of things we’re finding puzzling. It’s clear that the boys ran back and forth and around in circles in the forest; the man seems to have followed them at a distance, never getting very close. It doesn’t look as if he was moving as fast as the boys. The footprints are very distinct; the snow hasn’t been kicked up and scuffed, which is what happens when you run fast.’
A murmur spread around the room, but Alex didn’t take his eyes off Fredrika. He had seen her looking exactly like this on so many occasions: on full alert, right down to her fingertips. She was formulating a new theory. Alex realised he was smiling. She obviously hadn’t lost her edge while she’d been away.
‘Exactly how did he move around the bodies? Can you explain?’ she said.
‘What do you mean?’
‘I mean, can you tell how he acted after he’d shot the first child? Did he go up to the body at that point, or did he wait until he’d shot them both?’
The CSI nodded to show he’d understood.
‘That’s another anomaly,’ he said. ‘It looks as if the killer went up to the children separately. There are no tracks linking the bodies, nothing to indicate that he walked from one to the other. One could therefore conclude that he shot one of the boys, went over to the body, then went all the way back to the track, where we think his vehicle was parked. This may have been to reload his gun, but that’s just a theory. Then it looks as if he came back out of the forest.’