‘So it’s an old picture. It wasn’t taken by someone who was keeping her prisoner.’
Fredrika turned to the shop owner.
‘I want electronic copies of all the pictures.’
He said nothing, but dug out a CD and burned all the material he had onto it.
Fredrika took the CD and turned to leave. The shop door opened and a new customer came in. Fredrika avoided looking at the man and moved away.
‘We’ll be back if we need any more help,’ she said to the owner.
‘Let’s hope that won’t be necessary,’ he replied, glancing at her colleague.
Fredrika was clutching the CD as they walked out into the fresh air. She wanted to get home as quickly as possible, to hold Saga in her arms and protect her from all the repulsive elements of the adult world.
‘I’ll check out the IP number and the name this afternoon,’ her colleague said as Fredrika passed him the scrap of paper with the details.
She shivered in the cool spring weather. There was something in the pictures of Rebecca Trolle that was niggling away at her. Something that would reveal where they had been taken. And by whom.
21
Alex and Peder were sitting in silence on opposite sides of the desk in Alex’s office.
‘I don’t think Sjöö did it,’ said Peder.
‘Me neither.’
‘Rebecca seems to have chosen an interesting storyteller for her dissertation. A perverted killer, by the sound of it.’
Alex seemed to be far away.
‘We’d better have a look at the chainsaw anyway,’ said Peder.
He looked downhearted.
Alex opened the file in front of him. Rebecca Trolle’s life and death between two pieces of cardboard. A pile of photographs lay uppermost.
‘Håkan Nilsson,’ said Alex, placing a picture of Håkan in front of Peder. ‘A rather persistent friend who seems to be completely divorced from reality when asked to describe his relationship with Rebecca. He has also slept with her, and was the father of the child she was expecting.’
He placed a picture of Gustav Sjöö next to the one of Håkan.
‘Gustav Sjöö, the supervisor who was subsequently accused by several female students of being a dirty old man, and who was also reported for attempted rape. He was obviously another repellent man who was in Rebecca’s circle of acquaintances when she died.’
Alex took a deep breath.
‘In addition, there are indications that Rebecca may have been selling sex over the Internet, which gives us God knows how many potential perpetrators. And then there was the volatile ex-girlfriend.’
Peder picked up both photographs.
‘I heard Fredrika was following up the Internet lead; she was going to visit a porn shop over in the Söder district.’
‘Do you believe in that angle?’ Alex asked.
His voice was tired, but his expression was alert.
‘No, I don’t. But on the other hand…’
‘Yes?’
Peder hesitated.
‘I don’t believe that Gustav Sjöö murdered her, but I do have a feeling the solution lies in that direction.’
‘In what direction?’
‘Fredrika quite rightly pointed out that a significant proportion of Rebecca’s life was centred on her studies and the university. We ought to speak to more of her fellow students, including those who weren’t particularly close to her.’
‘Fredrika has started taking a closer look at the mentoring network,’ Alex pointed out.
‘In that case I’ll move onto Rebecca’s other activities as a student. She seems to have been working hard on her dissertation, which could well have brought her into contact with a lot of people.’
Peder got up to leave, then sat down again.
‘Have we got an ID on the male victim yet?’
‘Ellen gave me a list of possible names just before you arrived; I was intending to go through it now.’
Peder lowered his eyes.
‘We’re not going to solve this unless we find out who he is.’
‘I know,’ Alex said.
His promise to Diana echoed inside his head. I’ll solve this case if it’s the last thing I do.
‘There must be a connection, one way or another. It’s just impossible that…’
‘I know,’ Alex said again.
His tone was harsher than he would have wished, but he didn’t want to hear about difficulties and obstacles. For Alex, the only way was the way forward.
Peder stood up.
‘Håkan Nilsson,’ Alex said. ‘What are we going to do with him over the weekend?’
‘I think we should keep him under surveillance for a few more days, see where he goes. What about his alibi?’
‘It’s valid, unfortunately, although that doesn’t necessarily rule him out. He could have been working with someone else who took care of her initially.’
‘And Gustav Sjöö?’ Peder asked.
‘I think we’ll let him go for the time being. We’ve got nothing on him. His alibi worked out after all, didn’t it?’
‘Looks that way. He gave me the name of a colleague who can confirm that he didn’t leave the conference in Västerås; I’ll follow it up on Monday.’
Peder went back to his office, and Alex settled down with the list of possible missing persons who could be the man they had found buried not far from Rebecca’s body. They were all men who had been reported missing in the Stockholm area twenty-five to thirty years ago. There was only one who was as tall as their victim, and he was considerably older. Damn.
Alex moved onto the next list, which covered men reported missing throughout the whole of Sweden. He went through the names carefully; one had been circled by Ellen. Possible? she had written in the margin.
Henrik Bondesson. A man who had disappeared in Norrköping two weeks before his forty-sixth birthday, and had never been found. Why not?
Alex went to see Ellen and asked her to contact the local police.
‘I’d like them to bring up his file and fill me in on the background.’
He went back to his office with renewed vigour. Perhaps he was on the way to providing another family with a grave to visit.
She was like a fairy tale, a saga. That was the way Fredrika Bergman thought of her daughter, and that was why she had chosen the name Saga. Simple and logical, like so many other things.
Saga was asleep when Fredrika got home from work. Spencer was in the library, reading a book. The light from the window caught his hair, making it shine like silver. Fredrika stopped in the doorway.
‘Sorry I’m so late.’
Spencer looked up and raised one eyebrow.
‘As you know, I’ve never been very good at keeping an eye on the clock either.’
She went over to him and perched on the arm of the chair. She gave him a hug, enjoying the feeling of closeness to a man she didn’t think she could ever stop loving.
‘What are you reading?’
‘A book that a colleague of mine co-wrote. It’s pretty boring, to be honest.’
Yes, you should be honest.
She trembled as she breathed out. Should she bring up the issue of Rebecca Trolle with him right now?
‘How was work?’ he asked.
‘Stressful. How was your day?’
‘Saga and I went to the swings; we had a lovely walk in the sunshine.’
He fell silent.
‘Have you heard any more from the university?’
Spencer stiffened.
‘About that student who was complaining about your supervision,’ Fredrika clarified.
Spencer grunted and got to his feet. He grabbed his stick and went over to the window.
‘No, I haven’t heard a thing.’
He seemed tired and downcast. Fredrika didn’t know what to say.
‘Are you enjoying being at home with Saga? It’s not too tiring for you, is it? Because if it is…’
Her voice died away. What would happen if it was all too much for Spencer? Would she give up work?
‘It’s absolutely fine.’