That was the first aspect of the case that bothered her. Why hadn’t Johan moved away from a man like Morgan Axberger when he came back to Sweden?
The second aspect was Johan Aldrin’s identity. Why had he continued to pretend he was Valter Lund and not Thea Aldrin’s son? Why hadn’t he stood up for his mother, explained the somewhat extreme circumstances that preceded the murder of his father?
The third aspect was his relationship with Rebecca Trolle. She had been seeing Thea Aldrin’s son over a period of several months, initially as a student and then as his lover, while spending more and more of her time looking into Thea’s past. Not once had Johan Aldrin even considered telling her who he was. He had actually embarked on a relationship with her after he had realised what the subject of her dissertation was. That couldn’t be explained away as ‘curiosity’, as he had claimed.
But what Fredrika found the most difficult to grasp was why Rebecca Trolle had insisted, with the stubbornness of a lunatic, that Thea Aldrin was innocent. Thea had confessed to a murder she hadn’t committed. Why had Rebecca reached that conclusion, after all her research?
Fredrika requested a copy of the case notes relating to the stabbing of Manfred in Thea’s garage. Something had made Rebecca suspect that things weren’t right, and Fredrika wouldn’t rest until she saw what it was.
It took almost an entire working day, but eventually she found something, an odd detail that hadn’t really attracted much attention in the notes. When the crime scene was examined, three sets of fingerprints had been secured. One set belonged to Thea, one to Manfred, and one to an unknown person. Fredrika called Torbjörn Ross, who was currently under suspension while internal affairs considered his future within the police service. Fredrika was hoping they would kick him out.
‘The fingerprints,’ she said. ‘Who was the third person in the garage when Manfred was murdered?’
‘Some guy who used to mow the lawn for Thea. But we didn’t bother following it up. The prints could have been left there at any time; they didn’t necessarily have anything to do with the murder.’
Fredrika leafed through the case notes.
‘How did you establish that the prints belonged to the guy who mowed the lawn?’
The silence at the other end of the phone told her everything she needed to know.
‘You never checked, did you?’
Ross became defensive.
‘It wasn’t necessary. We had all the proof we needed.’
‘But you found some strands of hair as well,’ Fredrika said. ‘And they didn’t belong to Thea or Manfred either.’
‘Same applies. They came from the guy who cut the grass.’
As if he could read her thoughts, Ross said:
‘She confessed, remember. There was no reason to carry on digging.’
Fredrika ended the call. Thought about the flowers Thea received every Saturday. From her son. Thanking his mother for welcoming her back into his life. After she had stabbed his father to death.
Fredrika made another call, this time to the florist who delivered the flowers.
‘I have a question,’ she said after introducing herself. ‘Has anyone else, apart from me, called to ask who sends flowers to Thea Aldrin?’
‘Not recently.’
‘But in the past? Ever?’
There was a brief silence.
‘Actually, there was a girl who called a couple of years ago. She was desperate to find out who the flowers were from, but I couldn’t tell her.’
The florist began to laugh.
‘Sorry, but what’s so funny?’ Fredrika asked.
‘I was just thinking about how persistent she was. She came here several times, refused to give up. In the end I told her when the sender’s representative usually came in to pay, so she turned up then and stood waiting. But she didn’t speak to the woman after all.’
‘No?’
‘No, but she did follow her after she’d paid and left the shop.’
So Rebecca had played private detective, and followed Johan Aldrin’s secretary, who took care of the regular payment for the flowers. She had probably followed the secretary all the way back to the office, and realised who she worked for. Perhaps she had even recognised her; after all, Rebecca had visited her mentor at work.
How long had Rebecca’s research taken her? Had she realised who her lover was? Had she confronted him, demanded an explanation?
Fredrika searched her memory for details that might help her move forward.
Help me, Rebecca. Help me to see what you saw.
For the hundredth time, Fredrika placed the key events in the case in chronological order. The result was always the same. Rebecca had died because she got too close to the truth about the books and the snuff movie. And Morgan Axberger could not have worked out for himself how close she was. Therefore, he must have been fed the information from someone else, someone who knew more, and who also wanted Rebecca out of the way.
As far as Fredrika could see, that person had to be Johan Aldrin.
‘It’s not enough,’ Alex said when Fredrika went to see him.
‘Sorry?’
Alex looked exhausted.
‘You’ve got nothing. Nothing. Apart from circumstantial evidence. Weak circumstantial evidence. Why would Johan Aldrin tip off Morgan Axberger about Rebecca’s work in the hope that he would kill her? That just sounds completely… sick.’
Fredrika suppressed a sigh.
‘Alex, this is sick. In every respect. We have to dare to challenge our own hypotheses. Rebecca believed Thea was innocent because there were traces of another perpetrator in the place where Manfred was found dead. Traces that Torbjörn Ross admits they never bothered to follow up. I think Rebecca realised who was sending Thea flowers every week, and why that person always writes “Thank you” on the card.’
‘But we know that as well.’
‘No, we know what Johan Aldrin has chosen to tell us. But I think he sends the flowers to thank Thea for confessing to Manfred’s murder, when in fact it was Johan who killed him.’
‘But he was in Norway at the time, wasn’t he?’
‘How do we know that? He’s already told us that he visited Sweden before he moved back on a permanent basis. Why couldn’t he have been here when his father died? I think Rebecca came to the same conclusion, and that was why Johan Aldrin put Morgan Axberger in the picture – a man who had murdered before, and who didn’t seem to have a problem in dealing with that kind of dilemma. Johan Aldrin had just as much to gain from Rebecca’s disappearance as Axberger. But he was too weak to kill her himself, in spite of the fact that he had once killed his own father in a rage.’
Alex looked down at his scarred hands, resting on the desk. He knew what one mistake in an investigation could cost.
‘Prove it,’ he said. ‘The fact that Torbjörn Ross and the others were sloppy is not enough.’
‘If you bring Johan Aldrin in for questioning again and make sure you get his fingerprints and a DNA sample, I’ll go and talk to Thea Aldrin.’
Alex was bewildered.
‘For God’s sake, you’re as crazy as Peder. She doesn’t speak. And when it comes to fingerprints and DNA… I think the prosecutor might take some convincing.’
‘I can convince any prosecutor you like, because I know I’m right,’ Fredrika said. ‘And evidently Thea does speak to those who threaten to expose her son. And that is exactly what I intend to do.’
65
The care home at Mångården was just as quiet as it had been on her last visit. And Thea was just as silent. Fredrika felt sick as she walked into Thea’s room. Her thoughts turned to Jimmy, and the terrible fate that had befallen him. Memories of the funeral whirled through her mind; she would never forget the bottomless grief she had seen on the faces of Jimmy’s parents.