ERNE TAKES LONG strides down the corridor, arms squeezed against his sides. It makes him look like a flightless bird more than anything else, but right now any movement in his chest or shoulder muscles sends pain shooting through his lungs.
He stops between two interrogation rooms, thinks about which man is being questioned in which, then knocks on one of the doors. A moment later the door is opened by Mikael, who seems peppy, considering the time of day and the ongoing situation. Mikael draws the door shut behind him, but before he does, Erne catches a glimpse of Kai Lehtinen: a bald man with a gaunt face who looks as creepy as Erne imagined.
“Get anything?” Erne asks.
“Not yet. I told Nina you might have been right. Maybe we should have kept them under surveillance for a while longer.” Mikael speaks softly even though the door is soundproof.
“What’s done is done. Let’s do our best to make the most of the situation. Besides, it looks like Nina might have found something over on Bulevardi.” Erne glances back to make sure no one is listening. “Press the jerkoff a little longer. I’ll see you in the conference room in fifteen minutes.” He gives Mikael a pat on the shoulder.
Mikael grunts. “Sounds mysterious.”
“And hey, Micke.” Erne turns back around. “Does the name Camilla Adlerkreutz say anything to you?”
“Huh? Adlerkreutz? Bunsdorf? All we’re missing are the Romanoffs.”
“Does it?”
“Can’t say that it does. Who is she?”
“I’ll tell you soon,” Erne says, and continues on his way. He accelerates to full speed but slows down again before he steps into the open-plan office, where half a dozen data miners sit at their desks.
Erne walks over to a youngish woman staring intently at her screen, iPhone to her ear. He lowers a printout to her desk; it’s of the photograph Nina took of the painting.
“Find out if this woman is still alive and where she lives.”
“She looks like a witch.”
“That’s exactly why.”