SANNA’S IRRITATION WAS PALPABLE during the morning meeting when Blom informed them about a new murder, this time of a young woman whose body had been discovered at a rubbish tip in Huddinge.
“Sanna, you’ll have to deal with this. The other teams are too busy,” he explained.
She growled under her breath. She already had quite enough bodies on her plate. And now she was supposed to handle a new case that had nothing to do with their serial killer. Blom obviously didn’t understand that the team was already stretched to breaking point. More work would just be a distraction and cause yet more delays.
She hurried back to her office and slammed the door. Her blood was boiling and she had half a mind to call it a day and go home.
There was no time for pussy footing around. She grabbed the phone and called Samir Mohamed.
“Hi Sanna.”
“Hi, take a look at this new case and update me when you know more,” instructed Sanna, hanging up before he had a chance to respond.
Samir Mohamed held the phone in his hand, puzzled. He was just about to call her back when it dawned on him what she was talking about. The body at the rubbish tip. He was pleasantly surprised to receive her instructions. Since his promotion to criminal assistant he had been assigned to duties such as surveillance missions and report writing. This was the first time Sanna had entrusted him with a murder case. Although he was pleased, he was also a little nervous.
The phone rang again.
“Mohamed, team up with Monika Lind and use Javier as a sounding board,” said Sanna.
JAVIER MENDEZ WAS BUSY scrolling through a series of images on his computer when Thorén entered his office.
“Boy, you look gloomy,” she remarked with a broad smile.
“Hmm,” he replied without looking up.
She approached the desk and peered over his shoulder.
“Wait a minute, scroll up again!”
He did as instructed.
“Stop, stop! No, down a bit… there, stop! I recognize that guy.”
“Which one?”
“That one!” she replied, leaning closer and pointing to a man standing beside Nina Jay. “Yeah. It’s definitely him – a real sleaze ball. He looks like the man who threatened the Bergling brothers.”
“When was that?”
“A couple of weeks ago, three maybe.”
“Are you sure?”
“Pretty sure…Yes, now I remember where I’ve seen him before. He was a suspect in an investigation six or seven years ago in Malmö.”
“Oh yeah – was he convicted?”
“No. He had a good lawyer. It was a huge case but, incredibly, even though we had loads of evidence, nobody was convicted. One day all the data got corrupted and we had no technical experts available to help us. We realised that a continuation would only be a waste of time and money.”
“What do you mean – corrupted?”
“Somebody downloaded a virus that destroyed crucial email evidence. We suspected an inside job but could never prove it.”
“Yeah, nothing surprises me anymore,” grimaced Javier.
“The question is whether Nina Jay is involved in something similar. If your photos are anything to go by she’s definitely no angel. She’s got a lot of interesting friends, don’t you think?”
“I’m starting to realise that.”
He took out his camera and scrolled through his photos of Nina Jay.
“Images from yesterday’s surveillance operation. Look at the man who’s delivering the envelope.”
Thorén took the camera.
“It’s the same guy.”
“How do you know? You can hardly see his face.”
“I know, but look at the earing and tattoo just under his ear.”
“I’ll be damned, you’re right!” he laughed.
They stared at each other.
“So, what was he doing at the Bergling brothers’ house and why was he threatening them?” said Thorén. “And what has all this got to do with Nina Jay? Is she involved in the murders?”