ELLEN

11.00 A.M.

‘Tough’ was the first word that struck Ellen when she saw Carola in the entry to the Modern Museum. Ellen had barely made it there on time. Fortunately, she had snow tyres stored at Örelo, but changing the tyres had taken quite a while.

Carola was slender but muscular and dressed in a black, fine-weave polo shirt and black trousers, even though it was almost thirty degrees outside. Ellen couldn’t understand how anyone could wear such heavy clothing and noticed sweat on Carola’s forehead. Brown hair. In a kind of pageboy that no one seemed to have been interested in for a long time. In her hands, she was holding two takeaway cups. She handed one to Ellen. ‘Ove said you like your coffee black, yeah?’

Ellen nodded. ‘What’s this going to cost me?’ she asked with a cautious smile, but regretted her question as she met Carola’s authoritative gaze.

Ellen tried to pull herself up and figure out the right role, uncertain about how much of an uphill climb this was going to be, and about what Carola actually knew about Ove and Ellen’s previous cooperation. In any event, Carola knew how Ellen liked her coffee, and presumably Ove had told her more than that.

‘What you and Ove had between you is your thing. I know that some police and journalists work that way, but that doesn’t mean I like it. The way I see it, it’s important that the media and the police have a good relationship, it benefits us both. Come on, let’s go in,’ she said, starting to walk towards the exhibits.

Ellen felt caught red-handed and had to jog to keep up with Carola’s pace. The hot coffee splashed up onto her hand, and she had to make an effort to hold back the swear words that instinctively wanted out.

Carola kept talking. ‘I’ve worked as a police officer for over twenty years — my whole professional life. I’ve been on street patrol and worked as a detective, and the past year I’ve been placed at the media centre. I never get a lunch break, and every day I’m forced to encounter sad life stories and terrible things. Lives that are crushed, evil, and shit. You can’t imagine what I have to experience in this occupation. Then I go home to my three kids. I’m a single mum with a lousy police salary, but I would never take a bribe. I’m not interested in the money you have in your backpack. Do we understand each other?’

‘Okay.’

She doesn’t like me, thought Ellen. But I don’t like her, either, she told herself, attempting to adjust the balance. But it was probably a good thing that they knew where each of them stood. Ellen tried to form a picture of what it must be like for Carola at home with all those kids, and wanted to ask if the children’s father was also a policeman and why they’d separated.

‘I’ve been briefed on the Nyköping police’s missteps and I’m going to give you the information you want and hope you’ll make good use of it.’

They sat down on a bench in one of the exhibition rooms. In front of them was the painting The Dying Dandy. Ellen was pleased with herself that she knew that. It had been Carola’s suggestion to meet at the Modern Museum. Not a bad idea, Ellen realised now, because there wasn’t a person in sight.

‘Will Börje Swahn be allowed to continue as preliminary investigation leader?’

‘He’s a capable policeman, who got some bad luck.’ Ellen received a stern look from Carola. ‘But what he said was not okay. Sure, there’s always shoptalk, but I don’t think we should accept that kind of talk any more than you do. You have no idea, the types of crude jokes I have to hear every day.’ Now she was smiling. ‘But, I don’t know, working in the police is tough, and sometimes you have to try to lighten things up, and we all have different ways of doing that.’ She shrugged. ‘I don’t imagine you journalists are much better?’

‘Um, well …’

‘Swahn will continue as preliminary investigation leader, but I’m going to relieve him of press issues from now on. First and foremost, I do want to be clear that in my opinion, media and police ought to work more closely, so as to convey a true and accurate picture,’ said Carola.

‘I couldn’t agree with you more.’

‘But I also have to say that I don’t like how your lot behave, intruding into families’ private lives and ruining our evidence.’

‘We report on the news, but we also try to connect events with emotions, and I apologise if you perceive that so negatively.’

‘The next thing, then, is that I don’t get how you assess what’s newsworthy. What makes one thing interesting and another not? Some homicides don’t get a word’s mention, and then others are blown into hurricanes.’

‘Yes, well, I guess it’s the viewers, in the end, who decide what’s interesting to them.’

Regardless of what she and Carola thought of each other personally, Ellen could see that this cooperation felt much more serious than what she and Ove had had.

‘Can I ask why you’re interested in this particular murder? Do you know how many women are murdered every year in Sweden?’

‘In 2013, seventeen died as a result of violence in an intimate relationship.’

Carola raised her eyebrows.

Ellen went on. ‘There are many women whose lives are at risk who the general public couldn’t care less about. Relationship cases have become everyday fare, and us journalists have a great responsibility when it comes to reporting on how women are killed in this country.’

‘I agree, though I will also say that we don’t yet know if this is a case of domestic violence. At any rate, we don’t need to hide our cooperation. I’m going to give you reasonable information.’

‘Okay, but I want to be certain that Börje’s view of Liv is not going to influence the investigation, and I want information before anyone else — exclusive information — otherwise there’s no reason for me to stay quiet about Börje’s so-called shoptalk.’

‘Okay, but I want your word that you’re going to do something serious with the information I give you.’

‘Of course. I work at TV4, and we don’t deal in sensationalism. Do you know who the father of the child was?’

‘No.’

‘Perhaps he wasn’t aware that he was going to be a father?’

Carola looked at her. ‘I think he probably knew. In which case, he ought to be missing Liv, or at least wondering where she is.’

‘Perhaps they’re no longer together.’

‘Yes, that’s a possibility we’re also looking at.’

‘If you release Liv’s name and picture, maybe the father will make himself known.’

‘We’ve talked about that, but it feels too early so far.’

Ellen took that to mean that the police didn’t want to have to reveal that they didn’t have any leads to go on. ‘What do Liv’s family say?’

‘They had just found out that she was pregnant, expecting a girl, but they hadn’t met the man. There was apparently something particular about him. Maybe he was married. Unclear.’

‘Tell me about her family.’

Carola gave her a suspicious look.

‘When I work with Ove, he tells me everything. You have to trust my journalistic ethics — I’m not going to publish information that isn’t of general interest, but I need to have an overall picture in order to be able to make the right assessments about what is news,’ Ellen explained.

Carola regarded the painting in front of them. ‘This one’s one of my favourites. In my view, it reflects the double nature of life: the constant struggle against death, anxiety, and the sorrows of love. Just think about it — behind all beautiful facades, there’s always something threatening lurking.’

Ellen nodded, but didn’t really understand what it had to do with the case and hoped that Carola wouldn’t guess her ignorance about The Dying Dandy. She knew the name of the work, but that was it.

Carola studied Ellen and let her gaze linger a little too long before she continued. ‘Liv Lind had a sister in Stockholm. She doesn’t seem to have had a very good relationship with her parents — they hadn’t seen her in three years. There was clearly some kind of falling-out between them somehow.’

‘Why?’

Carola shrugged. ‘Do you have a good relationship with your parents?’

Ellen didn’t reply. ‘Was anything missing from the crime scene? Was she robbed?’

‘Her handbag, wallet, and keys were there, but not her mobile phone.’

‘Have you run a search for it?’

‘Of course, but it’s turned off.’

‘So you don’t think this is a robbery-murder?’

‘We don’t see things that aren’t there. If the handbag was left and there was money in the wallet, it hardly seems likely, but it’s not something we can rule out at the present time.’

‘The place is a bit of a strange choice for a murder location, isn’t it?’

Carola didn’t reply.

Ellen continued. ‘I’d like to get in contact with Liv’s sister. Do you have her name and number?’

‘That wouldn’t be too hard for you to find out yourself, would it?’

‘No, but maybe you could put in a good word for me so that she’ll talk to me?’

‘No.’

‘Come on!’

Carola shook her head.

Ellen sighed. ‘What else do you know? Give me something!’

Carola thought for a moment before she replied. ‘Someone raped her, and sperm has been found.’

‘So that means you have DNA from the perpetrator?’

‘Yes, but no hits in the crime registry.’ Carola lowered her voice. ‘She was completely bare and exposed by the side of the road. Her dress was pulled up over her head, and she had no underwear on — the perpetrator presumably took them with him.’

‘Or else she wasn’t wearing any,’ said Ellen.