AT EIGHT O’CLOCK on Friday morning Thorén, Javier, Sanna Johansson, Kalle Karlsson and Carl-Magnus Alkelius assembled in the investigation room. After conducting a thorough review of Börge Svenson’s diaries on Alva Aldhamo and Tina Hedströmer, Thorén and Javier had submitted their final report outlining important events and describing the phone conversations between Börge Svenson and his women. They also added their own conclusions.
Sanna leafed through the report, which had been emailed to her the night before.
“I don’t know if you’ve had a chance to read the report yet,” said Javier.
Sanna nodded. Alkelius stared at Javier blankly and Kalle flipped through the document that Javier had handed out at the start of the meeting, realizing that it was unlikely that everyone had logged onto the Internet so late the previous evening.
“Most of what’s in the report you know already. I…” Javier glanced at Thorén. “… We have mentioned Alva Aldhamo on a number of occasions. After interviewing Tina Hedströmer we learnt that Svenson also recorded their meetings – something we didn’t find in the confiscated material – and that’s why we decided to return to Svenson’s attic.”
He surveyed the group around the table to make sure he had everyone’s full attention.
He turned on the DVD player. Börge Svenson’s irritated voice was heard loud and clear.
“The stupid bitch will pay for this!”
Thorén turned the pages of the report and held up one of the pages.
“He wasn’t satisfied with just recording their conversation – he also wrote about her in his journal, the same book where he also wrote about Tina,” added Thorén, waving a little black book in the air. “We’ve scanned the relevant page and will include it as an attachment in the preliminary investigation report,” she continued. “He seems really pissed off…”
THE STUPID BITCH WILL PAY FOR THIS!
The text took up the entire page.
“If the date’s correct we can assume that it was after Tina Hedströmer broke his camera.”
“Yup, on the fifth August two years ago he describes his plans for their romantic dinner,” interjected Javier.
Sanna and Alkelius listened carefully. Kalle was busy reading through the report and jotting down occasional notes.
“I wonder what he means when he says she’ll pay for this?” said Javier. “Who knows? Maybe she saved her own life when she threatened to report him to the police.”
“Hm,” said Thorén fast forwarding the DVD player.
“I need to see her one last time…”
Javier raised the volume slightly.
“One last time? That was probably why he went on and on about meeting her. He wanted to apologize and use it as an excuse to lure her to a final meeting,” added Thorén.
Javier stared at her.
“Are you done with Alva Aldhamo and Tina Hedströmer?” asked Sanna.
“I guess so. You have our final report on them.” Javier pointed at the two bound documents that had been given out to all the participants.
Alkelius leafed through the report, seemingly satisfied.
“You’ve done good work. Whatever else we find out about him from now on won’t change things much.”
He turned to Sanna.
“We have everything we need on Ingrid Svenson and now we’ve got two more women who play a big role in our investigation.”
“Hm,” said Sanna. “As you know, we’re still in the dark about Ingalill Segelström and the man behind the house.”
“Let’s call Anders Segelström to a hearing. We should have heard from him by now. We can’t wait until he gets better,” said Alkelius.
“Absolutely not!” exclaimed Blom indignantly. “I won’t allow it!”
Alkelius gave him a withering look.
Sanna sighed heavily.
“Don’t forget the other wives,” said Kalle, changing the subject in an attempt to neutralize hostilities. ”Although the meeting with his second wife, Karin Bengtsson didn’t exactly go as planned, we still have the documented trial material that has also been erased from the personal data register… Something that was also included in the report you received a while ago.”
SHE HAD JUST POURED herself a glass of wine when her mobile phone rang. She stared at it as if in a trance. It was the phone she had been given by the thirty-five year old for their private business. After a moment’s hesitation she picked it up after the fifth ring signal.
“The only reason you’re still alive is because I’ve been away,” said a gruff male voice before she had a chance to speak.
She shuddered on hearing his voice and was tempted to slam the phone down, only changing her mind when she realized this would only aggravate the situation.
“This is your final warning! If the money isn’t in my account in twenty-four hours you’ll be getting a visit from me – one you won’t forget in hurry. I know you’re still at your country house so I advise you not to do anything stupid. I’ve got my eye on you.” He laughed hoarsely. She could hear him coughing heavily as he struggled to catch his breath.
She had heard through the grapevine that he had contracted swine flu. He was lying about having been away. She didn’t know why he lied but it was irrelevant. She had hoped he would drop dead into the bargain, but no such luck. He was back and she was terrified that he would follow through on his threats.
“I need to know what happened…” she said falteringly.
“Oh yeah?” he replied, sniggering contemptuously, his laughter soon mutating into a laboured cough.
“I won’t pay until I know what happened,” she said, this time sounding more assured. His aggressive manner had got her adrenalin pumping.
“Ingalill, Ingalill… when will you learn?”
“Don’t use my name. Bloody hell! We said no names on the phone!” she shouted. “Do want me to call you by your name too?”
“You’re right. It was a slip of the tongue.”
She pondered for a moment. She was only too aware that he wouldn’t hesitate for a second to make minced meat out of her.
“Please, I need to know. How come his clothes were covered in blood?”
The man grunted.
“Dammit!” He cleared his throat. “Okay, I’ll tell you what happened but as soon as I hang up, the money had better be on its way to my account. Otherwise…”
“I promise I’ll transfer the money today.”
He yawned loudly. She could hear a rasping sound as if he was scratching his head.
“I had to improvise…” He laughed softly.
“But why?”
“Shall I tell you or are you going to keep butting in?”
“Nobody was supposed to get killed,” she thought to herself but didn’t dare interrupt.
He proceeded to tell her the whole story. He had been watching the house waiting until Ingalill left the house. But her unannounced visit resulted in a huge fight between Börge and Ingrid. Börge had lost his temper and through an open window he could hear the sound of Ingrid being hit followed by a crash as something shattered on impact.
“Svenson left the house,” he continued. “I think he stopped attacking his wife when he noticed an old man peering in through the window. The man was walking his dog and had stopped in front of the house.” He sighed. “While all this was going on there was a child screaming all the time – I can’t handle stuff like that…”
She had been curious about the child.
“My back was up against the wall and I decided to go for it anyway. What the hell! I didn’t like the idea of losing the cash – I have debts to pay, you know.” He breathed deeply. “So, I went in, grabbed the boy and pushed him into some kind of cleaning cupboard and ordered him to stay there until I told him to come out.”
She had heard enough. She started to feel sick. All this time she had thought that Svenson had murdered his wife. She prayed that the man would tell her that Ingrid was still alive when he left the house.
“Do you want to hear the rest?”
She hesitated. She definitely didn’t want to find out that she was indirectly involved in a murder yet, at the same time, it was important to learn the whole truth.
“His wife was lying on the floor. I thought she’d fainted. So I got down on my knees and started to remove her clothes… ” He broke off, gasping heavily.
“What happened then?”
“What happened then?” he echoed her words in irritation. “What happened was that the bloody cunt bit me in the face! The bitch!” he screamed.
She held the phone at a distance.
“That did it! No bloody cunt is going to get away with biting me!”
The rest of his account was so horrific that she prayed she would soon wake up and realize it had all been a bad dream.
“So, are you satisfied?”
“What?”
“Now you know what happened?”
“But everyone claims it was Svenson who came out of the house. It was him they found in the woods.”
“Hmm,” mumbled the man.
“They found no other evidence,” she continued. “You didn’t leave any traces…”
“Haven’t you heard about protective clothing? I’m not a fucking amateur you know!”
She listened in silence, not daring to repeat the question.
“Okay, okay. I can’t be bothered to go into more detail, but to make a long story short; Svenson came back to the house and found his wife in the kitchen. The rest I guess you’ve already heard in the media.”
Now at least she knew the whole story. But why did he have to murder Svenson’s wife? That wasn’t part of the deal.
KEIKKONEN CONTACTED SANNA to inform her of the new discovery on Svenson’s laptop. She had done a review of all the “hidden files,” which under normal circumstances are known as system files. On the hard disc she found a folder that took up a lot of memory called “Xclusive.” The folder had a similar layout to an earlier one named “Women,” with one exception; the video recording took up almost as much memory as an ordinary film.
“I’ll make two copies, or do you need more?” asked Keikkonen in her strong Finnish accent.
“We probably need three copies. Are they long?” replied Sanna.
“Yes, I think so, maybe an hour or more.”
Sanna thought it over.
“What are they like?”
Sabine Keikkonen bided her time.
“It’s nothing you haven’t seen before but still pretty awful to watch…”
“When can we get the copies?”
“I’ll send them today so they should be with you tomorrow.”
“Thanks Sabine! Good work!”
Sanna shut her eyes tightly. Earlier she had been convinced that the preliminary investigation was in the final stages. Would this never end? She reached for the telephone.
“Hi, Sanna here again. Forensics has found hidden files in Svenson’s computer.”
“What hidden files?” asked Alkelius, sighing heavily.
Sanna explained the situation and went on to cancel a planning meeting they had scheduled for that week. There was no point in tackling the final report now.
She was about to put down the receiver when she had a change of heart and tapped in a few numbers. Kalle’s phone was engaged. She glanced at the clock on her mobile. It was a quarter to ten. She walked down to Kalle’s office and stood at the doorway. He gestured to her to come in.
“Keikkonen’s found more hidden files on Svenson’s laptop!” she exclaimed as soon as Kalle put the phone down. “I wonder how much other stuff he has buried away somewhere.”
“Do you know what’s in them?”
“No, but it’ll be interesting to see the videos.”
THE LIGHT FROM THE CEILING LIGHT shone brightly but Kalle, who was reading the evening newspaper, had also switched on the reading lamp on his desk. He was chatting to Sanna who was also reading the newspaper.
“Have you seen the latest headlines?” asked Kalle, pointing at the front page.
It was seven o’clock in the evening and most people at Kungsholmen Police Station had already gone home for the day.
Two empty pizza boxes lay on the table. Kalle and Sanna had taken a break and were planning to continue their investigation work later.
“I know you don’t want to talk about what’s going on… or what’s been going on these last weeks but I think the public response to your placard has been amazing.”
He waited for her reaction.
Sanna nodded but said nothing.
“Everyone’s talking about the placards that are being set up all around Stockholm and other parts of the country. You’ve inspired so many women! You should be proud of yourself!”
She glanced at him and went back to her reading.
The fact that women were coming forward with their own experiences had inspired the media and the newspapers were filled with stories about violence against women. During the first week most of the articles focused on women’s personal stories and included cover photographs and rape statistics. By the second week there were reports on the justice system and the role of the police force as well as how women who have been raped are treated by the authorities.
During the third week when media attention was maintained by bloggers and other social networks the newspapers continued with the theme “The Consent Act”.
Kalle couldn’t help but be affected by the uproar. Everyone was talking about it except Sanna, who refused to admit that she had instigated all this. It wasn’t the number of women who had been raped that bothered him. He worked with these issues and already knew the statistics. What concerned him the most was the sheer scale of the collective protest action. Seeing all those placards at the same time made Stockholm and the rest of the country look like one enormous crime scene.