35 |
35 |Stockholm University Stockholm, Sweden
Elsa Andersson sat on a stool in the lab that had always been a safe place for her, still trembling at what had happened earlier. When she had come to, it was to wailing alarms and flashing lights, then guards at the door. Police had been called, along with paramedics, and all were here now, swarming the crime scene.
A crime scene that made no sense to her.
Why would Professor James Acton be here without Karlsson, why would he have assaulted the thankfully alive guard, and why would his wife threaten to kill her? None of it made any sense. And apparently, it didn’t make any sense to the detective now interviewing her, repeatedly asking her if she was certain, absolutely certain, who the suspects were.
“You’ve never met the man.”
“No.”
“Yet you can be absolutely certain it was him.”
“Yes. Like I said before, I looked him up on the Internet yesterday.”
“Why?”
She growled. “Like I said before, because Professor Karlsson said to.”
“And why was that again?”
She snapped. “Listen, they’re getting away! Why are you wasting time? They tried to kill that guard over there, and she threatened me with a gun!”
“It looks like a sleeper hold was used on the guard.”
“That’s only because I walked in on them before he could finish the job.”
“You said the other one, Professor Laura Palmer, held a gun on you?”
She nodded. “She pressed it against my back.”
“Did you see the weapon?”
Elsa paused. “Well, no. But I felt it.”
“So maybe it wasn’t a gun?”
“Of course it was a gun. They’re American! They all carry guns!”
The detective frowned. “We don’t exactly let them in the country with weapons.”
Elsa grunted. “Well, I don’t know about that, but she had a gun.”
“Or something pressed against your back.”
Elsa glared at her.
“Now, back to this text message you received from Professor Karlsson. You said he asked you to meet him in the lobby, but he wasn’t there. Then when you returned, you found Acton and Palmer in here, and the guard unconscious on the floor.”
“Yes.”
“Don’t you think that’s a bit of a coincidence?”
Elsa’s eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?”
“Well, you receive a message from your professor, then these two show up using his pass.”
Elsa’s jaw dropped. “You think he’s involved?”
The detective smiled slightly. “More likely they have his phone, and used it to send a message to draw you away while they did whatever they did.”
Elsa paused, her mouth still agape. “I guess that makes more sense. But why? Acton and Karlsson are supposed to be friends. Why would he take his pass and phone, then break in here?”
“Why indeed. Is there anything valuable here?”
She shrugged. “To academics, maybe. To thieves? I don’t think so.”
“So, no ancient relics that might be valuable to collectors, jewelry, treasure?”
Elsa’s eyes widened. “The ring! It was why they were here. Not here here, but in Sweden. Professor Karlsson invited them here to see the ring we discovered.”
“It’s valuable?”
“To someone like Acton, absolutely. It’s over a thousand years—”
The detective cut her off. “Where is it?”
Elsa pointed toward Karlsson’s office. “In the safe.”
“Show me.”
Elsa led her to the office and pointed at the safe. “Huh, it’s still locked.”
“What’s the combination?”
She shrugged. “No idea.”
The detective called one of the others over. “We need to get that opened. It’s on university property, so get the president’s permission so we don’t have to wait for the courts.” The detective returned her attention to Elsa as her partner walked away. Another officer entered with a tablet in his hand.
“We’ve confirmed their identities. It’s definitely James Acton and Laura Palmer.”
The detective smiled, then pulled out her phone, ordering the arrest of Professors James Acton and Laura Palmer for armed robbery and attempted murder, something Elsa couldn’t believe was possibly true.
If she hadn’t lived through the terrifying experience herself.