Apparently she couldn’t let go of her old whores, failed existences that didn’t even want her help. That suited Rau just fine. Better that she wasted her energy on playing the hero amongst the dregs of society rather than getting mixed up in the big issues, complex connections whose importance she didn’t understand. If you couldn’t see the road then you shouldn’t try to steer.
He squinted towards Nowak as she emerged from the main door of 10 Grevgatan, perhaps the most classic apartment brothel address of all. She was wearing jeans, boots and an old military-style parka, making her look nothing like the girls in the brothel or like a resident. The burns on her face were visible even at this distance. Rau hoped that the injuries meant she had learned her lesson, that she had realised she shouldn’t poke her nose in business that didn’t concern her. Otherwise things would go very badly for Sara Nowak. Especially if it turned out that Stiller had, in fact, spoken to her, and if she decided to start rooting around in the case.
He followed her with his gaze, seeing her go to her car, which she had left in the disabled bay in front of the main door. She turned around and looked towards the building again, as if she didn’t quite know what to do next.
The building was from the functionalism school of architecture, going against the majority of old, magnificent buildings just off Strandvägen. It was the kind of neighbourhood where people believed themselves entitled to pleasures that remained inaccessible or forbidden to others. The right to decide what others should do with their bodies and time. Privileges that Rau also liked to assume. If he were honest, he struggled to understand those people who allowed themselves to be bought. There was always a way to gain the upper hand – he knew that from his own experience.
‘Just off Strandvägen,’ as they usually wrote in the real estate listings around here. ‘Just off.’ What difference did it make? It still wasn’t Strandvägen. ‘Best fake quality’ as they liked to say about pirate copies sold in Asia. It was the same here. The whole point was to highlight that you weren’t the best option, just in proximity to it. Geographic proximity, which didn’t mean a thing. There was no splendid view of Blasieholmen, the Saltsjön bay or Djurgården. No colossal apartments, no celebrated names on the lists of residents mounted in the entrance. Rau had never understood that particular driving force – the heated desire to be in the proximity of greatness, instead of creating your own greatness.
But he appreciated Östermalm. It was calm, peaceful and everyone was too absorbed in their own lives to take any interest in anyone else. There were also a number of embassies in the area, which meant no one was surprised to hear someone in a local bar speaking a foreign language – something which had been particularly useful in the good old days before Sweden had become the subject of interest for foreign tourists. When it had still been just a grey, bureaucratic wasteland full of unassuming nobodies. He glanced towards Il Conte, the restaurant diagonally across the street, where he’d had many meetings over the years. The staff were discreet, friendly, service-minded and not in the slightest bit curious about what took place in the grey areas of society.
But what to do about Nowak?
She had got far too close to him. Without knowing it, of course, which was the only reason for her still being alive. The question was whether he should wait and take the risk that she would end up on his trail, or whether he should be safe rather than sorry and get rid of an unnecessary threat.
He released Nowak from his gaze and looked down to the passenger seat beside him. Lying there was a black sports holdall containing camera equipment. Perhaps he’d twist the little screen around this time, let Nowak watch herself die. If she kept rummaging around in the past, then he would be forced to act.
Nowak’s mortal struggle would be particularly interesting to observe. And he intended to make use of something far more extravagant than a mere hanging. She would need to disappear without trace, so he could take his time with her. Plenty of time.