Meet me in Malmö: The first Inspector Anita Sundström mystery (Inspector Anita Sundström mysteries)

I would like to thank my wife Susan for putting up with my ‘scribblings’ and for all the checking she’s done. To my son Fraser for the useful photographs and his local knowledge of Malmö – and to my other son Calum for his enthusiastic backing. I would like to thank our friend Karin Geistrand for answering my questions on Sweden and Swedish policing. Any subsequent inaccuracies are entirely my fault. Thank you to Ian Craig for his encouragement and, finally, to the talented Nick Pugh of The Roundhouse for his excellent cover design.

To my family

It was the sound of the sickening thud that he would never be able to erase from his memory. And Alison vomiting straight afterwards.

The evening had started out so well. John Wilson had thought that this was his lucky night. Ever since Freshers’ Week he’d been trying to get close to the gorgeous Alison French and then, quite by chance, he had run into her at a crowded end-of-term party in the Bailey. The willowy blonde with the easy laugh had, at long last, turned her winning smile on him. The fact that she had been full of the alcoholic spirit of pre-Christmas probably helped. But there had been no sign of the rugby-playing boyfriend, so the field was clear.

He had been astonished to find himself standing with his arm round Alison’s shoulder in front of the brooding expanse of Durham’s medieval cathedral. In the darkness of the early December evening, the illuminated western towers and the even larger central one appeared to commune with the night sky.

Alison had shivered and John had clenched her closer. She’d responded and raised her head to his. They kissed, just as they had done when they had staggered out of the party fifteen minutes earlier after he had gallantly offered to see her back to her college across the river. He hoped that this spark of affection hadn’t been ignited solely by the drink. She had certainly downed a lot of fancy-looking concoctions and she’d swayed slightly as he’d manoeuvred her along the Bailey and up towards the cathedral.

John knew the lights would be going out soon, so he had begun to move Alison away from the main door of the cathedral. As he did so he glimpsed the lion-like beast that was the famous sanctuary knocker. He suddenly got an overwhelming sense of history. Perhaps it was the alcohol but he could almost feel the presence of all the souls who’d sought safety in the cathedral over the centuries. He drew the obvious parallel – he felt he’d found refuge with Alison and life could only get better.

They had made their way unsteadily across the grass and round a couple of old gravestones until they were close to the cathedral wall, the central tower looming above. There were some muted sounds of a party going on somewhere nearby, but Palace Green, opposite the cathedral, was quiet. John glanced round and saw that all was deserted. This was his moment. He took Alison’s face in his hands and stared into those twinkling, if slightly inebriated, eyes.

‘I’ve waited so long for this moment.’

She blinked before smiling back. ‘Do you want to come back to my room tonight? Claudia won’t be there. She’s round at Andy’s.’ John could hardly contain his excitement. Alison grabbed his hand, ‘Come on!’

But they only managed to take a couple of steps nearer the promised delights of Alison’s room. A piercing scream startled them and broke the evening’s calm serenity. They hardly had time to look up when the body of a woman hurtled past their heads and landed in front of them; half-bouncing off the grass before slumping back down like a rag doll, its limbs all distorted. Alison was yelling in fright. The lights on the cathedral snapped off.

Twenty-five years later…

She was sitting in front of the mirror. The reflection staring back was beautiful. In her early forties, she could pass for someone far younger. The natural blond hair was shoulder length, framing a face with high cheekbones that gave it a sculpted look. Yet the deep blue eyes ensured that the overall effect was not that of marble, but full of life. The mouth was wide – a slash of exotic red across cool Scandinavian features. The black dress plunged invitingly but it was the necklace that caught her attention. The amber glinted in the discreet mirror light. She played with it thoughtfully. A half-smile crossed her lips. Then a noise disturbed her and her expression changed. She looked round. The sound of someone in the next room, perhaps? Her hand went to her throat and her face creased into puzzlement. Yes, there was definitely a person moving around in the next room

‘Rune?’ she called out cautiously. There was no reply.

She stood up slowly. This was a woman who was ready to go out to somewhere smart. The dress was short enough to show that she still possessed head-turning legs but long enough to hint that not all was on show – well, not yet. With a certain amount of trepidation she crossed the bedroom to the door, which was slightly ajar. The room was decorated and furnished in understated Scandinavian elegance. No clutter, no extravagant adornments, nothing that wasn’t of some use. She stopped and gingerly opened the bedroom door.

‘Ru... oh, it’s you.’ She sounded disappointed but the nervousness was gone. The object of her disappointment was just out of sight, behind the now open door. ‘What are you doing here?’

She jerked back instinctively as male hands made a grab for her throat. She gurgled helplessly as the fingers pressed around her neck. For a few seconds she tried hopelessly to break the vicelike grip, but she hadn’t the strength. The powerful hands were pushing her down onto her knees, her skirt riding up as she went. The unequal struggle ended with her slipping slowly to the floor, all the elegance draining away as fast as her life. The unseen assailant released his grip – then the door closed and the body was left in a still heap.

Ewan Strachan shifted in his seat. He could never sit still, however riveting a film was, but this one didn’t come into that category. Was it really that easy to strangle someone? He was sure it wasn’t, but that was the magic of the movies. And Christina had it coming to her because she had been starting to annoy him. Even he would have been tempted to do her in but, he presumed, he wouldn’t find out whodunit until the final reel. Yes, she was very beautiful but some of the lines she had come out with were cringe-making. Of course, that could be down to the translation. You were never sure with subtitles.

Ewan cast his eye round the small but packed cinema. Most were concentrating fully on the action – or lack of action - until the moment when Christina had copped it. But these were fans of Swedish cinema – and particularly of the director, who was sitting in the front row watching his wife, Malin Lovgren, die dramatically on screen. He was surrounded by disciples. In the question and answer session that followed the screening there would be no dissenting voices. Not even Ewan’s. He wouldn’t get an interview with Mick Roslyn by being critical beforehand.

Sitting five rows in front of Ewan, he still had that familiar long, dark, swept-back hair and the neatly barbered stubble. Not a grey hair in sight, despite his forty-five years. He has certainly aged far better than I have, thought Ewan, who had now lost interest in
Gässen
or
The Geese
. Ewan still hadn’t worked out how geese fitted into the story, though maybe they were some obscure Swedish metaphor for…strangulation? Long necks, easy to wring. Or pecking? The Christina character had henpecked her poor husband, who was perfectly justified in murdering her. She hadn’t been very nice to her lover either. Then again it might be to do with flight. He would have to come up with something to put in his review. He had to justify his train fare from Newcastle to Edinburgh for the Northern Stars Film Festival. But if he could grab Roslyn for a quick interview afterwards then even his pain-in-the-arse editor might get off his back for a while. It was a matter of getting Roslyn alone for five minutes. It might help if Mick remembered him.

The chance of visiting a prestigious film festival had seemed fanciful only two weeks before. ‘You’ve got to get off your arse and do something interesting,’ Brian Fletcher said as he tried to remove some wax from his ear with his finger. Ewan couldn’t look. What would he do with it if he got the wax out? The operation was unsuccessful and Brian sat down behind his desk in his cramped office. All the offices assigned to the
Novocastrian News
– or
Novo News
as it had become because management felt the name was snappier - were small. It was a small operation run by a big local Newcastle-based newspaper group. They had created the bi-monthly
Novo News
magazine as a vehicle for attracting extra advertising revenue. It was also a good place to hide away their journalists who could no longer do the business – or who had never really been able to in the first place. Ewan often wondered for which group he qualified. He hoped it was as a hack who could no longer hack it. At least that meant he hadn’t always been useless. Brian, on the other hand, had always been useless journalist. But that didn’t stop him thinking that he was a born editor and that any day soon his genius would be recognized and a really good job offer would come along.

‘Your arts reviews lack punch. Sometimes I wonder if you actually go and see the things you’re meant to be reviewing. And when was the last time you got a decent interview?’ Ewan could have answered, if he had been arsed, by pointing out that the group’s morning and evening papers got first dabs on anybody in the arts world who was of the remotest interest – leading theatricals, controversial artists, top dancers, even the occasional film star. He was left with all the obscure wood carvers, pretentious potters and loopy candlemakers who seemed to emerge every summer in the touristy bits of the North East. It hadn’t always been like this, even though Ewan’s own career hadn’t been much more glorious than Brian’s.

‘The boys upstairs have been moaning. They think
Novo
should be more dynamic. And Arts and Social is an important ingredient in our mix. Don’t let me down again. Get something fascinating enough to fucking print or I’ll have to find someone else who can!’

After leaving Durham University with high hopes of a stunning journalistic career, Ewan hadn’t returned to his native Edinburgh. Too parochial he had pronounced grandly. He did what he saw as his apprenticeship at a couple of very local newspapers, both of which turned into freesheets and were more interested in advertising revenue than news-gathering. Yet, when he did have the chance to move south, he opted for Newcastle. On the evening paper he did general reporting before a move to the more prestigious regional morning. He wanted to specialize in crime; nitty-gritty stories. There was certainly enough villainy around Tyneside and its environs to justify a crime correspondent. But the editor, under pressure from the Managing Director, vetoed the idea. It would send out the wrong signals about the region. So he was attached to the sports desk instead. Funnily enough, he quite enjoyed it for a while. As a huge proportion of the Geordie population was far more interested in sport than in anything else, it proved quite lively at first. But then he got bored, got sloppy and got shoved onto
Novo News
. Now he rejoiced in the title of Arts & Social correspondent. He found it difficult to muster the required enthusiasm as he wasn’t very interested in the arts and he wasn’t very social. But it was a living, of sorts.

‘I hear what you’re saying, Brian. I’ll dig up something that will please upstairs.’ Ewan stood up and put his hand on the doorhandle. ‘And you.’

Had he managed to keep the sarcasm out of his voice? he wondered. Brian gave him a sceptical look before nodding. Yes, he had.

Ewan went out into the main open-plan office. It was only open-plan in as much as there were five desks squashed into the one room. He sat down at his computer and stared at it blankly. Opposite, Mary grinned at him. Her hair was a funny off-orange at the moment and she never looked right without a cigarette hanging out of the side of her mouth. In this no-smoking building it meant frequent trips to the back door where she and Ewan used to put the world to rights – well,
Novo News
to rights.

‘Another bollocking?’ she asked. Her lined face was creased up in amusement. Fortunately for her, retirement was only a year away.

‘Not dynamic enough, apparently.’ Then he burst out laughing. ‘Come on, time for a fag break.’

They made their way along a series of drab corridors. How have I ended up here? Ewan thought for the thousandth time. How come my great dreams have turned into a feckless career? Why have I never escaped the north east of England? Many people had asked him that. He had made various excuses, most of which weren’t believed. Yet, if he was honest with himself – and that had rarely happened in his forty-five years - he knew he could never give them the real answer.

Ewan walked through the large wooden doors and up the wide stone steps of the Newcastle Literary & Philosophical Society. Ahead of him was a large white statue of James Losh, recorder and eminent businessman of Newcastle in the 1800s, though he actually hailed from Cumberland. High on the imposing walls, classical grand relief figures showed that appropriate homage had been paid to the mathematical and philosophical influences that had been taken from ancient Greece. There were portraits, too. Robert Stephenson was there as one of the many important scientific-industrial figures who had been members. Lord Armstrong (warships), Sir Joseph Swan (the electric light) and Sir Charles Parsons (turbine engines) were all to be found on the wooden honours board proudly proclaiming past presidents. When he reached the first floor, swing doors opened into a huge L-shaped room. Tightly packed books rose up from the floor to a gallery with a brass handrail all the way round; then from the gallery floor almost to the ceiling of this huge space. Beyond the reception desk there were leather armchairs, a round table near the coffee hatch and then, round the corner, long tables and assorted chairs in between further stand-alone wooden bookcases. It was Dickensian. It was unhurried. It was charmingly decrepit. It was Ewan’s sanctuary.

In the Lit & Phil he could escape Brian, the
Novo News
and the other aspects of his life that he wanted to forget about. Here, over a paid-for coffee and one free biscuit, he could read the national newspapers, delve into obscure ancient books or plan the novel he knew he’d never write. No mobile phones were allowed. No phones of any kind could be heard. However, quiet talking was tolerated, so conversations could be struck up with some of the more eccentric members, which often proved entertaining and enlightening.

One newspaper he always made a beeline for was
The Scotsman
. Why the library stocked it he had no idea, but it was good to catch up with happenings in Edinburgh. Though only an hour and a half away by train, he rarely returned home. Both his parents were now dead and his brother, a successful lawyer, just annoyed him. Most of his old schoolfriends had either moved on or he had lost touch with them. However, the odd one cropped up in the pages of
The Scotsman
. Archie Drymen was the last - he had been arrested for downloading child porn. Ewan hadn’t seen that one coming. When they had been in the rugby team together, Archie always had a ‘thing’ about other boys’ mums. Shows you could never tell.

With
The Scotsman
tucked under his arm, Ewan waited at the coffee hatch. On the other side was Frida, the coffee lady. Though Norwegian, she had lived in England long enough to intersperse her lilting accent with more guttural Geordie phrases. She enjoyed his self-deprecating humour in which he managed to make every episode in his life sound like an amusing disaster.

‘Time for coffee?’ Frida asked.

‘Yes. And I think I’ll treat myself to a Bakewell tart, too, please.’

Frida eyed him closely. ‘That sounds like you’ve had a bad day.’

Ewan gave a grimace to confirm her observation. Frida continued to talk as she poured the coffee from the pot. ‘You need a break. Go away and forget about your magazine.’

‘Still trying to get me to Norway?’

‘Norway is good. The air is clean.’ She pushed the cup and saucer towards him, ‘The mountains are fantastic. Might even find a wife,’ she added with a mischievous smile.

‘But you had to come over here to find a husband.’

‘My second one. My first was Norwegian.’

Ewan settled down to read
The Scotsman
at one of the long tables. As he munched his way through his cake he caught up on the comings and goings of Hearts, his boyhood football team. By the time he had finished his coffee he was onto the newspaper’s arts section. Over the years it had proved useful for pinching ideas to use in his
Novo News
column. He had been known to use reviews from
The Scotsman
of films he didn’t fancy, virtually word for word, so he didn’t have to see the movies himself. He was about to turn the page over when a small article hidden away at the bottom caught his eye. To be more precise, a name in the first paragraph. He stared at it long and hard. It couldn’t be – yet it obviously was. He pushed away his cup and glanced up at the gallery above. A librarian was sorting some books. When Ewan looked back at the newspaper the name was still there. It was another minute or so before he actually read the piece. The article was little more than a straightforward announcement of the events schedule for the 2008 Northern Stars Film Festival, which was starting in a week’s time. Yet it unsettled him. Then it gave him an idea.

The wind whipped up a discarded crisp packet and tossed it around under the flickering light from the lamps strung across the street. It was cold and the flurry of snow could soon turn into something heavier. The winter hadn’t been as bad as last year but there was still plenty of time. The crisp packet landed briefly before corkscrewing away into the dark. The man turned his attention to the window on the fourth floor of the building on the other side of the street. He could see the light was still on though the curtains were drawn. And he knew that she was behind those curtains. What would she be doing at this moment? Watching TV? Having a late meal? Maybe she was painting? He knew she did that. Quite good. He had seen some of her watercolours at that little arty-farty gallery off Lilla Torg in the centre of town.