The Man Who Watched Women (55 page)

Billy rang back before she had even retrieved her gun. He spoke quickly, and she could hear Torkel in the background.

‘Torkel wants to know how reliable this is. Do you think we have reasonable grounds for taking Svensson into custody?'

‘I don't know how reliable it is. Hinde gave me a name. Haven't you found anything?'

‘Not really. Born in 1976. Lives in Västertorp. No record. Has been working for LS Cleaning for seven years. I spoke to his boss, who has nothing but praise for him. The only possible lead is that he was offered a cleaning job at a hospital closer to home last year, better pay and better hours, but he turned it down. Said he was happy at Lövhaga.'

‘Is he here now?'

‘No. Went off sick at lunchtime yesterday.'

Vanja nodded and turned away so that the guard, who was busy with the safe, wouldn't hear what she said. ‘Has he had access to Hinde's section?'

‘Yes, he's worked in both the open section and the secure unit.'

‘That should be enough. He's been named as a suspect and we have evidence of possible contact.'

She heard Billy speaking to Torkel. He was soon back on the line.

‘Torkel is talking to the prosecutor right now about searching Svensson's place. He needs to know exactly what Hinde told you.'

‘He didn't say much. Just that this Ralph had confessed to him. Boasted about the murders. Apparently Hinde is his idol.'

‘Perhaps Hinde is just trying to set him up.'

‘Maybe. But I think it's him. I don't think Hinde was lying.'

‘Anything else?'

‘No.'

There were certain things that nobody else needed to know. The details of her meeting with Hinde definitely fell into that category. How she had acquired the information. It wouldn't have any influence on whether or not they got a search warrant in any case.

‘Why is he helping us? Did he tell you that?' Billy wanted to know.

Vanja didn't say anything for a moment. She had been so carried away by the fact that Hinde
had
got in touch with them that she had completely ignored the entirely justified question as to
why
he had done it.

‘No. Because he's a law-abiding citizen?'

‘That doesn't sound very likely, does it?'

‘Is it important?'

‘Maybe not.'

‘If it turns out to be significant, then we'll find out.' She turned to the guard, took her gun and slipped it into the holster. ‘Call me when the search warrant comes through. I'm heading back to Stockholm now.'

She ended the call and thanked the guard for his help. He pointed to the big door.

‘There's a man out there who's been asking for you. He doesn't have a visiting order.'

Vanja knew who it was.

For a second she thought she actually preferred Haraldsson.

There were idiots, and then there were idiots.

Sebastian was standing next to Ursula's car, looking up at the high walls and the grubby buildings. He had parked just outside the main gate, as far to the side of the road as he could get. That had been his compromise. The staff had come out and he had had a heated discussion with them. They claimed that he was impeding the movement of traffic in and out of Lövhaga, and that not only did he not have police ID, he had no visiting order either. Sebastian then pointed out that they were brainless desk jockeys and insisted that he needed to get in. After a few minutes of yelling they had eventually shaken their heads and gone back inside, leaving him there.

He paced nervously back and forth across the road. Kicked at the gravel along the kerb in frustration. Picked dandelions and flicked the heads off the stalks with his thumb, just as he used to do when he was a child. He needed to blot out the thought of Lövhaga's absurd bureaucracy by engaging in simple physical actions, and above all he needed to suppress his anxiety about Vanja. Those idiots behind the fence wouldn't even confirm that she was in there, in spite of the fact that he could see her car. They let him stay where he was, but nothing else. It was just like the rest of his life right now. He was stuck in a no-man's-land where nobody could even be bothered to fight with him anymore.

He was slipping away from the centre of events. Joining the investigation was supposed to enable him to get closer to Vanja. To get a life. Perhaps even to solve the case, although that hadn't been his real motive at the outset. But all that was before Hinde. Before this turned into a personal conflict. Before all the gates began to slam in his face. Because it wasn't only the steel gate leading into Lövhaga that was closed to him. He had called Torkel from the car, hoping he would somehow be able to persuade him to stop Vanja. He hadn't answered. Hadn't called back. Nor had Billy. And it was his own fault; he was the one who had managed to turn everyone against him. He couldn't blame anyone else, however much he might want to. At the same time his anxiety over the danger in which Vanja might find herself had diminished. She was sensible, and wouldn't take any unnecessary risks. Hinde wouldn't be interested in anything as banal as a straightforward hostage scenario. No, he always had bigger plans. The only question was what those plans might be.

Hinde knew the truth. Sebastian could feel it. That was why he had requested permission to see Vanja.

Was he going to tell her?

Or was that also too banal for him?

Sebastian hated not knowing. He started pacing again. Walked past the gate and peered in. Suddenly he spotted Vanja. She was hurrying across the yard towards her car. Should he call out to her? Wave? Should he just stand there? What did she know? He saw her glance in his direction, but she didn't react in any way. He might have been no more than fresh air. Her lack of interest cheered him.

She didn't know.

If she had known there would have been fury or disgust in her eyes, not total indifference. Perhaps that wasn't a cause for celebration under normal circumstances, but given the current situation it was the best possible outcome. He realised he was smiling to himself. Grinning, in fact.

She couldn't believe her eyes as she drove towards the gate. Was he really standing there blocking the road with a scornful grin on his face? She wound down the window and leaned out. ‘Excuse me, you're in the way.'

‘I want to talk to you,' he ventured.

‘But I don't want to talk to you.'

She stopped the car a few centimetres away from him. He didn't dare move; if he did she would probably just put her foot down and disappear.

‘I have to know. What did Hinde want?'

‘He gave me the name of the murderer.'

The little smile that had been playing around Sebastian's lips until now vanished immediately. He hadn't expected this. ‘What? What do you mean?'

‘He said he knew who the murderer was. Someone called Ralph Svensson, apparently. He's a cleaner here at Lövhaga. We know he's had the opportunity to be in contact with Hinde.'

‘And you believe Hinde?'

‘I have no reason not to. We follow up every lead, don't we?'

‘Why would he tell you?'

‘The real question is why didn't he tell you? I mean, you're supposed to be the expert. The one who knew how to get him to talk.'

She couldn't keep the malicious pleasure out of her voice. She didn't even try. Without thinking, Sebastian walked up to her.

‘And he had nothing to do with all this? Do you really believe that?'

‘I'm a police officer. I don't have an opinion. I investigate. Excuse me.'

She put her foot down, the tyres gripped the road with a screech and the car shot forward. He jumped aside instinctively and watched her drive away.

Left behind again.

He was starting to get used to it.

While he was in the car on the way to Västertorp, where Ralph Svensson lived, Torkel received permission to search Svensson's apartment. After a long conversation on the telephone, Gunnar Hallén, the prosecutor, had finally given his approval. There was strong circumstantial evidence, but it was the evaluation of Hinde's testimony that was the problem. The fact that he had been sentenced to life imprisonment didn't exactly help in terms of his credibility. It had taken a lot of persuasion on Torkel's part, but Torkel knew that Hallén was going to give his permission when it came down to it. This was the kind of high-profile case that was absolutely crucial in terms of career prospects. Searching a property on slightly less than adequate grounds wasn't as bad as failing to act at all.

Torkel had asked Billy to organise an emergency response team to break down the door if necessary, and had got into the car with him shortly afterwards. He wanted to be on the spot, ready to move as soon as they got the go-ahead. There was no time to lose on logistics and transport. Vanja would join them in Västertorp as soon as possible. He didn't even bother calling Sebastian.

Billy parked in the turning area behind a number of red apartment blocks dating from the 1950s. Ralph Svensson's place was three hundred metres away, up on a hill closer to the small centre, which had had its heyday long ago. Billy made contact with the leader of the emergency response team, who promised they would be there in five minutes. Then he called Ursula and told her where they had parked.

Torkel walked around, gazing at the leafy surroundings and the freestanding apartment blocks. The warm breeze carried with it the smell of food and the sound of music from open windows. He could hear laughter somewhere. A group of children were whooping as they cycled around a sandpit a short distance away.

Billy opened the boot and took out a bullet-proof vest which he began to put on.

Torkel looked at him enquiringly. ‘We'll let the experts go in first.'

‘I want to be there. It's our case.'

‘Yes, it is. We don't need to break down doors to prove that.'

‘Okay. I'll go in just as an observer.'

Torkel shook his head. Billy had definitely changed in the last few weeks. In the past he had been perfectly happy to play second fiddle, and to support both Torkel and Vanja on the IT side of things. Now he wanted to storm into an apartment with a gun in his hand.

‘We will do what we have always done,' Torkel said firmly. ‘They will secure the suspect. Then we will take over.'

Billy nodded, but didn't take off the vest. He looked like a defiant teenager.

Torkel walked up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. ‘Has something happened? It feels as if there's a certain amount of …' he searched for the right word, ‘… friction in the team. Mainly between you and Vanja.'

Billy didn't reply. Torkel kept his hand where it was.

‘You need to talk to me about this. We're a team, but it doesn't always feel that way at the moment.'

‘Do you think I'm a good police officer?' Billy looked candidly at Torkel. It was the first time Torkel could ever remember Billy referring to himself with the slightest hint of uncertainty.

‘You wouldn't be working with me if you weren't,' Torkel replied.

Billy nodded. ‘But if we're a team, why are we treated differently?'

‘Because we are different,' Torkel said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. ‘We have different strengths, different weaknesses. We complement each other.'

‘And Vanja is the best police officer.'

‘I didn't say that.'

‘Okay, but if Vanja had put on this vest and wanted to go in as an observer, would you have stopped her?'

Torkel was about to respond with the self-evident ‘yes' that was on the tip of his tongue when he hesitated, realising that perhaps Billy was right after all. Would he really have been as firm with Vanja? Probably not. Because she was a better police officer? Probably.

He didn't answer.

Which was answer enough.

Ralph had just sat down at the computer and started to log in to fygorh.se. He would send a message to the Master. Confess his failure. He had waited outside the front door of Ellinor's apartment block until dark yesterday, hoping that she would come back. She hadn't.