How and why Yuri Krylov, the boy out in Svartsj?landet, had come to Sweden was anyone’s guess. The Belarussian embassy on Liding? hadn’t been particularly helpful.
The mummified boy in the bushes next to the Thorildsplan metro station was still unidentified, and Jeanette had contacted Europol in The Hague in the hope of getting some help. But it wouldn’t do any good. Europe was crawling with illegal refugee children who had no contact with any authorities. There were children coming and going everywhere without anyone ever knowing where they’d disappeared to. And even if they did know, no one did anything.
After all, they were only children.
Ivo Andri? out in Solna had told her that it looked likely that Yuri Krylov had been castrated while he was alive.
She wondered what she could deduce from that. From experience, the extreme brutality, the torture, suggested that the perpetrator was male.
But there was also something almost ritualistic about it all, so the possibility that it had been carried out by more than one person couldn’t be dismissed. Could they be dealing with human traffickers?
Right now she had to concentrate on the likeliest explanation. A lone, violent male who was probably already in their database. The difficulty with working from that presumption was that there were so many men like that.
She stared at the heaps of files on her desk.
Thousands of pages, covering about a hundred potential perpetrators.
Three hours later she found something interesting. She stood up, went out into the corridor, and knocked on the door of Jens Hurtig’s room.
‘Have you got a moment?’
He turned towards her, and she smiled at his quizzical expression.
‘Follow me,’ she said.
They sat down on either side of her desk, and Jeanette handed Hurtig a file.
He opened it, then looked up in surprise.
‘Karl Lundstr?m? But he’s the one we raided. The one with a computer full of child porn. What about him?’
‘Let me explain. Karl Lundstr?m has been questioned by National Crime, and in the transcript you’ve got there Lundstr?m goes into detail about how to go about buying a child.’
He looked interested. ‘Buying a child?’
‘Yes. And Lundstr?m seems to have detailed knowledge. He mentions precise figures, but claims he’s never had any direct involvement, although he knows people who have.’
Hurtig leaned back and took a deep breath.
‘Damn, this could be interesting. Any names?’
‘No. But Lundstr?m’s file isn’t complete yet. In parallel with the police interviews he’s been undergoing an evaluation by forensic psychiatry. Perhaps the psychologists who’ve been talking to him can tell us a bit more.’
Hurtig leafed through the file. ‘Anything else?’
‘Yes, a few more things. Karl Lundstr?m advocates castration of paedophiles and rapists. But reading between the lines you can tell he doesn’t think that’s enough. All men ought to be castrated.’
Hurtig looked up at the ceiling. ‘Isn’t that a bit far-fetched? I mean, we’re talking about little boys in these cases.’
‘Maybe, but there are a couple more things that tell me we should still check him out,’ Jeanette went on. ‘There’s a case that was dropped, into the abduction, sexual abuse and rape of a child. Seven years ago. The girl who reported him was fourteen at the time, name Ulrika Wendin. Guess who dropped the case.’
He grinned. ‘Prosecutor Kenneth von Kwist, I presume?’
Jeanette nodded.
‘Ulrika Wendin is listed at an address in Hammarbyh?jden, and I suggest we get out there as soon as we can.’
‘OK … what else?’
He looked at her inquisitively, and she couldn’t help pausing before she answered.
‘Karl Lundstr?m’s wife is a dentist.’
He looked uncomprehending.
‘A dentist?’
‘Yes. Lundstr?m’s wife is a dentist, meaning that he could have had access to medication. We know that at least one of our victims was given an anaesthetic used by dentists. Xylocain adrenalin. Two plus two. I wouldn’t be surprised if the test results show that Krylov’s blood contains traces of it as well. In other words, it’s not out of the question that all this is connected.’
Hurtig put the file down and stood up.
‘OK, you’ve convinced me. Lundstr?m sounds worth investigating.’
‘I’ll call Billing,’ Jeanette said. ‘Let’s hope he can persuade the prosecutor to arrange an interview.’
Hurtig paused in the doorway and turned back.
‘Is it absolutely necessary to involve von Kwist, when it’s just a first, exploratory interview?’
‘I’m afraid so,’ Jeanette said. ‘Seeing as Lundstr?m’s already facing one charge, we have to inform von Kwist at least.’
Hurtig sighed and walked away.
She called Commissioner Dennis Billing, and to her surprise he was unusually helpful and promised to do what he could to persuade the prosecutor. Then she called the lead interviewer at National Crime, Lars Mikkelsen.
She explained why she was calling, but when she mentioned the name Karl Lundstr?m he laughed.
‘I don’t think so,’ Mikkelsen said, clearing his throat. ‘He’s no murderer. I’ve dealt with a lot of murderers over the years, and I recognise them. This man is sick. But he’s not a murderer.’
‘That’s possible,’ Jeanette said. ‘But I’m interested in finding out more about his contact with child trafficking.’
‘Lundstr?m is making out that he knows a lot about how it all works, but I’m not sure you’d get much out of him. That’s an international business, I doubt you’d get much help even if you turned to Interpol. Believe me, I’ve worked with this crap for twenty years, and we’re constantly trying.’
‘How can you be so sure that Lundstr?m isn’t a killer?’ she asked.
He cleared his throat again. ‘Well, anything’s possible, I suppose, but you’d understand if you met him. You should probably talk to the forensic psychologist instead. A woman called Sofia Zetterlund has been brought in to offer an expert opinion. But the investigation’s hardly got going yet, so you might want to wait a few days before heading out to Huddinge.’
They ended the call.
Jeanette had nothing to lose, and maybe the psychologist would be able to give her something, even if it was just a small detail. That sort of thing had happened before. The way things looked, she had every reason to call this Sofia Zetterlund.
But it was long past office hours, and Jeanette decided to hold off making the phone call. Right now she just wanted to go home.
Gamla Enskede – Kihlberg House