While Jeanette waited for them to call her back, she called Hurtig into her office.
‘Did you know that people delivering papers sometimes use prams instead of bikes with trailers?’ she said when Hurtig had come in and was sitting opposite her.
‘No, I didn’t. How do you mean?’ He looked at her questioningly.
‘Do you remember that we found the tracks from a pram at Thorildsplan?’
‘Sure.’
‘And who’s out and about early in the morning?’
Hurtig smiled and nodded. ‘People delivering papers …’
‘The phone should be ringing shortly,’ Jeanette said. ‘Why don’t you answer it?’
They sat in silence for a minute or so until the phone rang and Jeanette pressed the speaker button.
‘Jens Hurtig, Stockholm police.’
The girl from the delivery company introduced herself. ‘I was just talking to a female police officer who wanted to know who was on duty in western Kungsholmen on 9 May?’
‘Yes, that’s right.’
Jeanette could see that Hurtig had worked it out.
‘His name is Martin Thelin, but he no longer works for us.’
‘Have you got a number we can reach him?’
‘Yes, there’s a mobile number.’
He made a note of the number, then asked the operator if she had any other information about the former employee.
‘Yes, I’ve got his personal details. Do you want them?’
‘If you wouldn’t mind.’
Hurtig wrote down Martin Thelin’s ID number and ended the call.
‘Well, what do you think?’ Jeanette asked. ‘A suspect?’
‘Either that or a witness. It would be perfectly possible to transport a body in a pram, wouldn’t it?’
Jeanette nodded. ‘Or else it was Martin Thelin who found the body at Thorildsplan when he was delivering papers. And called the police.’
She gave ?hlund a ring and asked him to try to track down Thelin. She gave him the phone number.
‘OK, quick run-through,’ she said afterwards. ‘Tell me which name you think is hottest right now.’
‘Karl Lundstr?m,’ Hurtig replied, without hesitation.
‘Right,’ she said. ‘Why?’
Hurtig seemed bemused by the situation.
‘Paedophile. Knows how to buy children from the Third World. Thinks castration’s a good idea. And has access to anaesthetics because his wife is a dentist.’
‘I agree,’ Jeanette said. ‘So, let’s concentrate our fire on him. I got hold of the file from the preliminary investigation into the Ulrika Wendin case this morning, so I suggest we do a bit of homework before driving over to see her.’
Hammarbyh?jden – a Suburb
THE GIRL WHO opened the door was short and thin, and didn’t look a day over eighteen.
‘Hello, I’m Jeanette Kihlberg. My colleague here is Jens Hurtig.’
The girl avoided eye contact, nodded and led the way into a small kitchen.
Jeanette sat down opposite her while Hurtig remained standing in the doorway.
‘There was a different name on the door,’ Jeanette said.
‘Yes, I’m renting third-or fourth-hand.’
‘I know what it’s like. Stockholm’s completely hopeless. It’s impossible to find somewhere to live if you’re not a millionaire.’ Jeanette smiled.
The girl no longer looked quite as scared, and risked a small smile back.
‘Ulrika, I’ll get straight to the point, so you don’t have to put up with us for longer than necessary.’
Ulrika Wendin nodded, fiddling nervously with the tablecloth.
Jeanette gave her a short summary of the case against Karl Lundstr?m, and the girl seemed to relax a bit when she realised that the evidence against the paedophile was so strong that it was likely to lead to a conviction.
‘Seven years ago you reported him for rape. Your case could be reopened, and I think you’d stand a good chance of winning.’
‘Winning?’ Ulrika Wendin shrugged her shoulders. ‘I don’t want to start that up again …’
‘Do you feel like telling us what happened?’
The girl sat there silently staring down at the tablecloth while Jeanette studied her face. What she could see were fear and bewilderment.
‘I don’t know where to start …’
‘Start at the beginning,’ Jeanette said.
‘It was …’ she attempted. ‘It was when me and a friend answered an Internet ad …’ Ulrika Wendin fell silent and glanced at Hurtig.
Jeanette realised his presence was putting Ulrika off, and with a discreet gesture let him know that it would be best if he left the room.
‘To begin with it was just for fun,’ the girl went on when Hurtig had gone out into the hall. ‘But soon we realised we would earn money. The man who placed the ad wanted to sleep with two girls at the same time. And we’d get five thousand …’
Jeanette could see how hard it was for the girl to tell her story.
‘OK. What happened after that?’
Ulrika Wendin was still looking down at the table. ‘I was a bit out of control in those days … We got drunk and agreed to meet him, and he picked us up in his car.’
‘Karl Lundstr?m?’
‘Yes.’
‘OK. Go on.’
‘We went to a bar somewhere. He paid for all the drinks, and my friend legged it. He was angry at first, but I promised to go with him for half the price …’
Jeanette could see that the girl felt ashamed.
‘I don’t know why …’
Her voice was getting thinner. ‘Everything was so fuzzy, and he led me back to the car. Then there’s a blank. The next time I woke up I was in a hotel room.’
Jeanette guessed she’d been drugged.
‘Do you know which hotel?’
For the first time Ulrika Wendin met Jeanette’s gaze.
‘No.’
To begin with, the girl’s story had been tentative and fragmented, but from now on it became more clear and factual. She explained how she had been forced to have sex with three men while Karl Lundstr?m stood and filmed it. In the end he too had forced himself on her.
‘How did you know it was Karl Lundstr?m?’
‘I didn’t know who he was until I happened to see his picture in the paper.’
‘And that’s when you reported him?’
‘Yes.’
‘And you were able to identify him in a line-up?’
Ulrika Wendin looked tired. ‘Yes. But he had an alibi.’
‘Is there any chance that you were mistaken?’
There was a flash of contempt in the girl’s eyes.
‘Like fuck is there! It was him.’
Ulrika Wendin sighed and stared blankly down at the table.
Jeanette nodded. ‘I believe you.’
When Jeanette and Hurtig had left the apartment and were walking across the car park, Hurtig opened his mouth for the first time since they had arrived.
‘What do you think?’ he said.
Jeanette unlocked the car and opened the door. ‘That von Kwist is going to have to reopen her case. Anything else would be a dereliction of duty.’
‘And our case?’
‘Pretty doubtful.’ They got in the car, and Jeanette started the engine.
‘Doubtful?’ Hurtig let out a laugh.