Buried Angels

Chapter Twenty-Five

Patrik glanced at his watch. ‘Where the hell is Gösta? He should have got here first.’ He and Mellberg were waiting in the car, staring at Leon’s house.

At that moment a familiar vehicle pulled up alongside, and Patrik saw to his surprise that Martin was behind the wheel.

‘What are you doing here?’ Patrik said as he got out of the car.

‘Your wife rang and said there was a crisis and you needed my help.’

‘What on earth…?’ Patrik began but then stopped abruptly and pressed his lips together. Damn Erica. Of course she’d managed to dupe Gösta into taking her out to Valö. He was filled with both anger and concern. This was the last thing he needed right now. They had no idea what was happening inside Leon’s house, which was what he needed to focus on at the moment. On the other hand, he was grateful that Martin had turned up. He looked haggard and tired, but in a crisis situation, even an exhausted Martin was better than a Gösta Flygare.

‘So what’s going on here?’ Martin held up a hand to shade his eyes as he studied the house.

‘Gunfire. That’s all we know so far.’

‘Who’s inside?’

‘We don’t know that either.’ Patrik felt his pulse quicken. As a police officer, this was the sort of thing he disliked most. They had too little information to assess the situation properly, and that was when things were most dangerous.

‘Shouldn’t we call for reinforcements?’ said Mellberg from inside the car.

‘No, I don’t think there’s time for that. We’ll go over and ring the bell.’

Mellberg seemed about to protest, but Patrik spoke first.

‘You can stay here, Bertil, and hold down the fort. Martin and I will handle this.’ He turned to Martin, who nodded silently and took his service weapon from its holster.

‘I drove past the station and picked up my gun. I thought I might need it.’

‘Good.’ Patrik took out his gun too, and then they cautiously approached the front door. He pressed the doorbell. The sound echoed inside the house, and then a voice called out:

‘Come in. It’s open.’

Patrik and Martin exchanged a surprised look. Then they went in. When they saw the group assembled in the living room, their surprise was even greater. There sat Leon, Sebastian, Josef, and John, as well as a grey-haired man whom Patrik assumed was Percy von Bahrn. He was holding a gun, and he refused to meet their eyes.

‘What’s going on here?’ Patrik demanded to know. He was holding his service weapon down at his side, and he noticed that Martin was doing the same.

‘Ask Percy,’ said Sebastian.

‘Leon summoned us here to put an end to the whole matter. I thought I’d take him at his word.’ Percy’s voice quavered. When Sebastian shifted position on the sofa, Percy gave a start and pointed the gun at him.

‘Calm down, for Christ’s sake.’ Sebastian held up his hands.

‘Put an end to what?’ asked Patrik.

‘The whole thing. Everything that happened. What should never have happened. What all of us did,’ said Percy. He lowered the gun.

‘What did you do?’

No one answered, so Patrik decided to help them out.

‘During the interviews you all claimed that you’d been out fishing that day. But you can’t catch mackerel at Easter.’

No one spoke. Finally Sebastian said with a snort: ‘Typical city kids, to make a mistake like that.’

‘You didn’t offer any objections back then,’ said Leon. He almost sounded amused.

Sebastian shrugged.

‘Why did your father deposit money in the bank for Ebba while she was growing up?’ Patrik asked Leon. ‘Did you boys call him up on that day? A rich and powerful man with a network of contacts. Did he help you after you murdered the family? What happened? Did Rune go too far? Were you forced to kill the others because they were witnesses?’ Patrik could hear how fierce he sounded, but he wanted to shake them up, get them to talk.

‘Are you satisfied now, Leon?’ jeered Percy. ‘Here’s your chance to put all the cards on the table.’

John Holm jumped to his feet. ‘This is crazy. I refuse to get involved in any of this. I’m leaving.’ He took a step forward, but Percy instantly turned to his right, pointed the gun at John, and pulled the trigger.

‘What are you doing!’ screamed John and sat back down. Patrik and Martin raised their weapons to aim at Percy, but lowered them when he continued to point his pistol at John. It was too risky.

‘Next time you’re the target. That’s one legacy from my father they can’t take away. I used to begrudge the hours he forced me to spend practising my sharp-shooting. But I could shoot off that charming fringe of yours if I wanted to.’ Percy cocked his head to one side and stared at John, whose face had turned ashen.

Only now did it occur to Patrik that the Göteborg police must have gone to John’s house to find him. Most likely they had no idea that he was here.

‘Take it easy, Percy,’ said Martin calmly. ‘We don’t want anyone to get hurt. Nobody’s going anywhere until we’ve settled this.’

‘Was it about Annelie?’ Patrik again turned to Leon. Why was the man hesitating if he really wanted to reveal what happened on that Easter weekend in 1974? Had he suddenly got cold feet? ‘We think that she took her passport and fled abroad after the murders. Because the family were murdered, weren’t they?’

Sebastian started to laugh.

‘What’s so funny?’ asked Martin.

‘Nothing. Absolutely nothing.’

‘Was it your father who helped her disappear? Were you and Annelie sleeping together? Did everything fall apart when Rune found out? How did you get the other boys to help you and then keep quiet all these years?’ Patrik motioned towards the group of middle-aged men. In his mind he saw the pictures of them that were taken after the disappearance. Their defiant expressions. Leon’s natural air of authority. In spite of their greying hair and ageing faces, they were very much the same as back then. And they were still sticking together.

‘Sure, tell them about Annelie.’ Sebastian grinned. ‘Since you’re so keen on telling the truth. Tell them about Annelie.’

Patrik had a sudden flash of insight.

‘I’ve already met Annelie, haven’t I? It’s Ia.’

No one said a word. They all turned to Leon with a mixture of fear and relief on their faces.

Leon slowly stretched his arms as he sat in his wheelchair. Then he turned towards Patrik so that the sun shone on the scarred side of his face, and said:

‘I’ll tell you about Annelie. And about Rune, Inez, Claes, and Johan.’

‘Stop and think about what you’re doing, Leon,’ said John.

‘I’ve already thought it through. It’s time.’

He took a deep breath, but before he could say another word, the front door opened. And there stood Ia. She looked from one to the other, and then her eyes opened wide when she saw the gun in Percy’s hand. For a moment she seemed to hesitate. Then she went over to her husband, put her hand on his shoulder, and said gently:

‘You’re right. It’s impossible to keep running away.’

Leon nodded. Then he began to tell the story.

Anna was more worried about Ebba than about herself. Ebba’s face was pale, and her neck was a fiery red with what looked like the marks from someone’s hands. Tobias’s hands. Anna’s own neck did not feel tender. Had he drugged her? She didn’t know, and that was the most frightening thing of all. She had fallen asleep in his arms, flushed with the feeling of acceptance and closeness, only to wake up here, lying on this cold stone floor.

‘My mother is in there,’ said Ebba, peering inside one of the chests.

‘You can’t be sure of that.’

‘Only one of the skulls has long hair. It has to be my mother.’

‘It could be your sister,’ said Anna. She considered closing the lid, but Ebba had been wondering about her family for so long, and the contents of the chests provided some of the answers.

‘What is this place?’ asked Ebba as she continued to stare at the skeletons.

‘I think it’s some kind of air-raid shelter. And judging by the flag and uniforms, it must have been built during the Second World War.’

‘It’s so strange to think of them lying here all this time. Why didn’t anyone ever find them?’

Ebba was starting to sound more and more preoccupied, and Anna realized that she would have to take charge if they were going to get out of here.

‘We need to find something to prise open the door,’ said Anna, giving Ebba a small shove. ‘Why don’t you have a rummage through the rubbish over there in the corner, and I’ll…’ She hesitated. ‘I’ll search the chests.’

Ebba gave her a horrified stare. ‘But what if… what if they fall apart?’

‘If we don’t get the door open, we’re going to die here,’ said Anna calmly. ‘There might be some tools in one of the chests. Either you have to do it, or I will. Take your pick.’

For a moment Ebba didn’t move as she thought about what Anna had just said. Then she turned away and began rummaging through the rubbish heap. Anna didn’t really think she’d find anything, but it would be good for Ebba to keep busy.

She took a deep breath and stuck her hand inside one of the chests. She felt sick to her stomach as she touched the bones. Dry, brittle hair tickled her skin, and she couldn’t help letting out a shriek.

‘What is it?’ Ebba turned in alarm.

‘Nothing,’ said Anna. Then she steeled herself and continued her search. Her fingers scraped the wooden bottom of the chest, and she leaned forward to see if there was anything else down there. Suddenly she felt something hard, and she grabbed it between her index finger and thumb. It felt too small to be of much use, but she lifted it out all the same, to see what she’d found. A tooth. With a murmur of disgust, she dropped it back inside and wiped her hand on the blanket wrapped around her.

‘Did you find anything?’ asked Ebba.

‘No, not yet.’

Anna forced herself to search through the second chest, and when she was done, she sank to her knees. There was nothing. They would never get out of here. They were going to die.

Then she made herself stand up again. There was one chest left, and she refused to give up, even though she shuddered at the thought of another search. Resolutely she moved over to the final chest. Ebba was huddled against the wall, crying. Anna glanced in her direction before she stuck her hand inside the chest. She swallowed hard as she reached for the wooden bottom, letting her fingertips move back and forth. She touched something. It felt like a stack of papers, although they seemed smoother on one side. She pulled out the bundle and held it up to the light.

‘Ebba,’ she said.

When she didn’t get an answer, she went over to sit on the floor next to Ebba. Then she held out what she now saw were photographs.

‘Look,’ said Anna. Her fingers were practically itching to leaf through the pictures, but she suspected they were from Ebba’s past. She should be the first one to see them.

With trembling hands Ebba took the Polaroids.

‘What does this mean?’ she said then, shaking her head.

She and Anna stared at the images, though they would have preferred not to. And they both realized that here was the explanation for what happened on that Easter weekend.

Tobias’s attention was fading. His eyelids were heavy, his head drooped, and Erica saw that he was on the verge of falling asleep. She didn’t dare look at Gösta. Tobias was still holding the gun in a tight grip, and it could be fatal to make any sudden move.

Finally his eyes fell closed. Slowly Erica turned her head towards Gösta as she held a finger to her lips. He nodded. She cast an enquiring glance at the doorway behind Tobias, but Gösta shook his head. No, she didn’t think that would work either. If Tobias woke up as they crept past, there was a risk that he’d start shooting.

She paused to think. They needed to get help. Again she caught Gösta’s eye and pretended to hold a phone to her ear. Gösta instantly understood and began rummaging through his jacket pockets, but then he gave her a resigned shrug. He hadn’t brought his mobile. Erica scanned the room. Anna’s handbag was a short distance away. Slowly she slid closer. Tobias twitched suddenly, and she froze for a moment, but he went on sleeping, his head bowed towards his chest. Then her fingers touched the bag, and she slid a few more centimetres to the side and managed to grab the handle. She held her breath as she picked up the bag without making a sound. Cautiously she searched the contents as Gösta watched. He suppressed a cough, and she frowned at him. They didn’t need Tobias to wake up now.

Finally she found Anna’s mobile. She made sure that the ringer was turned off, but then realized that she didn’t know the four-digit code. All she could do was guess. She tapped in Anna’s birth date. The word ‘error’ appeared on the display, and she silently swore. Anna might not have changed the code that came with the phone, but she couldn’t think about that. She had two more attempts. Erica thought for a moment and then tried Adrian’s birthday. ‘Error’ again. Then she had an idea. There was one other date that was significant in Anna’s life: the fateful day when Lucas died. Erica tapped in those four digits, and a green light miraculously welcomed her into the phone’s world.

She glanced at Gösta, who sighed with relief. She had to act fast. Tobias could wake up at any moment. Thank God she and Anna had the same type of phone, so she easily located the menu. She began typing a text message, brief but with enough information so that Patrik would understand the danger. Tobias stirred restlessly, and just as she was about to send the message, she stopped and added a few more recipients. If Patrik didn’t see it at once, someone else would and take action. She pressed the ‘send’ button and then put the bag back where she’d found it. She hid the mobile under her right thigh so she could get to it if necessary, but Tobias wouldn’t be able to see it when he awoke. Now all they could do was wait.

Kjell leaned against the car, staring at one of the police vehicles as it drove off. The raid had failed. They had only John Holm’s wife in the back seat.

‘Where the hell is John?’

The area surrounding the house was still bustling with activity. The police were checking every nook and cranny, and the Expressen photographer was frantically trying to capture it all. He wasn’t allowed to get too close, but with the lens he had at his disposal, that didn’t bother him.

‘Do you think he fled the country?’ said Sven Niklasson. Sitting in Kjell’s car, he’d already written the first version of his article, which he’d sent off to his editor.

Kjell knew that he too should be writing up his report. In fact, he should already be on his way over to the Bohusläningen office, where he would no doubt be heralded as the hero of the day. When he rang to tell them what had happened, the editor-in-chief had cheered so loudly that he nearly burst Kjell’s eardrum. But he didn’t want to leave until he’d found out where Holm had gone.

‘No, I don’t think he would leave without Liv. And she seemed surprised to see the police. If she didn’t know about it, then John didn’t either. They’re said to be a very tight team.’

‘But in a small town like this, rumours must spread faster than the wind, so even if he hadn’t already taken off, there’s a big risk he’ll do that now.’ Sven turned to gaze at the house with a grim expression.

‘Hmm…’ said Kjell, not really paying attention. In his mind he went over everything he knew about Holm, speculating where he might have gone. The police had already checked the boathouse without finding him there.

‘Have you heard anything more about how things went in Stockholm?’ asked Kjell.

‘For once the Säpo security forces and the police seem to have successfully collaborated, and the raid went off like clockwork. All of the responsible parties were taken into custody without incident. Those guys aren’t so tough when the shit hits the fan.’

‘I guess not.’ Kjell was thinking about the battle cries that would fill the newspapers over the next few days. And not just in Sweden; the rest of the world would once again voice incredulity that something like this could happen in Sweden, the country that so many people regarded as almost absurdly orderly.

His mobile rang.

‘Hi, Rolf… Well, there’s a bit of confusion here. They don’t know where Holm is… What did you say? Gunshots? Okay, we’ll be right over.’ He ended the conversation and nodded to Sven. ‘Hop in. There are reports of gunshots at Leon Kreutz’s house. Let’s go.’

‘Leon Kreutz?’

‘One of the boys who went to school with Holm on Valö.’

‘I don’t know. Holm might turn up here at any moment.’

Kjell leaned his arm on the roof of the car and looked at Sven.

‘Don’t ask me why, but I think Holm is at Kreutz’s house. So make up your mind. Are you coming with me or not? The Tanum police are already there.’

Sven opened the passenger door and got in. Kjell got behind the wheel, slammed the door, and drove off. He knew he was right. The boys from Valö had been hiding something, and now it was going to be revealed. He definitely didn’t want to miss it when the news exploded.