The Fire Witness

103

Joona drives toward Johanneshov, south of Stockholm. A man answers his phone call. It sounds as if he’s in the middle of eating.

“Subway Traffic Technical Division, Kjelle here.”

“Joona Linna from the National Police. Can you confirm that a subway car named Dennis is parked with you at Johanneshov?”

“Dennis,” the man says, smacking his lips. “Do you have the car number?”

“No, sorry, I don’t.”

“Hold on, let me check.”

Joona can hear the man talking to himself and then the man picks up the phone again.

“There’s a Denniz with a z at the end-”

“That could be the one.”

“Okay.”

Joona hears the man swallow his food before he speaks again.

“It’s not in the current register. It’s a really old car. As far as I can tell from this database, it hasn’t been used in traffic for the past few years.”

“Where is it now?”

“Probably here, but let me connect you to Dick. He knows everything the computer doesn’t.”

Kjelle’s voice disappears and is replaced by the sound of electric buzzing. Then an older man picks up the phone. His voice echoes as if he’s in a cathedral or a room made entirely of metal.

“Swinging Dick here,” he says.

“I just talked to Kjelle,” Joona says. “He thinks that a car named Denniz is parked out by you.”

“If Kjelle says it’s here, it probably is. But I can go and take a look, especially if it’s a vital matter of life and death and the honor of my country.”

“It is, actually,” Joona replies.

“Are you in a car?”

“Yes.”

“Heading here?”

Joona hears Dick climbing down a metal staircase. A large, heavy door creaks. He sounds slightly out of breath when he next speaks.

“I’m down in the tunnel now. Are you still there?”

“Still here.”

“It looks like we have Mikaela and Maria. Denniz should be in one of these corners.”

Joona can hear Dick’s echoing footsteps even as he’s driving as fast as he can over the Central Bridge. He thinks about the times Vicky was on the lam. She must have slept somewhere. She must have felt safe and secure somewhere.

“Do you see the car yet?” asks Joona.

“Not yet. We have Ellinor. There’s Silvia. Even the lighting down here doesn’t work like it should.”

Joona can hear footsteps as Dick keeps going down a tunnel beneath the industrial center of Johanneshov.

“Let’s see. I haven’t been back this far in a long time. Let me turn on my flashlight. It’s the deepest in, of course. Here it is. Denniz, totally rusty and looks like-”

“You’re sure it’s the right car?”

“I can take a picture if you want. What the hell! There’s people inside! I can see people.”

“Shh,” Joona says.

Dick whispers, “There are some people inside the car.”

“Keep away from them,” Joona says.

“They’ve put a damned gas cylinder in front of the door!”

There’s a rustling sound as Dick moves away swiftly. He’s breathing hard.

“It was… I saw people in there,” he whispers into the phone.

Joona thinks it can’t be Vicky because she doesn’t have the key and the key ring.

Joona hears sudden high-pitched screaming. It’s distant but clear.

“There’s a woman screaming in there! She seems out of her mind.”

“Get away from there as best you can,” Joona says.

He hears more steps and hard breathing. He can still hear the screaming, but it sounds fainter.

“What did you see?” Joona asks.

“A large cylinder for welding was blocking the door.”

“What about the people?”

“There was graffiti on the door, but I could tell there was a tall person and a shorter person, and maybe more than that, but I’m not sure.”

“How did they get in?”

“We keep the tunnels locked, but if you’re determined, you could break in pretty easily.”

“Listen to me carefully,” Joona says. “I’m a detective inspector and I want you to leave the tunnel now and wait outside for the police to arrive.”