The Fire Witness

133

It’s eight fifteen in the morning as Saga Bauer opens the door to the appeals room at the offices for the Public Prosecutor for Police Cases. Mikael Båge, who’s responsible for internal investigations, rises from his armchair.

Saga is still damp from her shower and her long blond hair with its colorful bands winds over her narrow shoulders and down her back. She has a bandage on the bridge of her nose, but she’s still beautiful in a way that makes an observer feel unhappily in love.

Saga has run six kilometers this morning and, as usual, she’s wearing a hoodie from Narva Boxing Club, faded jeans, and sneakers.

“Are you Saga Bauer?” Mikael asks with an unusually large smile.

“That’s right,” Saga replies.

He wipes his hand on his jacket before he takes Saga’s.

“I’m sorry. Don’t mind me… It’s just… If only I were twenty years younger! You must have heard this before.”

Mikael Båge is blushing as he sits back down and loosens his tie. He can’t take his eyes off Saga.

The door opens and Sven Wiklund comes in. He greets them both and then stands in front of Saga at a loss for what to say. Finally he just nods then places a carafe of water and three glasses on the small table before he sits down.

“Saga Bauer is an inspector with Säpo,” Mikael Båge begins. Then he smiles that uncontrolled smile.

“I have to say this before I can continue. You look like one of those princesses in a John Bauer painting.” He waits a beat and then pours himself a glass of water.

“You have been called here as a witness,” Mikael continues, now in his role of internal investigator. He taps a folder. “You were present at the action in question.”

“What would you like to know?” Saga asks.

“The petition against Joona Linna… He is suspected of warning-”

“Göran Stone is my colleague, but he is a complete idiot,” she says. “He’s nothing but a climber.”

“You don’t have to get angry,” Mikael Båge says.

Saga Bauer remembers very well the time she and Joona had entered the secret headquarters of the Brigade, a far-left group. Daniel Marklund, the Brigade’s expert on hacking and eavesdropping, had given them the information they’d needed to save the life of Penelope Fernandez.

“So you don’t believe that the operation was unsuccessful?”

“Of course it was. I was the one who warned the Brigade.”

“The petition says-”

“Joona is the best officer in the country!”

“It’s always good to be loyal, but we are going to prosecute-”

“Then go to hell!”

Saga gets up and knocks Mikael Båge’s folder out of his hands, setting his papers flying. As she leaves, she stomps on them, then slams the door behind her so hard the window shade snaps up.

Saga Bauer may indeed look like a fairy-tale princess, but she feels like what she is: a detective with the security police. She is one of the best sharpshooters in the corps, and she’s a boxer at the highest level of the sport.