The Fire Witness

147

There’s an arraignment room on the ground floor of the National Police building. It’s a simple conference room with chairs, a desk, and a table of lacquered fir. About twenty journalists have already collected in the glass-enclosed foyer and TV vans are parked on Polhemsgatan.

The hard rain of the previous night has streaked the triple-paned windows of the arraignment room, and wet leaves are stuck to the white window frames. A uniformed policeman is standing by the wall next to the door, and the judge, an older man with bushy eyebrows, sits behind the desk.

Susanne Öst appears pale and tense, and Vicki looks small and exhausted. She sits between Elin Frank and her lawyer, bent over as if her stomach hurts.

“Where’s Joona?” she whispers.

“We don’t know if he can come,” Johannes says.

Susanne stands up. “If it please, Your Honor, I would like to request that Vicky Bennet be jailed on suspicion of the murders of Elisabet Grim and Miranda Eriksdotter, as well as on suspicion of kidnapping Dante Abrahamsson.”

The judge writes something down and Susanne hands him a Cerlox-bound collection of documents before she begins to relate the conclusions reached during the preliminary investigation.

“All the technical evidence points to Vicky Bennet and no one but Vicky Bennet.”

Susanne pauses for a moment before she begins to go through the reports from the crime scene investigation. Barely restraining her eagerness, she puts special emphasis on the biological evidence and the fingerprints.

“The boots found in Vicky Bennet’s closet have been matched to footprints from both crime scenes. Blood from both victims have been found in her room and on her clothing. Vicky Bennet’s bloody handprint was found on the windowsill.”

“Why do they have to talk about all of this?” Vicky whispers.

“I don’t know,” Elin replies.

“If Your Honor would look at the appendices to the National Forensic Laboratory’s expert opinion.” Susanne waits for the judge to find the right document. “On page 9 the murder weapon can be seen. Vicky Bennet’s fingerprints have been lifted from the handle. See pages 113 and 114 for photos of them. The comparative analysis has concluded that Vicky Bennet has used the murder weapon.”

The judge looks through the material. Then Susanne begins to relate the conclusions from the expanded forensic autopsy report: “Miranda Eriksdotter died from blunt trauma to the head. This is beyond a doubt. She had compression fractures on her temporal bone and-”

“Susanne,” the judge says in a friendly manner, “we are only discussing whether the suspect should be kept in jail until trial or not. We’re not at the main trial.”

“I know.” The prosecutor nods. “However, considering the young age of the suspect, I thought it would be important to demonstrate the reasons why she should be in jail.”

“As long as you don’t take up too much time,” the judge says.

“Thank you,” Susanne says. She then describes all the injuries on both victims, including Elisabet Grim’s serious defensive wounds, and how long the victims had been dead before they were discovered, based on the lividity.

“Where is Joona?” Vicky asks again.

Johannes places a hand on Vicky’s arm and whispers that if Joona hasn’t appeared by the break, he’ll give him a call.