The Fire Witness

151

After lunch, Johannes is the last person to get back to the arraignment room. He’s holding his cell phone to his ear. The judge waits until the room is silent and then summarizes the results of the morning. Then he says, “The prosecutor has reduced the level of suspicion to the next-lowest level. She still requests that the accused be held in custody as a suspect for the crime of kidnapping.”

“Yes, indeed,” Susanne Öst says. “You cannot ignore the fact that Vicky Bennet kidnapped Dante Abrahamsson and held him captive for more than a week.”

“There’s just one thing,” Johannes says.

“What now?” asks the judge.

Johannes walks to the door and opens it. Joona Linna enters, followed by a woman and a little boy. They stop as soon as they cross the threshold.

“I would like to introduce Joona Linna,” Johannes says.

“I know who he is,” the judge replies. He leans forward with increased interest.

Joona turns to the little boy hiding behind his mother’s legs. “Here are the old guys I was telling you about.”

“They don’t look like trolls,” the boy whispers, and starts to smile.

“You don’t think so? Look closely at that one over there.” He points to the judge.

The boy shakes his head and grins.

“Everybody, say hi to Dante and his mom, Pia Abrahamsson,” Joona says.

Everyone in the room says hi. When Dante sees Vicky, he waves. Vicky waves back and her smile is heartbreaking. Susanne closes her eyes and tries to breathe slowly.

“You’re waving at Vicky, but wasn’t she mean to you?” Joona says.

“Mean?”

“Someone told me she was really mean,” Joona says.

“She gave me piggyback rides and all her Hubba Bubba.”

“But you wanted to go back to your mom.”

“I couldn’t,” the boy says.

“Why not?”

The boy shrugs.

“Tell them what you told me,” Pia says to her son.

“What about?”

“That she called.”

“Oh yeah, she called.”

“Can you tell Joona all about it?” Pia nods encouragingly.

“Vicky called on the phone but they wouldn’t let her come back.”

“Where did she call from?” asks Joona.

“From the truck.”

“Did someone let her borrow a phone in the truck?”

“Don’t know.” Dante shrugs.

“What did she say on the phone?”

“She wanted to go back.”

Dante’s mother lifts him up and snuggles him and whispers to him until he wriggles free.

“Can you explain this?” the judge asks Joona.

“Vicky borrowed a cell phone from a truck driver who worked for IKEA. His name is Radek Skorża,” Johannes Grünewald explains. “Joona Linna has traced the call. The call was placed to Birgittagården. It was automatically rerouted to the central office of Orre, the company that manages the home. Vicky spoke to a woman named Eva Morander. Vicky asked for help and repeated that she wanted to return. Eva Morander remembers the conversation. She told Vicky that the central office doesn’t handle specific cases.”

“Do you remember this conversation, Vicky?” the judge asks.

“Yes,” says Vicky. Her voice is naked. “I just wanted to go back. I wanted them to take Dante back to his mother. But she said I couldn’t go back.”

Joona walks over and stands next to Johannes.

“I know that it’s strange for a detective inspector to be on the side of the defense,” he says. “But in my opinion, Vicky Bennet told the truth during Saga Bauer’s questioning. I do not believe we have a kidnapping case here, just a terrible coincidence. So I talked to Dante and his mother and asked them to come, and that’s why I’m here, too.”

Joona’s sharp gaze lands on the girl’s face: no makeup, bruises, and scabs.

“But murder is something else, Vicky,” he says sternly. “You may think you can keep silent, but I will not rest until I find out the truth.”