The Fire Witness

68

The strong current is pulling Hasse Boman straight down. He’s going much too fast again. The water pounds against his ears. He knows he could break both legs if he collides with something. His heart races as he tries to fill his vest more, but the dump valve is giving him trouble. He tries to slow down using his hands. Algae loosens from the concrete walls and disappears with the current. He doesn’t tell the police above water that he’s getting frightened. The suction is more powerful than he’d believed possible, and everything beyond the camera light is completely black.

“How deep are you now?” asks the inspector from Stockholm.

He doesn’t reply because he doesn’t have time to look at the depth meter. He has to slow his descent. He’s using one hand to work the inflation valve and the other to keep himself upright. An old plastic bag dashes past. He’s plunging straight down. He tries to reach the regulator on his back, but he bangs his elbow against the concrete wall. He sways as he’s buffeted by the fierce current and feels the adrenaline coursing in his blood. He thinks in panic he must control his descent.

“Eighty-five feet,” he finally pants.

“You’ll be at the grate soon,” the inspector says.

As it’s sucked down the concrete wall, the water makes his legs shake uncontrollably.

Hasse is still falling fast and realizes that he’s at risk of being speared by sharp branches or broken timber. He knows he’ll have to drop some of his weights in order to stop, but he has to keep some so he has a chance of returning to the surface.

The bubbles from his exhalation now head straight down like a string of pearls. The suction increases and a new current of much colder water hits him in the back. It feels as if the entire river is trying to press him against the wall.

He sees a large leaf-covered branch coming at him. The leaves shake as the branch tumbles along the concrete wall. He tries to move away, but the branch is caught in his lifeline and hits him-then it breaks free and disappears down into the darkness.

“What happened?” asks the inspector.

“There’s a lot of garbage.”

The diver manages to release some lead weights from his vest and is able to break his violent fall. He hangs, shaking, next to the concrete wall. The view in his circle of light is clouded by sand and soil caught in the streaming water.

He stops. His feet have reached the upper edge of the grate, where there’s a lip of concrete. Vast amounts of branches, tree trunks, leaves, and garbage have collected in front of the intake grate. The suction is so strong that every movement feels impossible.

“I’m in place now,” he says, “but it’s hard to see anything. There’s a ton of shit down here.”

Trying to keep his lifeline free from the branches, he climbs over a vibrating tree trunk. Something is moving slowly behind a misshapen spruce log.

“What’s going on?”

“I see something.”