The killer's art

30

The paintings found in the Wallin storage room were confiscated by the police and sent by the next plane to Bukowski’s Auction House in Stockholm. There they would be identified and valued. Erik Mattson received them on Tuesday afternoon.

It took him less than an hour to identify them and confirm that they were genuine. All were originals. The larger Zorn painting with the Dalecarlian women on the shore of Lake Siljan was valued at between three and four million kronor. The others were worth several hundred thousand each. He calculated the total value to be between four and five million kronor. The works were registered, and after he looked them up in the databases, it turned out that they had all been stolen.

Both Zorn paintings were stolen three years earlier from a collector in Goteborg. The Carl Larsson painting had been taken from an exhibition in Falun the previous year, and the painting by Bruno Liljefors had disappeared during a move from an estate on Gotland just a few months earlier.

When he was finished with his appraisal, Mattson immediately rang Knutas.

‘Bugger!’ exclaimed the superintendent. ‘Every one of them stolen? Are you sure?’

‘Definitely. You can look them up yourself in your files.’

‘And you’re sure that they’re genuine?’ ‘Without a doubt.’

‘Thank you for your time.’

Knutas put down the phone and then punched in the direct number for the team at the NCP. He asked them to look into the facts of the thefts — how they had been carried out, and whether there were any suspects.

He stared out of the window, but his thoughts were elsewhere.

So Egon Wallin had been involved in the theft of paintings on a national scale, or had at least acted as a fence, which was just as serious. Knutas was shocked. Was he such a poor judge of character? He had always regarded Egon as such a law-abiding man. What else didn’t he know about him?

The search of the Wallin home was going to be conducted later in the day. The gallery would also be searched. Knutas was looking forward to hearing the results.