The killer's art

35

The cold was relentless, keeping everybody indoors. It was uncommonly quiet in Stockholm on this night in February. The temperature had dropped to minus 17 °C, and everything seemed to have come to a standstill, frozen in place.

When Hugo Malmberg opened the door to Langholmsgatan, he was met by an icy wave of cold. He burrowed his face in his scarf and turned up his collar as he surveyed the deserted street. Still no taxi. It was close to three a.m. He lit a cigarette, stamping his feet on the ground as he waited, trying to keep warm. He considered going back inside until he realized that he’d forgotten the entry code. He glanced up at the fifth floor and the row of windows belonging to Ludvig and Alexia’s flat. No lights were on. They’d been quick to turn them off, no doubt glad that he’d finally left.

Yet another in a series of Friday-night dinners with well-prepared food, exclusive wine and good friends. The waistband of his trousers felt tight; he needed to be careful not to put on more weight. He’d been the last guest to leave, which was often the case. This time he and the host, his good friend Ludvig, had got embroiled in a discussion about the lack of interest in art in the cultural pages of the major newspapers. Literature seemed to take up all the space. By the time all the arguments had been voiced and their indignation vented, it was two thirty in the morning. The rest of the dinner guests had dropped out, one by one, but that didn’t prevent the two friends from continuing their lively debate. It was Ludvig’s wife Alexia who had to see the other guests out with a kiss on the cheek.

Finally even Hugo realized that it was time to go home, and Ludvig rang for a taxi. The cabs always showed up promptly, so he thought he might as well take the lift down and wait outside as he smoked the cigarette he’d been longing for all evening.

Smoking was not allowed in Ludvig and Alexia’s flat. After Hugo had smoked a second cigarette and the cab still hadn’t arrived, he glanced again at his watch. He’d now been waiting ten minutes, and he began to have doubts that the taxi was going to show up at all. Unfortunately, he’d left his mobile at home, and he wasn’t thrilled about the idea of shouting or tossing pebbles at the windows so far overhead.

He turned to look towards Vasterbron. It really wasn’t very far to go. Just across the bridge and then he could take the stairs down and walk through Ralambshov Park. After that it was a short distance along Norr Malarstrand to the corner of John Ericssonsgatan, where he lived. It shouldn’t take him much more than twenty minutes, at most half an hour. The fact that it was so damned cold was the only thing that made him hesitate, but if he walked quickly, it shouldn’t be too bad.

Hugo Malmberg was one of Stockholm’s most respected art dealers. He was part-owner of a large gallery in Gamla Stan. By making successful deals in the art world, he’d built up a small fortune during the eighties that had increased ever since.

He set off at a brisk pace for Vasterbron, wanting to get his blood moving. The cold made every breath painful. Sweden isn’t meant for human beings, he thought. If God does exist, He must have forgotten this corner in the northernmost part of Europe. The city had settled into a frozen torpor. The layer of ice covering the bridge railing glittered in the light from the street lamps. The bridge loomed up before him with its beautifully curved arch. Underneath it, solid ice stretched all the way to the heart of the city. He turned up his collar as far as it would go and stuffed his hands in his coat pockets.

He was annoyed to see the night bus drive past just as he stepped on to the bridge. It hadn’t occurred to him that he might take the bus. Below lay the small island of Langholmen with its bare trees and rocks. The old prison island in the middle of town now consisted mostly of woods and berths for boats around the perimeter. Up ahead, a short distance away, there was a staircase that led down from the bridge to the desolate island.

Suddenly Malmberg noticed a figure below, moving among the trees. The man wore a dark down jacket and a knitted cap on his head.

At the very moment when he passed the stairs, their eyes met. The man in the dark clothes was tall and seemed to have a muscular body under his jacket. He had a boyish face, and curly blond hair stuck out from under his cap.

Malmberg couldn’t think of a thing to say. It was a strange situation. The two of them were alone, out in the cold night, and perhaps they should have exchanged greetings. The younger man seemed wildly attractive. Never mind, thought Malmberg. Right now he just wanted to get home as quickly as possible. His cheeks felt frozen. He began walking faster.

Not a sound came from behind him. He didn’t know whether the man on the stairs was following in his footsteps or had gone off in the other direction, towards Sodermalm. Finally Malmberg could no longer resist the temptation, and he turned around. He gave a start of surprise — the stranger was only a few yards behind him. He smiled and looked Hugo Malmberg right in the eyes.

Not knowing how to interpret that smile, Malmberg continued on his way.

As he approached the crest of the bridge, the wind picked up. The air was so raw and cold that he could hardly draw it into his lungs. Here he was, walking through central Stockholm, and he couldn’t remember ever seeing the city so desolate. Everything around him was frozen, as if the life and noise of the city had suddenly turned to stone, arrested in midstream. It was the same feeling that he got from art. An expertly done painting that moved him made everything else around him freeze for a moment, like a photograph — time and space stopped and he was alone, except for the painting in front of him.

Now he caught sight of the stranger again: all of a sudden he was standing ahead of him. How had that happened? He was on the other side of the bridge, looking straight at Hugo.

A feeling of uneasiness suddenly came over him. There was definitely something not quite right about this young man’s behaviour. The next second Malmberg realized how exposed he was, in full view in the middle of the bridge, with not the slightest place to hide if he was about to be attacked. He could run, of course, but his pursuer would undoubtedly catch him before he even managed to get up to speed.

Over on Norr Malarstrand he saw a lone taxi driving towards the centre of town. He continued walking, keeping his eyes on the man on the other side of the bridge. At the same time he heard the sound of an engine, which quickly rose to a deafening roar. An articulated lorry came speeding across the bridge in the other direction. He caught a glimpse of the driver’s face before the lorry thundered by.

By the time the long expanse of the lorry had passed, the man on the bridge had vanished.

O n Saturday Knutas was woken by the phone ringing. He immediately recognized Sohlman’s urgent voice on the line.

‘We’ve found what we think is the murder site.’

‘Really? Where is it?’ Knutas was instantly wide awake.

‘Near Karleksport. I think you’d better come over here.’

‘OK. I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.’

He jumped out of bed and into the shower.

Still wrapped in the sheets, Lina sleepily stretched out her hands towards him. ‘What’s going on?’ she murmured, sounding tired.

‘Things are happening. I’ve got to go.’ He kissed her on the forehead.

‘I’ll ring later,’ he called as he dashed down the stairs. He threw together a sandwich, but his coffee would have to wait. That was an almost unbearable sacrifice. Coffee was his life’s elixir and he needed it to function in the morning.

He drove down to the harbour as fast as he could and then continued along the wall to the small opening on the west side that was known as Karleksport. By the time he arrived, a large area had already been cordoned off.

‘What’s happening?’ he asked Sohlman, who was peering through the gate when he got there.

‘This morning a witness found this.’ Sohlman held up a plastic bag containing a black leather wallet. ‘Nothing seems to have been taken, so we can definitely rule out the robbery theory.’

‘Wallin’s wallet?’ Knutas ventured.

‘Yes. He must have dropped it when he was attacked. There are indications that this was in fact the murder site. We found blood stains on the wall and a cigarette butt that’s the same brand as the one we found at Dalman Gate. Lucky Strike. It’s a very unusual brand, at least here on Gotland.’

‘No trace of his mobile?’

‘No, unfortunately not.’

‘And it’s possible to drive all the way up here by car,’ said Knutas, scanning the ground. ‘But I don’t suppose there are any tyre tracks to be found after all this time.’

‘Don’t say that. It hasn’t snowed since the night of the murder, and hardly any cars ever come through here. At least not in the winter. We might be in luck.’

‘It seems most likely that the perp followed him here from Snackgardsvagen. The question is, where was Egon Wallin going? Obviously into town, but then where?’

‘He must have arranged to meet somebody. Either at one of the restaurants that are open late on Saturday night, or at a hotel. I can’t imagine any other possibilities.’

‘Unless he was going to someone’s house,’ said Knutas. ‘He could have been on his way to a secret rendezvous with someone who lives here.’

‘That’s also possible, of course.’

Knutas sighed. ‘In any case, it’s good that you found the murder site. Where’s the witness?’

‘Being interviewed,’ said Sohlman. ‘In the meantime, we’ll keep working here.’

‘OK. I’m going to call in everyone who can make it to a meeting this afternoon. I hope you can do your work here discreetly so that we won’t have the press on our backs.’

‘That’s going to be difficult,’ said Sohlman. ‘We need to keep a large area blocked off for most of the day. I’m hoping to map out the precise route that he took.’

‘I have a feeling that the killer was very familiar with the area,’ Knutas mused. ‘What if we’re actually looking for a Gotlander?’

Back at police headquarters, he rang Lina and explained that he was going to be busy most of the day.

Even though he’d been looking forward to having some time off, he was relieved that something was finally happening. Whenever an investigation came to a standstill for a number of days, he would start getting worried. He’d become more impatient over the years.

It didn’t take long before Sohlman rang. He was also back at headquarters to do a technical examination of Egon Wallin’s wallet.

‘Can you come down here?’ he asked Knutas.

‘Of course.’

Knutas hurried downstairs to the tech division, which was located in the basement of the building.

Sohlman had spread out the contents of the wallet on a table with strong lights overhead. ‘Everything seems to be here: credit cards, cash, business cards. The wallet had fallen into a ditch and was completely covered with snow. It’s not so strange that nobody found it until today.’

‘How much did the witness handle it, do you think?’

‘It was an elderly man out walking his dog. The dog sniffed it out of the snow. The witness saw Egon Wallin’s name and photo on the driver’s licence, so he had the good sense to drop the wallet on the ground and ring the police. He was also wearing gloves, and he kept them on, because he knew it was important not to leave his own prints. We can thank all the television crime shows for that. Unfortunately there are no fingerprints on the wallet because it was lying around outside so long.’

‘So what have you found?’

‘Well, there’s one thing that puzzles me.’

With tweezers Sohlman picked up a scrap of paper from the table. A yellow Post-it note with four numbers scribbled on it.

‘A code, apparently,’ said Knutas. ‘Could it be the PIN number for his bank card?’

‘It seems a little stupid to keep it in plain view in his wallet along with the card,’ said Sohlman. ‘Of course I know that people do dumb things like that all the time, but I don’t think it fits with Wallin’s personality.’

‘You’re right,’ Knutas agreed. ‘It must mean something else. Is there a coded keypad on the door of the gallery? In case someone forgets their key and it’s locked?’

Sohlman gave him a dubious look.

‘Wallin has run that art gallery for twenty-five years. He went there every day. Even if they’d recently changed the code, he would have had it memorized.’

‘We need to check out all possible options,’ said Knutas. ‘I’ll put Kihlgard on it. That’ll give him something to think about besides food.’