Cinderella Girl (25 page)

Only then was the spell broken and she ran for all she was worth down the stairs.

* * *

‘Not a thing,’ said Sjöberg. ‘Nothing of interest has come out in any of the interviews.’

Hamad decided to suck on the sweet he had in his mouth and let the inspector complain for a while before he told of his own discovery.

‘You look tired,’ he said.

Sjöberg sighed. He thought briefly about Margit Olofsson’s nightly disturbance of his sleep, the smell of her perfume that lingered in the air around him. He did not want to think about it, much less talk about it.

‘Yes, there’s probably more than one reason for that,’ he said without going into detail. ‘By the way, Nieminen called. Those Finnish consultants, Helenius and Grönroos, have never had any problems with the police. Or with the tax authorities. And they had completely legitimate reasons for
their trip to Sweden, so they aren’t dodgy – in that way at least. How have you been doing?’

‘I’ve found a connection,’ said Hamad. ‘A connection between Jennifer Johansson and a previously unknown passenger on the Finland ferry.’

‘What are you saying?’ said Sjöberg, suddenly looking a little livelier. ‘That’s exactly what we need right now.’

‘It’s vague, but it’s a connection. Unfortunately I’m not getting anywhere with it.’

‘Let’s hear it,’ said Sjöberg.

Hamad described his meeting with Elise and Sjöberg listened with growing interest. The account continued with the discovery of Sören Andersson’s name on the passenger list and his subsequent questioning of the man, without anything of interest arising.

‘Well, I’m not happy with that,’ Sjöberg maintained. ‘Do his age and appearance match the description of the man in the bar?’

‘Sure, it could have been him,’ said Hamad.

‘But that wallet … How did Elise get hold of it?’ Sjöberg asked. ‘Even if this is the connection we’re looking for, how in the world do they hang together?’

‘Jennifer can’t have stolen the wallet on the boat, because Elise wouldn’t have had it. Elise claims to have found it on Sunday; Andersson says he lost it on Friday.’

‘Maybe he’s lying,’ Sjöberg suggested. ‘Let’s say that Jennifer stole it on the ferry and then hid it in the cabin or gave it to one of her friends. He killed her but didn’t get his wallet back. One of the friends then gave the wallet to Elise, who handed it in.’

‘But why should she lie about that?’ Hamad asked.
‘Besides, it’s a bit of an overreaction to kill someone who stole your wallet. There must be more to it than that.’

‘Drugs?’ Sjöberg tried.

‘Jennifer didn’t do drugs.’

‘We’ll have to get Eriksson to research this Sören Andersson’s past and see if we find anything there. It’s going to be hard to pick holes in his story, especially if he made an effort to stay anonymous during the trip.’

‘If he was the one sitting in the bar with Jennifer, then he failed at least once. He was seen.’

‘There’s only circumstantial evidence,’ said Sjöberg. ‘If we could connect him to the scene of the crime, we would have more to go on. We’ll have to see what Lehto has to say about this character, but first we have to sound Elise out properly.’

A quiet knock on the open door caused them both to fall silent. Westman stood in the doorway, and Hamad thought she looked like a timid schoolgirl, like he had never seen her before.

‘I’ll pick you up in a while,’ Sjöberg concluded the conversation in a voice that had suddenly taken on an authoritative tone. ‘Close the door behind you.’

Hamad got up with a raised eyebrow, gave Petra a familiar pat on the back and left the office.

Petra sank down with a sigh on the visitor’s chair where Hamad had just been sitting. She could feel the warmth left by his body as she met Sjöberg’s eyes with a regretful expression.

‘Okay now, Petra,’ Sjöberg sighed in turn. ‘I can see that you’re uncomfortable.’

‘I know what it is you want,’ she answered. ‘I just found out from Gunnar Malmberg. They’re planning to fire me.’

Sjöberg shook his head and gave her a look that was unbearable.

He felt sorry for her. Not because she had been badly treated, but because she was … sick. Not to be trusted. A problem child. The black sheep of the force. Scandalous.

‘Is that your biggest problem, do you think?’ he asked, not concealing his disappointment. ‘If I were in your shoes, I would pack up my things and leave this building. Do you understand how you’ve disgraced yourself? This is irreparable, Petra. You can’t stay here.’

‘It’s bad, Conny, but nowhere near as bad as it appears.’

She saw that he was getting angry, but anything was better than disappointment.

‘Petra, that’s a pornographic picture.’

Sjöberg hissed out the words so they wouldn’t be heard out in the corridor. Petra lowered her eyes.

‘A picture depicting you in an unconventional intercourse position. In an e-mail that was evidently an invitation to the police commissioner! “Sexy, or what?” What the hell has got into you, Petra? Do you have a drinking problem or do you think you can screw your way to a higher salary?’

‘You’ve seen the picture,’ said Petra quietly.

‘I’ve seen the picture because Brandt forced me to look at it. I looked for a second or two until I understood what the hell I was seeing, then I deleted it. Believe me, Petra, I am not the least bit interested in seeing you like that.’

Even when he was so upset, when he was telling her off, his eyes were friendly. Suddenly it occurred to Petra
that he was not angry, he was sincerely sorry for her sake. She was close to tears now.

‘Conny, I did not send that e-mail. I was not even here when it was sent,’ she said as calmly as she could, feeling the lump in her throat growing.

‘And that’s not you in that damn picture either? Huh?’

‘That is me in the picture, but I was unconscious when it was taken,’ she forced out before the tears pricked her eyes. ‘Besides, it’s not a photograph, it’s a frame from a film that was recorded when I was raped last autumn. And if you don’t believe me, ask Rosén.’

Now she could no longer hold back her tears and in some way that was a release. She had not shed a single tear since the rape, but now it suddenly felt as if she had been waiting for this moment the whole time. Just to open up the floodgates and let her emotions out. And no more than that was needed to make calm the storm inside Sjöberg. Purely intuitively he let his loyalty, which for a few hours had been led astray, find its way home again. To Petra. To his Petra, whom he had never, ever doubted before. Instinctively he got up and went over to her. With both hands he turned her face up towards him, then took her hands and kindly pulled her up from her place on the chair. Then he took her in his arms with her head on his chest.

‘Rosén?’ asked Sjöberg gently.

He felt her nodding in his embrace, and they remained like that for a long time, while he stroked her hair and let her calm down.

The silence was only broken when Sjöberg pinched her softly on the neck and asked if she’d fallen asleep. Petra
laughed and freed herself. She wiped her face with her sleeve and Sjöberg went back to his place behind the desk. Petra smiled a little self-consciously as she too sat down. She noticed that Sjöberg looked like he had had a weight lifted from his shoulders.

‘Now let’s take this from the beginning,’ said Sjöberg, adopting his customary working frown.

For the first time in almost a year Petra described how she and Jamal had spent a November evening at Clarion’s bar, how she started talking to Peder Fryhk with whom she later shared a taxi, about waking up in his house in Mälarhöjden, and about the hangover and the pain. It was liberating to be able to do it. It felt safe to have Sjöberg on her side, someone to talk to about what had happened, someone who understood what she was going through. She continued by telling him about her irregular investigation, how she succeeded in getting an acquaintance, forensic technician Håkan Carlberg, to help her with analysing samples. How the prosecutor had then put the anaesthetist and serial rapist Fryhk behind bars. Finally she told him about the Other Man, about the missing video recording, and about her worry that she might be revealed as the one who had convicted Fryhk.

Together they mapped out what had happened since last Friday: the course, the workout session, the visit to the bar with Hamad, and the exact times of entry, exit and the sending of the fateful e-mail.

‘Someone had his eye on you last Friday, Petra. Someone knew exactly when he could execute this, and how.’

‘And this someone has the film,’ Petra added. ‘There is
someone out there who raped me and who is sitting at home on the couch jacking off to this video.’

‘In here,’ said Sjöberg. ‘There’s someone
in here
who’s doing that.’

Petra had not managed to think that far. There had been one catastrophe after another during the afternoon and she had not had time to stop and analyse. She had a vague idea that a skilled hacker could log into her computer from somewhere and send an e-mail that appeared to come from her. But of course Sjöberg was right. The Other Man was a policeman. A police officer who worked here in the building. And who had used her pass card and computer to direct suspicion at her.

‘Who knows your password?’ asked Sjöberg.

‘No one. I told Gunnar Malmberg that too.’

‘Do you have it written down anywhere?’

‘No, only in my mobile phone and I always have it with me.’

‘Have you changed passwords in the past year?’

Suddenly Petra realized where he was headed. The Other Man had been meticulous. He had even gone into her contacts list and snooped out her password as she was stretched out in Peder Fryhk’s bed. It had been a naive hope that he would not know who she was. He had recognized her from the start. Petra shook her head with a look that showed she understood what Sjöberg meant.

‘I assume you’ve tried to figure out who’s been calling you at night?’ Sjöberg continued.

‘Prepaid cards,’ Petra confirmed. ‘A different number each time.’

Sjöberg nodded thoughtfully.

‘But why is he doing this?’ said Petra, throwing up her arms. ‘He’s so careful and so concerned about not being discovered. He doesn’t appear on a single film frame, Fryhk is keeping his mouth shut, and according to Hadar he hasn’t left a trace behind him.’

‘Well, he has left
one
trace behind.’

‘But we have nothing to compare it with.’

‘Not yet. Do you know why men rape, Petra?’

‘They say it’s not so much about sex as about power.’

‘Exactly. And he doesn’t feel that he’s finished with you. You put a spanner in the works for them and that can’t be tolerated. He wants to pressure you properly. Get revenge. That’s to our benefit.’

Our
, thought Petra, feeling warmer inside. I’m not alone any more.

Sjöberg glanced at the clock.

‘There was another thing too,’ Petra said. ‘Something unpleasant happened yesterday evening.’

Then she told him about the telephone call from Brandt and her meeting with him.

‘So he probably wasn’t really all that offended by that e-mail,’ she noted in conclusion.

‘What did you say he said after that business about Mathias Dahlgren?’ Sjöberg asked.

‘Something along the lines of “I thought we could continue a few flights up after we’d eaten”.’

Sjöberg suddenly started laughing. Petra looked at him in surprise.

‘You’re not much of a slut, Petra! Don’t you understand what he meant by that? Mathias Dahlgren’s restaurant is on street level in the same building as the
Grand Hotel. That horny bastard probably reserved a room for the two of you there too!’

Still with an amused gleam in his eye, Sjöberg picked up the phone and dialled directory enquiries.

‘Please give me the number for the Grand Hotel and then connect me with Mathias Dahlgren’s restaurant. Thanks.’

Shortly thereafter someone picked up at the other end. Petra watched her superior wide-eyed without understanding at first what he had in mind.

‘I would like to know if there was a reservation in the name of Brandt yesterday evening … No? … I see, eight o’clock … Around seven. Thanks very much.’

Without saying anything he winked at Petra and dialled another number.

‘Roland Brandt here, Hammarby Police. I suddenly got a little worried that I forgot to cancel my room reservation yesterday … No, that’s nice … A double room … Great, thanks.’

Sjöberg hung up and rubbed his hands together with a satisfied smile.

‘Roland had a table reserved at Mathias Dahlgren for eight o’clock yesterday, which he cancelled at seven. Afterward he had envisioned a little tête-à-tête with you in one of the double rooms, but he had to cancel that too. He was clearly terribly offended.’

* * *

‘What was that all about?’ Hamad asked during the walk up to Ringen.

‘What?’ Sjöberg asked with feigned cluelessness.

‘You and Petra behind closed doors. What kind of secrets do you have together?’

‘Oh, I see, that. We were just talking about work.’

‘Are things going that bad for her at work?’ Hamad asked with a wry smile. ‘She looked like she’d been crying her eyes out.’

‘I didn’t notice that,’ Sjöberg answered curtly.

‘Petra and I are good friends,’ Hamad persisted. ‘You can tell me –’

‘I see, you are?’ interrupted Sjöberg. ‘Yes, I heard the two of you went out last Friday. Where were you?’

‘At the Pelican having a beer.’

‘For how long?’

Sjöberg quickened his pace a little, his eyes fixed on some indeterminate point up on the rise.

‘I guess we left there around eleven-thirty. What about it?’ Hamad sought eye contact without success.

‘And where did you go after that?’

‘Home. I went home. I had to get up early to –’

‘And Petra?’ Sjöberg continued.

‘I guess she went home too! What is this? You don’t think that Petra and I –’

‘I don’t think anything. Just pure curiosity.’

Hamad shook his head. Sjöberg walked on at a rapid pace without meeting his associate’s eyes.

The party was already in full swing when they showed up at the Johansson family’s apartment. It was depressing to see the company crowded around the kitchen table. Not so much for their own sake; the two policemen’s thoughts
centred mostly on Elise. Poor kid, thought Sjöberg. Apparently things had been like this her whole life. And now she did not even have a sister to share her fate with. They had agreed on a considerably harder approach to the girl this time, but their intentions slipped away when once again they saw at close range what life was like for her.