Its probably for him anyway, mutters Daniella.
Yes, Joona is saying. No, I want him here OK, but I dont give a damn about that. The detective is smiling as he listens to his colleagues objections. Although I have noticed something, he chips in.
The person on the other end is yelling.
Im doing this my way, Joona says calmly, and ends the conversation. He hands the phone back to Daniella with a silent nod of thanks. I have to question this patient, he explains, in a serious tone.
Im sorry, says Erik. My assessment is the same as Dr. Richards.
When will he be able to talk to me? asks Joona.
Not while hes in shock.
I knew youd say that, says Joona quietly.
The situation is still extremely critical, explains Daniella. His pleural sack is damaged, the small intestine, the liver, and-
A policeman wearing a dirty uniform comes in, his expression uneasy. Joona waves, walks over, and shakes his hand. He says something in a low voice, and the police officer wipes his mouth and glances apprehensively at the doctors.
I know you probably dont want to talk about this right now, says Joona. But it could be very useful for the doctors to know the circumstances.
Well, says the police officer, clearing his throat feebly, we hear on the radio that a caretakers found a dead man in the toilet at the playing field in Tumba. Our patrol car s already on Huddingevägen, so all we need to do is turn and head up towards the lake. We figured it was an overdose, you know? Jan, my partner, he goes inside while I talk to the caretaker. Turns out to be something else altogether. Jan comes out of the locker room; his face is completely white. He doesnt even want me to go in there. So much blood, he says three times, and then he just sits down on the steps
The police officer falls silent, sits in a chair, and stares straight ahead.
Can you go on? asks Joona.
Yes The ambulance shows up, the dead man is identified, and its my responsibility to inform the next of kin. Were a bit short-staffed, so I have to go alone. My boss says she doesnt want to let Jan go out in this state; you can understand why.
Erik glances at the clock.
You have time to listen to this, says Joona.
The police officer goes on, his eyes lowered. The deceased is a teacher at the high school in Tumba, and he lives in that development up by the ridge. I rang the bell three or four times, but nobody answered. I dont know what made me do it, but I went around the whole block and shone my torch through a window at the back of the house. The police officer stops, his mouth trembling, and begins to scrape at the arm of the chair with his fingernail.
Please go on, says Joona.
Do I have to? I mean, I I
You found the boy, the mother, and a little girl aged five. The boy, Josef, was the only one who was still alive.
Although I didnt think He falls silent, his face ashen.
Joona relents. Thank you for coming, Erland.
The police officer nods quickly and gets up, runs his hand over his dirty jacket in confusion, and hurries out of the room.
They had all been attacked with a knife, Joona Linna says. It must have been sheer chaos in there. The bodies were they were in a terrible state. Theyd been kicked and beaten. Theyd been stabbed, of course, multiple times, and the little girl she had been cut in half. The lower part of her body from the waist down was in the armchair in front of the TV.
His composure finally seems to give. He stops for a moment, staring at Erik before regaining his calm manner. My feeling is that the killer knew the father was at the playing field. There had been a soccer match; he was a referee. The killer waited until he was alone before murdering him; then he started hacking up the body- in a particularly aggressive way- before going to the house to kill the rest of the family.
His composure finally seems to give. He stops for a moment, staring at Erik before regaining his calm manner. My feeling is that the killer knew the father was at the playing field. There had been a soccer match; he was a referee. The killer waited until he was alone before murdering him; then he started hacking up the body- in a particularly aggressive way- before going to the house to kill the rest of the family.
It happened in that order? asks Erik.
In my opinion, replies the detective.
Erik can feel his hand shaking as he rubs his mouth. Father, mother, son, daughter, he thinks very slowly, before meeting Joona Linnas gaze. The perpetrator wanted to eliminate the entire family.
Joona raises his eyebrows. Thats exactly it A child is still out there, the big sister. Shes twenty-three. We think its possible the killer is after her as well. Thats why we want to question the witness as soon as possible.
Ill go in and carry out a detailed examination, says Erik.
Joona nods.
But we cant risk the patients life by-
I understand that. Its just that the longer it takes before we have something to go on, the longer the killer has to look for the sister.
Now Erik nods.
Why dont you locate the sister, warn her?
We havent found her yet. She isnt in her apartment in Sundbyberg, or at her boyfriends.
Perhaps you should examine the scene of the crime, says Daniella.
Thats already under way.
Why dont you go over there and tell them to get a move on? she says, irritably.
Its not going to yield anything anyway, says the detective. Were going to find the DNA of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people in both places, all mixed up together.
Ill go in a moment and see the patient, says Erik.
Joona meets his gaze and nods. If I could ask just a couple of questions. That might be all thats needed to save his sister.
Chapter 3
Erik Maria Bark returns to the patient. Standing in front of the bed, he studies the pale, damaged face; the shallow breathing; the frozen grey lips. Erik says the boys name, and something passes painfully across the face.
Josef, he says once again, quietly. My name is Erik Maria Bark. Im a doctor, and Im going to examine you. You can nod if you like, if you understand what Im saying.
The boy is lying completely still, his stomach moving in time with his short breaths. Erik is convinced that the boy understands his words, but the level of consciousness abruptly drops. Contact is broken.
When Erik leaves the room half an hour later, both Daniella and the detective look at him expectantly. Erik shakes his head.
Hes our only witness, Joona repeats. Someone has killed his father, his mother, and his little sister. The same person is almost certainly on the way to his older sister right now.
We know that, Daniella snaps.
Erik raises a hand to stop the bickering. We understand its important to talk to him. But its simply not possible. We cant just give him a shake and tell him his whole family is dead.
What about hypnosis? says Joona, almost offhandedly.
Silence falls in the room.
No, Erik whispers to himself.
Wouldnt hypnosis work?
I dont know anything about that, Erik replies.
How could that be? You yourself were a famous hypnotist. The best, I heard.
I was a fake, says Erik.
Thats not what I think, says Joona. And this is an emergency.
Daniella flushes and, smiling inwardly, studies the floor.
I cant, says Erik.
Im actually the person responsible for the patient, says Daniella, raising her voice, and Im not particularly keen on letting him be hypnotized.
But if it wasnt dangerous for the patient, in your judgment? asks Joona.
Erik now realizes that the detective has been thinking of hypnosis as a possible shortcut right from the start. Joona Linna has asked him to come to the hospital purely to convince him to hypnotize the patient, not because he is an expert in treating acute shock and trauma.
I promised myself I would never use hypnosis again, says Erik.
OK, I understand, says Joona. I had heard you were the best, but I have to respect your decision.
Im sorry, says Erik. He looks at the patient through the window in the door and turns to Daniella. Has he been given desmopressin?
No, I thought Id wait awhile, she replies.
Why?
The risk of thromboembolic complications.
Ive been following the debate, but I dont agree with the concerns; I give my son desmopressin all the time, says Erik.
How is Benjamin doing? He must be, what, fifteen now?
Fourteen, says Erik.
Joona gets up laboriously from his chair. Id be grateful if you could recommend another hypnotist, he says.
We dont even know if the patient is going to regain consciousness, replies Daniella.
But Id like to try.
And he does have to be conscious in order to be hypnotized, she says, pursing her mouth slightly.
He was listening when Erik was talking to him, says Joona.
I dont think so, she murmurs.
Erik disagrees. He could definitely hear me.
We could save his sister, Joona goes on.
Im going home now, says Erik quietly. Give the patient desmopressin and think about trying the pressure chamber.
As he walks towards the lift, Erik slides out of his white coat. There are a few people in the lobby now. The doors have been unlocked; the sky has lightened a little. As he pulls out of the car park he reaches for the little wooden box he carries with him, garishly decorated with a parrot and a smiling South Seas native. Without taking his eyes off the road he flips open the lid, picks out three tablets, and swallows them quickly. He needs to get a couple of hours more sleep this morning, before waking Benjamin and giving him his injection.
Chapter 4
Seven and a half hours earlier, a caretaker by the name of Karim Muhammed arrived at the Rödstuhage sports centre. The time was 8:50 p.m. Cleaning the locker rooms was his last job for the day. He parked his Volkswagen bus in the car park not far from a red Toyota. The soccer field itself was dark, the floodlights atop the tall pylons surrounding it long since extinguished, but a light was still on in the mens locker room. The caretaker retrieved the smallest cart from the rear of the van and pushed it towards the low wooden building. Reaching it, he was slightly surprised to find the door unlocked. He knocked, got no reply, and pushed the door open. Only after he had propped it with a plastic wedge did he spot the blood.
When police officers Jan Eriksson and Erland Björkander arrived at the scene, Eriksson went straight to the locker room, leaving Björkander to question Karim Muhammed. At first, Eriksson thought he heard the victim moaning, but after turning him over the police officer realized this was impossible. The victim had been mutilated and partially dismembered. The right arm was missing, and the torso had been hacked at so badly it looked like a bowl full of bloody entrails.