Have you written up your report? he asked.
She shook her head and exhaled a stream of smoke.
Ill do it, he said.
Then Ill go home and go to bed.
That sounds nice, he said with a smile.
Join me, she joked.
Joona shook his head. I want to go in and look around. Then I have to determine whether the boy can be interrogated.
Lillemor tossed the cigarette to the ground. What exactly are you doing here? she asked.
You can request backup from National Murder Squad, but I dont think they will have time, and I dont think theyll find answers to what happened here anyway.
But you will?
Well see, Joona said.
He crossed the small garden. A pink bicycle with training wheels was propped against a sandbox. Joona headed up the front steps, turned on his torch, opened the door, and walked into the hallway. The dark rooms were filled with silent fear. Just a few steps in and the adrenaline was pumping through him so hard, it felt like his chest would explode.
Purposefully, Joona registered it all, absorbing every horrific detail until he couldnt take any more. He stopped in his tracks, closed his eyes, felt back to guilt deep inside him and continued to search the house.
In the bleak light of the hallway, Joona saw how bloody bodies had been dragged along the floor. Blood spattered the exposed-brick chimney, the television, the kitchen cabinets, the oven. Joona took in the chaos: the tipped-over furniture, the scattered silverware, the desperate footprints and handprints. When he stopped in front of the small girls amputated body, tears began to flow down his face. Still, he forced himself to try to imagine precisely what must have happened; the violence and the screams.
The driving force behind these murders couldnt have been connected to a gambling debt, Joona thought. The father had already been killed. First the father, then the family; Joona was convinced of it. He breathed hard between gritted teeth. Somebody had wanted to annihilate the whole family. And he probably believed he had succeeded.
Chapter 8
Joona Linna stepped out into the cold wind, over the shivering black-and-yellow crime tape, and into his car. The boy is alive, he thought. I have to meet the surviving witness.
From his car, Joona traced Josef Ek to the neurosurgical unit at Karolinska University Hospital in Solna. The forensic technicians from Linköping had supervised the securing of biological evidence taken from the boys person. His condition had since deteriorated.
It was after one in the morning when Joona headed back to Stockholm, arriving at the intensive care section of Karolinska Hospital just past two. After a fifteen-minute wait, the doctor in charge, Daniella Richards, appeared.
You must be Detective Linna. Sorry to keep you waiting. Im Daniella Richards.
How is the boy, doctor?
Hes in circulatory shock, she said.
Meaning?
Hes lost a lot of blood. His heart is attempting to compensate for this and has started to race-
Have you managed to stop the bleeding?
I think so, I hope so, and were giving him blood all the time, but the lack of oxygen could taint the blood and damage the heart, lungs, liver, kidneys.
Is he conscious?
No.
Its urgent that I get a chance to interview him.
Detective, my patient is hanging on by his fingernails. If he survives his injuries at all, it wont be possible to interview him for several weeks.
Hes the sole eyewitness to a multiple murder, said Joona. Is there anything you can do?
The only person who might possibly be able to hasten the boys recovery is Erik Maria Bark.
The hypnotist? asked Joona.
She gave a big smile, blushing slightly. Dont call him that if you want his help. Hes our leading expert in the treatment of shock and trauma.
Do you have any objections if I ask him to come in?
On the contrary. Ive been considering it myself, she said.
Joona searched in his pocket for his phone, realized he had left it in the car, and asked if he could borrow Daniellas. After outlining the situation to Erik Maria Bark, he called Susanne Granat at Social Services and explained that he was hoping to be able to talk to Josef Ek soon. Susanne Granat knew all about the family. The Eks were on their register, she said, because of the fathers gambling addiction, and because they had had dealings with the daughter three years ago.
With the daughter? asked Joona.
The older daughter, explained Susanne.
So there is a third child? Joona asked impatiently.
Yes, her name is Evelyn.
Joona ended the conversation and immediately called his colleagues in the Reconnaissance Division to ask them to track down Evelyn Ek. He emphasized repeatedly that it was urgent, that she risked being killed. But then he added it was also possible that she was dangerous, that she could actually have been involved in the triple homicide in Tumba.
Chapter 9
Detective Joona Linna orders a large sandwich with Parmesan, bresaola, and sun-dried tomatoes from the little breakfast bar called Il Caffè on Bergsgatan. The café has just opened, and the girl who takes his order has not yet had time to unpack the warm bread from the large brown bags in which its been delivered from the bakery.