The Postcard Killers

    She stared at him, speechless. Day off? Rest?!

    He drummed his fingers on her desk for a few seconds before getting up and going back to the news desk.

    Dessie stayed where she was until Mats Duvall, Gabriella, and Jacob Kanon arrived at the office. They got there less than five minutes apart, Duvall and Gabriella looking white as paper.

    “What have I done?” she said, looking up at Jacob. “What damage have I caused?”

    He looked at her with a surprisingly calm expression.

    “Aren’t you crediting yourself with a bit too much? They did this, not you.”

    She quickly stood up, aiming for the restroom, but Jacob caught her with a firm grasp on her upper arm.

    “Stop it,” he said. “This is a blow, but it’s not your fault. Instead of feeling sorry for yourself, help us.”

    “The conference room,” Mats Duvall said, moving past them. “Right now, all of you.”

    Gabriella walked after the superintendent, giving Jacob a sharp look. Dessie, who was suddenly extremely conscious of Jacob’s hand on her arm, shook herself free and followed the police through the sports section of the room.

    Mats Duvall raised an eyebrow in surprise when she sat down with the investigating team around the table.

    “Our work is covered by confidentiality laws,” he said.

    “First the killers dragged me into this nightmare,” Dessie said. “Then you did the same. So now I’m here, whether you like it or not.”

    The superintendent frowned.

    Jacob threw his arms out.

    “So let her join in. How hard can it be? She’s been useful so far. We owe her something.”

    Mats Duvall straightened his back.

    “If you stay as an observer only. You can’t write anything about what we talk about. You’re clear about that?”

    “Unless you order me to, right?” Dessie said sharply.

    The superintendent let the subject drop. One of the detectives handed around enlarged copies of the latest photograph.

    “Okay, we’ve got another double murder,” Mats Duvall said, “but so far no bodies. So what do we have? Can anyone identify the scene of the photograph?”

Chapter 60

    DESSIE TOOK A DEEP BREATH and stared hard at the photograph in front of her.

    A naked young man was lying on his stomach along the back of what looked like a leather Chesterfield-style sofa. Both of his hands were stretched above his head. On the left side of the sofa sat a young woman with her hands placed demurely in her lap.

    On her head she was wearing Mickey Mouse ears.

    The sofa was in front of a large window. The picture had been taken from a low angle, meaning that the bodies were shot with the daylight coming from behind them.

    “Millesgеrden,” Gabriella said.

    Mats Duvall looked at her.

    “Do you recognize the setting?”

    She nodded her head.

    “The artwork they’re imitating. The man is supposed to be the flying statue in the garden outside. The woman might represent one of the animal sculptures that were in an exhibition there this past winter.”

    “Get the security recordings from Millesgеrden,” the superintendent said, and one of the detectives disappeared through the door. “What does this business with works of art mean in this context?”

    “We don’t know yet,” Gabriella said. “So far it’s just a theory.”

    Dessie squinted and held the picture closer to her face. Either she needed glasses or the picture was bad.

    “I don’t know, but maybe…,” she said hesitantly.

    “What?” Jacob said.

    She pointed at a shadow next to the man’s forehead.

    “There,” she said. “That could be a balustrade or a railing. Because it’s so high up, it must be on the roof of a tall building.”

    “And?”

    “Railings like that are unusual on residential buildings in Stockholm, unless they’re to stop snow from sliding off the roof. This must be some official building.”

    “For instance?”

    She hesitated and fiddled with her pen.

    “Well, I might be wrong…”

    “Jesus!” Jacob shouted. “Spit it out!”

    Dessie jumped and dropped her pen.

    “The Royal Palace,” she said.

    Jacob blinked.

    “The Royal Palace? How’s that? Have the killers checked in with the king?”

    She shook her head.

    “The palace is in the background. That’s what I see. The murder scene is exactly opposite.”

    Mats Duvall stood up.

    “The Grand Hotel,” he said on his way to the door.

Chapter 61

    THE FIVE-STAR HOTEL BY THE harbor on Sцdra Blasieholmshamnen had 366 rooms and 43 suites spread over eight floors. About half of them had a view of the water and the Royal Palace.

    The hotel manager was calm but stern, even with the police, even with homicide.

    “Naturally we’re happy to cooperate,” she said. “But I hope the search can be conducted with discretion.”

    Mats Duvall ordered all available staff on the investigation to take part in the search.

    Jacob and Gabriella didn’t wait for the reinforcements to arrive from headquarters.

    They headed for the second floor and methodically went to room after room on the side facing the water. They were accompanied by a receptionist holding a digital hotel register.

    Jacob knocked, and whenever there was an answer, he moved on at once. The killers were hardly going to be sitting with the bodies, just waiting to be discovered. That much was clear.