Wednesday June 12th
At a quarter past five in the afternoon Daphne parked the police car outside the Stenvall family’s stone-house up in Kathikas. There were fifteen similar villas in the area and strangely enough most of them seemed to be inhabited. A group of noisy boys around 10 years’ of age were playing football on the gravel field opposite.
”I feel as though I’m in a sauna.” Nikki dried the sweat on her forehead with her palm and leaned against a palm in the shade.
Daphne locked the car and went up to Nikki. ”Did you feel the gust of air? That’s exactly how it is when somebody blows at you in the sauna.”
”I know. It’s crazy.”
With heavy steps they went up to the black iron-gate, opened it and continued along the stone-clad path decorated with blossoming plants. Nikki stopped suddenly by the pomegranate tree and whispered:
”Look, Olof is washing his Can-Am with a pressure-wash.” Now Daphne too saw Olof standing by the carport with the hose all ready.
”Maybe he’s not as innocent as he claims? Besides he changed his story all of sudden yesterday when Sam was there.”
”Strangely enough for the worse. Now he doesn’t have any bloody alibi for one of the Saturdays.”
”Let’s see what he has to say today.” Daphne quenched a sneeze.
”I’d better do the interrogation in Swedish, or what do you think?”
In reply Daphne gave Nikki a thumbs up. She continued studying Olof who very carefully rinsed off the soap from the four-wheeler before clearing her throat loudly.
”What the hell are you doing here?” Olof said when he saw the two police. ”Your colleague actually saw me yesterday, isn’t that enough?”
”Sorry, but we can’t make out your alibi. It doesn’t add up.” Nikki smiled sweetly.
”You and your bloody questions. When are you going to leave me alone?”
”When we can cross you out from the investigation. Can we sit down somewhere?”
Olof turned off the high-pressure washer, dried himself with the towel and led the way to a sofa group in the shade by the infinity-pool.
”Are you at home alone?” Nikki looked around the garden which didn’t measure up at all to the ones of the Hofvenskold family or Sten Anderson.
”Yes, the wife is out shopping as usual. What is it with you women? You love to spend money on unnecessary things and as soon as you’re bored you have to go to the closest shopping mall.” Olof was twisting his white moustache between his fingers and his eyes looked worried.
Nikki sat down without replying. What could she say? It was public knowledge that most women loved shopping and with a husband like Olof Nikki understood his wife even better. She picked up the pen and notebook from her handbag and read?
”You stated that you were at home on Saturday the 1st of June the entire day with your wife at the first interview. But when Sam was here yesterday you changed your mind. You said that Margareta had been out playing bridge in the evening and that she’d stayed overnight with a friend in Limassol. You yourself had gone for a long walk between seven and nine in the evening just to return home and watch TV before going to bed at midnight. Alone.” Nikki sat in silence and waited for the ever more nervous man to reply.
”It isn’t so bloody strange. How could I remember what I did last week? And when I did think a bit more I remembered it.” Olof turned and twisted his hands on the knee.
”Sorry, we’re talking about Saturday last week and not Saturday half a year ago. If I’m not mistaken you had a calendar here when Daphne and Sam interviewed you.”
”The days merge together here on the island. You’ll understand it when you pass the age of 60 like me.”
”But you had the help of your calendar…”
”Ah, that one. It’s empty. Do you think I’m keeping a diary or what?” Olof laughed bitterly and blinked a couple of times.
Nikki wet her lips with her tongue and looked out over the deep valley before she continued. ”And nobody can corroborate that you were out walking? You didn’t meet anybody along the road?”
Olof looked irritatedly at Nikki. ”No, I didn’t meet anybody that evening.”
”Sorry for interrupting, but could I please use the bathroom?” Daphne asked.
Olof murmured in a disgruntled manner. ”Yes OK, straight ahead it’s the third door to the left.”
Nikki glanced when Daphne went in through the sliding door and then wiped her forehead. ”This means that you still don’t have any alibi for when Sten Arvidsson was murdered”, Nikki causally told him.
”But damn it, why should I murder him?” Olof crossed one leg over the other one and pulled his cap further down over the eyes.
”He was bothering your wife. He broke the rules on your court.” Nikki put a lot of emphasis on your.
”Sten Arvidsson was a bastard but I didn’t kill him for that.” Olof put on a rather firm face and reached for his pipe lying on the ash-tray on the table.
”You know what, I think that you might have done it. Because you don’t have any alibi for the time when Karl Hofvenskold was murdered either.” Nikki let the sentence sink in and noticed how Olof got even more scared.
”You don’t think I murdered them all?” He put his leg down and held on hard to the cane-chair’s armrests.
”We don’t think anything, Olof. But to be able to exclude you from the investigation you have to show an alibi for all three occasions. And at the moment you don’t seem to have that. So what do you expect us to think?” Nikki noticed that Daphne came back and sat down next to her but still kept all her focus on Olof. He hung his head in a worried manner while rubbing his eyes.
”But damn it. I’m no murderer!” Olof flashed from nothing and hit his fist on the table.
”Give me valid alibis then.” Nikki looked at the man intently and was convinced that he was withholding something. Then she leaned back in the chair with her arms crossed and watched a bunch of crows landing on the field nearby.
Olof was moving, frightened. He had noticed Nikki’s firm tone of voice and was getting even more nervous.
”Friday June 7th you said you had guests for dinner at home.” Nikki was reading her notes and scratching her nose which was peeling.
”Correct.” Olof took a paper serviette from the table and dried the sweat from his face.
”When Sam spoke to your wife yesterday she said that you had gone for a walk after dinner that evening. You were gone for almost two hours…didn’t get home until half past nine.”
Olof sadly shook his head. ”We had a very large meal. My stomach can’t deal with it so I walked around a bit.”
”Going for a walk of two hours when you have guests at home? To me it sounds unbelievable.” Nikki put the back of the pen in her mouth and slowly started chewing it.
”It was my eldest son and his wife here, so it’s not so strange. I don’t need to sit with them just because they are visiting.”
Nikki looked doubtfully at Olof who didn’t meet her gaze.
”Karl Hofvenskold was killed sometime between eight and nine last Friday”, Nikki continued in a calmer tone. ”You might understand why we think it’s strange that you were out walking exactly at that time when you did have dinner guests after all.”
Olof stood up and looked around the garden with worry before finally sitting down again. His hands were deep in his shorts and his face was flaming red.
”OK, I have another question. What were you doing the day before yesterday between four and six in the morning?”
Olof quickly stood up. ”Now it’s bloody enough. Get out of my house! You have no right to come barging in here accusing me of having murdered three people.”
Nikki breathed calmly. ”We are not accusing you of anything but your alibi doesn’t hold.” She stood up and put a hand on his shoulder. ”We’ll be in touch. Soon.”
According to general practice the blue lights should be on even if it wasn’t an emergency. Nikki didn’t understand the rule and smiled every time Daphne pressed the button.
”Tell me, what happened? Why did Olof start shouting?”
Nikki briefed Daphne of what Olof had said during the interrogation while she pushed the hair from her eyes, twisting it together and putting it up in a knot.
”I don’t get it. Why would Olof really have killed these three victims?” Daphne sneezed again. ”I wonder if I’m allergic to cats? I think I’ve been starting to sneeze a lot lately.”
”But did Olof have a cat?”
”I stroked a white furry thing in the house, so....”
”Ah, but isn’t cat allergy normally all about itchy eyes?”
”I don’t have a clue actually. Will Google it a bit at home tonight.”
”Returning to the question as to why Olof would murder, I actually don’t know”, Nikki said and took off her Maui Jim. She took out the cloth from her glasses case and carefully cleaned the glasses.
”At least I can tell you that Olof has a size 43 in shoes.”
”How do you know that?” she exclaimed giving Daphne an amazed looked.
”But you didn’t really believe that I needed the bathroom? I just made up a reason so that I could get into the house.” Daphne winked and turned left out onto the main road.
Nikki laughed straight out. ”Damn it you’re smart. As of now he is really in trouble.”
”Honestly do you really think he’s a murderer?” Daphne took out a pack of handkerchiefs and blew her nose.
”I don’t think anything until the opposite has been proven”, Nikki said and leaned her head against the neck-rest, closing her eyes for a while. She was tired. Too little sleep and too much worry made her lie in her bed twisting and turning during the nights.
Daphne changed and went in the outside lane. The traffic was getting heavier as they came closer to town.
”What do we think about the Mafia then? At least they have an obvious motive as to why Sten Arvidsson had to go.”
A strong smell of smoke was coming in through the car’s air-condition vent and Nikki heard a humming sound coming from above. . She quickly looked up toward the clear sky. A helicopter was pouring water on a huge fire up on the mountain slope and she also saw several fire trucks there,
”There is only one way to find out if the Mafia is involved in this mess or not, isn’t there? We have to go and visit them”, Nikki said rubbing her eyes. She longed for a few free hours on the beach, but knew there was no time for that right now.
”By the way, is it OK if we pass by my landlord? I have to pay the rent.” Nikki followed the helicopter with her eyes when it turned out to the sea again to collect more water.
”No problem”, Daphne answered with concentration.
They continued in silence, both busy with their own thoughts until they arrived at the landlord’s office. Nikki was surprised at seeing the beautiful flowers by the entrance and was then shown the stairs to the landlord’s office by the friendly receptionist. She immediately recognized the man behind the desk and knocked on the open door before entering.
”Excuse me, I would just like to pay the rent for this week.” Nikki looked around and liked what she saw.
”Good, please come in.” The landlord pulled out a drawer in his desk and started writing a receipt. ”Please have a seat”, he said and showed her the chair in front of the desk.
Nikki sat down and noticed the man’s nails. You wouldn’t find worse bitten nails. With a disgusted face she took out 50 Euros from her wallet and tried looking elsewhere.
”OK, here’s the receipt. I suppose you want to continue paying by the week?”
”Yes please, but I don’t know how long I’ll be staying”, Nikki replied and gave the man with the grey hair a fake smile. ”It all depends on the investigations.”
”The investigations?” the landlord asked curiously.
”I’m working on a few cases together with the police in Coral Bay.”
Nikki saw a shadow pass over the man’s face but didn’t think more of that. Some framed pictures on the desk caught Nikki’s attention. Some of the pictures were, or so Nikki assumed, the landlord’s family. Then her gaze fell on a particular picture. One was the landlord himself and the other man Nikki recognized so well even though the picture must be many years old.
Where the heck had she seen him before?
Not until the door of the building closed behind her did she remember who the man in the picture was.
Wednesday June 12th
Nikki quickly jumped into the police car with Daphne behind the wheel. Her heart was beating hard and her face glistening with sweat.
”You look crazy. What actually happened in there?” Daphne asked and turned out on the road toward Coral Bay.
”Listen up. I forgot to tell you in the meeting this morning that both Sten Arvidsson and Karl Hofvenskold were using the same accountant as Patrik. You know, Petros Christou.”
”What are you saying?”
”Yes, Sam and I managed to find that out last night. But”, Nikki continued holding her breath, ”do you know who my landlord is hugging in a picture on his desk?”
”Petros?” Daphne answered and put on the light.
”Exactly”, Nikki said excited.
”But what does it mean for the investigation?”
Nikki thought for a while and slowly felt deflated.
”Probably nothing. Everybody knows everybody on this island. They might be related?”
Daphne turned the wheel and went to the right in the roundabout which was decorated with colourful flowers in the middle.
”But didn’t you say that Patrik was in a terrible mood when coming back from a meeting with Petros?”
”Yes”, Nikki replied and frowned.
”Well then I think it’s time to make a return visit with the dear accountant to pump him for more information.”
Nikki just about had time to nod in agreement when her mobile rang.
”This is David, do you have paper and a pen? I have some information that I know you really want.”
”Just a sec.” Nikki opened her handbag, took out a pen and opened an empty page in her notebook.
”Let’s start with your first question regarding the cash card. I can’t see to whom it belongs but I have just sent an sms to the owner. When the person opens the message a secret spy program will be installed which gives me full access to the mobile.”
”Hang on a minute, what do you mean?”
”It means that I get full access to everything on the phone, so I can read mail, sms and so on. In addition I’ll be able to follow the mobile via GPS and also see which mast it’s bouncing off.”
”Wow, you’re worse than NSA in the States. Don’t be angry now. But I have an account statement which belongs to the Mafia. If I scan it and mail it to you. Could you do some research on it...?” Nikki heard David sighing loudly in the phone. ”Damn it Nikki, How the hell did you get that?”
”You don’t want to know that.” Nikki whispered the sentence and felt as though she’d just been caught out.
The phone went quiet. ”OK, I really should say no because I know that you must have risked a lot if you are sitting with the Mafia’s account statement in your hand.”
”Thanks honey, you’re an angel.” Nikki exhaled and pushed her fringe to the side.
”For your information the Mafia is also smuggling weapons to Syria.
”Are they? Talk about idiots without scruples. But they probably only have money in their brains. By the way, couldn’t you send a spy program to Oleg and Vladimir’s mobiles?”
David laughed out loud. ”They are not that stupid, believe me. They would never open a strange message.”
”What a pity”, Nikki replied and drummed her fingers on the dashboard.
”But I do know somebody that stupid. Could you send him a spy message too?”
”Is he part of the Mafia?” David said and sounded really doubtful.
”Not at all, he’s a normal Swede and actually one of our main suspects.”
David laughed heartily and jotted down Olof Stenvall’s mobile number.
”OK, I’ll be in touch when I know more about the burner phone and Olof.”
”You’re a gem, thanks for all your help.” Nikki giggled. It just bubbled up inside of her without warning. Soon they would have Olof under control as well.
The afternoon sun was hot and there was not a single cloud in the sky when the two female police officers got out of the car outside the police station.
”Come on. Carlos has forgotten what he said even if he probably hasn’t forgotten who beat him up.” She laughed hard but heartfelt and pushed Nikki’s shoulder. ”Besides he’s given you a fine which is among the worst I’ve ever seen. But I promise I’ll try to find a way to avoid paying it. Sorry if I’m laughing but the Chief really thinks that he can do what he wants, but it doesn’t really work that way. Another thing, if you had the guts to get onboard Money Talks yesterday you will not have any problem entering our innocent little station.”
”I don’t know what you’re talking about, what Money Talks?” Nikki rolled her eyes and pulled a mocking face.
”Dear Lord, how would you otherwise get the account statements. I heard what you said to David. You are unbelievable, but you probably already know that.”
Nikki pulled up her shoulders to her ears and then lowered them again. ”Yes, yes, I admit. Satisfied?”
Daphne grinned in reply and at the same time looked thoughtfully at Nikki.
”OK, let’s go in and meet your fantastic boss. But I warn you that I probably will be thrown out head first when he sees me.” Nikki took a deep breath, pushed up her Maui Jim in her hair and anxiously went inside the barred door. They greeted Katerina politely and then went straight to the conference room where Sam was bent over a bunch of papers.
”Hi there, how is it going?”
Sam happily lifted his head and looked at the girls inquiringly. ”Hi, how are you doing?” he said and crossed his arms.
”Fine”, Daphne replied and told him about the day’s events while Nikki went into the kitchen and made a snack.
”Since you have contacts with Cyta, could you maybe get me another call list? It would be interesting to see who Olof Stenvall has been in contact with” Daphne said and went up to the whiteboard.
”Of course, I’ll do it immediately.” Sam moved over to the desk and picked up the phone, dialling the number to his contact in Cyta. Suddenly everybody got busy each one engrossed with their own issues. Daphne updated the whiteboard with the day’s information and Nikki scanned the account statement of the Russian Mafia to mail it to David. When a bit later she looked at the big clock on the wall and realized it was already half past five, she felt guilty about not contacting Linn.
Ten minutes later she excused herself, closed the computer and put it in its bag and went home. It was eerily quiet in the flat when Nikki walked in through the door. The door had been unlocked and the first thing she saw was that the drawers in the entrance were half open. Had there been a burglary?
”Hello.” Nikki took off her sandals and quickly went into Linn’s bedroom. The bed was made and the cushions were organized on the bed cover. She continued to the other rooms but it wasn’t until she went out on the balcony that she found her childhood friend sitting with a bottle of wine in her hand.
”But how are you doing?” Nikki crouched and looked inquiringly at her friend. The blue and black shades under her eyes made Linn’s already sad face look worse and her thin lips seemed to have lost the colour of life.
”Sweet-heart.” Nikki’s tone of voice was filled with love and empathy.
”Do you know how many times I’ve been close to opening this bloody bottle today?” Linn said with a look of both shame and honesty in her eyes. Nikki comfortingly put her hand over Linn’s and slowly shook her head in reply.
”About every thirty seconds”, she answered with tears in her eyes.
”I’m so bloody tired of fighting with these bloody wine-bottles 24 hours a day. Do you have any idea of what it feels like?”
”Actually not. But you…you didn’t open it so you are stronger than you think.” Nikki carefully took the bottle from Linn, put it down on the balcony floor and sat down in the lounge chair next to her.
”I can’t cope with it anymore. I’m getting bloody crazy now. I can’t just sit in here and not do anything useful. You have to let me participate in looking for Patrik or I’ll not make it.” Linn sounded desperate and dried some tears that were rolling down her cheeks. She still felt grateful that Nikki had come home in a reasonable time so she didn’t have to be alone for the rest of the evening.
”Sorry”, Nikki murmured and stroked Linn’s hair. ”Sorry for being such an asshole and not involving you more in Patrik’s disappearing.” Nikki felt really bad and couldn’t understand why she hadn’t engaged Linn more in the case. But now there would be a change.
Linn looked up at Nikki with confidence. ”I resisted the urge today. Damn it, I had to fight, but I managed. I might make it after all…”
”Of course you’ll make it. But you have to be prepared that it will be terribly tough”, Nikki said kindly but could hear the worry in her own voice. She gave her friend a long warm hug and rocked her like a baby. When she opened her eyes she could see that Linn had almost finished all the crisps in the bowl standing close-by, there were only a few crumbs in the bottom. The urge for something salty overcame Nikki and her stomach started grumbling loud.
”Tell you what, I’ll go down to the corner shop and buy some swordfish which we can grill on the balcony tonight. What do you think?”
Linn nodded and a faint smile showed in her worn face and Nikki looked forward to a sober, nice evening with her best friend.