Grendel's Game (21 page)

“There. It's done. Now, let's have dinner and put all this aside. I think I'll have to reheat the chicken,” she said, going to the kitchen.

After dinner, they made love, and then lay holding each other for a long time until sleep overtook them.

35

Black Widow

T
uesday, October 18.
Watching Ingbritt as she started to pack after breakfast, Ekman felt much relieved. He wanted to stay until she'd left, but needed to get to the office early. It was going to be a hectic day.

“You'll remember to call me when you get there?” he asked.

“Of course,” she replied. “And you'll call me this evening, remember?”

“I won't forget,” he said, kissing her, and giving her a long hug. “Drive safely,” was his parting admonition, as he went out to his car.

The sun had been up for almost half an hour, but heavy cloud cover dimmed the light. It promised to be another dark, rainy day. He was happy Ingbritt would be safe; however, he was bitter and angry that he'd been forced to send her away. It made him more determined than ever to find Grendel.

Ekman arrived at his office by seven, ahead of Holm. He was reviewing his notes for that afternoon's conference when Holm knocked and entered.

“God morgen, Chief,” he said in a cheerful voice. Ekman returned the greeting in a preoccupied manner.

“I'm not disturbing you, am I?” Holm asked.

“No, not at all Enar,” said Ekman, looking up. “Please sit down. I was just going over what I'll say. The commissioner has agreed we need a press conference. It's been scheduled for three, and you'll want to be there.” He hadn't had a chance before to tell him about his meeting with the commissioner.

“Also, you should know that because of pressure from Westberg, Norlander has insisted on bringing in CID. I've invited Superintendent Garth Rystrom to come down for the conference. I don't think you've met him before. He's an old friend of mine and a first-rate investigator.”

“He's not going to take over the case is he?” asked Holm with a troubled expression.

“No way. As I said, CID will be here to satisfy Westberg that we're doing all we can to find his son alive, or confirm his death. Rystrom's going to ‘assist' us. We can always use another person's perspective, and he's quite sharp. I think you'll like him.”

“That's a relief. For a moment I thought the case was going to be handed over to Stockholm.”

“Not if I can help it,” said Ekman with a grim smile. Another thing he liked about Holm, besides his sense of humor, was his loyalty.

Ekman and Holm moved to the conference room, and when the food arrived, poured themselves coffee, as Ekman took a sweet roll.

“Not hungry?” he asked Holm, who had skipped the pastries.

“I had a big breakfast,” he replied. Ekman knew he'd probably had only a slice of dry toast, and didn't want to embarrass Ekman.

Just before eight, the other team members began to drift into the room, helping themselves to coffee and pastries. Ekman waited until they were all seated before speaking.

“God morgen, everyone. Before we begin reviewing assignments, I need to tell you what happened yesterday.” He described the discovery of the second package and its contents. They were all astonished.

“On your doorstep?” asked Vinter in a voice that showed her shock.

“Unfortunately,” said Ekman, in a flat tone.

“Then it's a homicide for sure, Chief,” said Rapp.

“Probably,” said Ekman. “Although we won't know until we hear from forensics. He could conceivably still be alive.” Rapp's face paled. He hadn't thought of that.

“We also don't know if it's Westberg, do we?” asked Bergfalk.

“That's right,” Ekman said. “We won't know until there's a DNA match with the sample I got from Westberg's father.”

“So, at this point, all we really know is we have a body part from someone who may be dead or alive,” put in Rapp.

“Then this may not be a homicide. It could be only a maiming,” said Rosengren.

“‘Only' may not be quite the right word,” said Bergfalk.

“Although you're all quite correct that we don't know for certain, I propose we proceed as though this is a homicide and the victim is Rodger Westberg,” Ekman said. “Until we find out otherwise.”

Then he told them about the press conference. “Everyone who wants to can be there, but you're not to tell anyone you're on the investigating team. If one of the media people asks you a question, just refer them to me.” He looked around the table. “There are to be no leaks now, or in the future. Is that understood?” They all nodded agreement.

“I should also mention there'll be a new person joining the team later today: Superintendent Garth Rystrom from National CID. But this is still our case and I'll continue to head the investigation. Rystrom is a top-flight detective, and I think you'll like him. He's also an old friend of mine.”

Ekman didn't want to go into the politics behind bringing in CID, and just left it at that.

“Now, let's get started. Alenius and Rosengren, what have you discovered?”

Rosengren answered, “Chief, we went back to Westberg's office and found his will, his grandfather's trust agreement, bank and brokerage statements, and tax returns. He was really loaded.”

Ekman looked at him with raised eyebrows.

“According to the latest statements, his combined accounts total almost fifty million kronor. On top of that his trust is worth another twenty million. See what I mean about loaded,” said Rosengren.

“What about the terms of his will?” asked Ekman.

“Now, here's the really interesting part,” said Rosengren, almost smacking his lips. “Everything had been left to his parents if they survived him, otherwise, to a charitable foundation for poor university students. That includes the trust money, because he had the power to dispose of it in his will after he was thirty-five. But three months ago, he drew up a new will. Guess who's the sole beneficiary? Yes, the beautiful Froken Lindfors. How do you like that?”

“It's a hell of a motive,” put in Bergfalk, unnecessarily stating the obvious.

“And what about Lindfors's finances?” asked Ekman.

“She's got a good salary as an accountant, and considerable savings, about 800,000 kronor. She rents a one-bedroom apartment and drives a new Volvo. No debt to speak of, but also no other assets that we could find,” Alenius answered.

Ekman was quiet for a moment, digesting this information.

“Gerdi and Enar, you were looking into her background. What did you find?”

“She's not who she seems, Chief,” said Holm.

“For starters,” Vinter continued, “her name is Lindfors all right, but she was born Stina Ernstsson in Lund, thirty-four years ago. She looks a lot younger than she is. Her parents died within the last six years. She was married at nineteen to a Carl Stillen, who was two years older.”

She handed around a license photo of Stillen. He looked back at the camera without expression. His brown hair was cropped short, his brown eyes deep set.

“That marriage lasted six years and ended in divorce. There were no children. One year after that, she married again, in Malmö, this time to Eberhardt Lindfors, forty-nine, almost twice her age, who owned a successful women's apparel business.”

She passed out a photo of Eberhardt Lindfors. He had loose jowls, gray hair, and light blue eyes.

“Three years later, he died. He was a heavy drinker with heart problems and, apparently by mistake, took an overdose of barbiturates he used to help him sleep. He left her about a million kronor. His widow now began to call herself ‘Froken' Lindfors. This is the Stina Lindfors we know.” Gerdi looked around the table. The others were quiet, digesting this information.

“So, as you pointed out, Mats, there's ample financial motive, and now we have an interesting background that raises additional questions,” Ekman said.

“However, because she's had a husband and a fiancé both die on her, it may simply mean she's been unfortunate. Yet, it's troubling that in each instance, she's come away wealthier. This last time, very wealthy, indeed. But it's not a crime to inherit large amounts of money, so I don't want us to make any assumptions about her. She may be quite innocent.”

“Can we tie her to Grendel?” asked Rapp. “We've got evidence he's the one who's killed Westberg. Perhaps she's the accomplice who delivered the briefcase.”

“Maybe we're looking at this case upside down, Chief,” said Holm. “Suppose Lindfors is the one really in charge. Let's say she's a ‘black widow,' who murders her men . . . she has a clear motive . . . and this man ‘Grendel' is simply her accomplice, who does the killing. All the cannibalism talk, and the mutilation, could just be camouflage to persuade us we're dealing with a maniac. It's intended to distract us from what's really going on: a garden-variety murder for money.”

“Enar, you could be right,” said Ekman. “But we just don't have enough information yet to reach that conclusion. Still, what you've suggested fits together. You've come up with a strong theory of the case that clears away the confusion.

“We need to find out more about Lindfors. Gerdi and Enar you've made a very good start. She doesn't know you, so for the next few days, I'd like you to follow her, starting right after the press conference. We need to know everything she does from the time she leaves for work until she goes to sleep at night. You can spell each other. Take a camera with a long lens. And make sure she doesn't see you.

“Now let's turn to the other missing men. Alrik and Mats, what can you tell us?”

“As you asked, Chief, we tried to find some interests that would link the four missing men. We talked to family members, people in their offices, and any friends we could identify. All of them liked to travel, mostly to southern Europe. Just like the rest of us, when we can afford it,” Rapp said with a smile.

“Except for Bohren, who preferred television, Henriksson and Gustaffson liked going to the movies and played at their local chess clubs. We couldn't find out if they knew each other, however. There were no other common social or charity organizations. And that's about it. I'm sorry it doesn't help much.”

“Then, apart from travel, two of them shared an interest in movies and chess?” Ekman asked.

“Yes,” said Bergfalk. “By itself, it's not a lot to go on. But we also looked into that question you had, Chief, about break-ins at their homes, or their parents' places, and here we found something. That was a sharp question, Chief. How on earth did you guess?”

“Dumb luck,” Ekman said with a shrug.

“Gustaffson and Henriksson had their apartments broken into a couple of weeks before they went missing. We talked to their relatives, who remembered that among the missing items, each had a family photo taken, just like Westberg's parents.”

“So far then, we have a number of common elements that join three of the missing men, Gustaffson, Henriksson, and Westberg,” Ekman summarized. “Age group, hair and eye color, the weather when they went missing, and now, the break-ins and missing photos. Although two shared an interest in movies and chess, we don't yet know if Westberg did.

“Some of these factors, if not every one of them, may be significant. At least they begin to provide a pattern of sorts. From what you've told us, I think we should conclude Bohren is an outlier for now, and focus on the three remaining men.

“We need to know more about this chess connection particularly. How often did they play? Were they good at it? Did they play together? Who were their opponents? Were there any arguments at their chess clubs? Who was involved? And so on. Alrik and Mats, take another crack at it, and see if you can get answers to those questions.

“I'll speak with Westberg's father about his son's interests.” Ekman was not looking forward to the conversation with the bereaved father, but it had to be done to see if Rodger fit the pattern they'd uncovered.

“At the conference, we'll be handing out Westberg's picture and asking anyone who saw him last Tuesday or Wednesday to call us. Alenius and Rosengren, I'd like you to field those calls.” They looked at each other with dismay.

“Yes, I know it's a difficult assignment, but I have confidence you two can ask the right questions to sort out the crank callers we're bound to get. Maybe someone will have seen something helpful.”

“Chief, it looks like we've got two tracks going here,” Rapp said. “One involves Lindfors, and the other, Gustaffson, Henriksson, and Westberg. I think Enar's onto something. This is really all about money. Should we keep on with this second track when the first looks so good right now? There doesn't seem to be any connection between Lindfors and the two other missing guys, so maybe it would be better to drop the second approach.”