The Glass Devil

you?” he finally said.

“No. I’ve actually learned a great deal during this investigation. The glass devil’s victims remain silent because they know no one will believe them, and for fear of even worse. Rebecka asserted until the end that it was her fault her family was killed. The father’s prophecy was fulfilled; if she told even a single person, terrible things would happen to both her and the family. And that’s exactly what happened.”

SUPERINTENDENT SVEN Andersson’s thank-you speech at his sixtieth birthday party:

“As you know, I’m no speaker but since you have given me such a fine present-not to mention this party-then I have to say thank you. I was at a loss for words when, in his speech, Tommy started talking about me not getting a present but an experience. I thought that sounded suspicious. .

“-Yes, thank you! Pour it in! You only turn sixty once in your life!” he said as someone offered him more champagne.

“Where was I? Right, an experience. It will probably be a fun experience to see London again. I was there at the beginning of the sixties. . ’61. We took the boat over and damn, was I sea-sick!

“It will be much better flying, I hope. That. . what was his name again? Where is the paper? Glen Thompson! He seems like a nice fellow. He’s going to meet me at the airport and he has his own hotel. . what did you say, Irene? Oh. His sister’s hotel. I’m going to stay there three nights, and he’s providing all my dinners at a restaurant in the area.

“And I’ve received a card from the lady who owns the pub. She writes that she’s going to take care of me in the best way. I think this sounds promising. Donna is her name. Maybe she’s a small blond Donna? Ha ha.

“So I can tell you now that I’ve applied for an exemption to permit me to stay on for another year as superintendent of this unit. Now you’re supposed to look happy! And actually I was wondering what kind of coup Irene and Fredrik were whispering about. I heard everything! Hey, Irene! I’ll find out later. . Well. No one tells me anything. But I guess that’s the way it should be when it’s your birthday. Thank you all for a really great party and the wonderful present. . er. . experience. Cheers!”

1

A kilometer is almost exactly.625, five eighths, of a mile. A meter is 39.37 inches, about one and a tenth yards, so a hundred meters is about 110 yards. One Celsius degree is 9/5 the size of a Fahrenheit degree, and zero Celsius is 32 degrees Fahrenheit, which means that 17 degrees Celsius equals 63 degrees Fahrenheit.

2

A centimeter (a hundredth of a meter) is.3937 inches, which means that an inch is 2.54 centimeters. So 180 centimeters is almost 71 inches, or five feet eleven. *Ten kilograms is 22 pounds.

3

One Swedish krona (plural kronor, currency code SEK) equaled 9.8 cents in March 2001.