with a detailed statement after being assured that the suspect had been arrested, and her statement supports our view a hundred percent. The individual in question is a highly respected and professionally active physician, a specialist with a practice in Valby. In addition to stabbing the drug dealer in Valby Park to death, he also played a role in Annelise Kvist’s alleged suicide attempt, and issued death threats against her children.” Bak pointed to his assistant, who continued the report.
“During a search of the suspect’s residence, we found more than six hundred and fifty pounds of various types of narcotics, which are now being identified by our technicians.” He paused for a moment to let the reaction die down. “There is no doubt that the doctor has built up a large and extensive network of colleagues, and they’ve all made significant sums from the sale of various types of prescription drugs — from methadone to diazepam, phenobarbital and morphine — and from the importation of drugs such as amphetamines, zopiclone, THC, or acetophenazine. As well as large quantities of neuroleptics, soporifics, and hallucinogens. Nothing was too big or too small for the accused. Apparently he had customers for everything.
“The man who was murdered in Valby Park was the ringleader behind the distribution of these drugs to people who went to clubs, in particular. We’re guessing that the victim tried to blackmail the doctor, and the latter made short work of things, but that the murder was not premeditated. Annelise Kvist witnessed the killing, and she happened to know the doctor. Because of this, the doctor was able to track her down and force her to keep quiet.” The officer stopped, and Bak took over.
“We now know that right after the murder, the doctor went to see Annelise Kvist at her home. He specializes in bronchial diseases and Annelise’s daughters were two of his asthma patients; both are very dependent on the medicine they take. On that evening at Annelise’s apartment, the doctor displayed dramatically violent behavior, and he forced her to give her children pills, or he said he would kill them. The pills caused their alveoli to constrict, which was life-threatening. He then gave them an injection, which was the antidote. It must have been extremely traumatic for a mother to watch her daughters turn blue in the face, unable to communicate with her.”
Bak looked around the room. Everyone was nodding at what he said. He went on.
“Afterward the doctor claimed that the girls would have to make regular visits to his office to receive the antidote, or they would suffer a fatal relapse. That was how he kept the mother quiet.
“We can thank Annelise’s mother for the fact that we eventually located our key witness. She knew nothing about the intervening scene that had been played out in her daughter’s flat that night, but she did know that her daughter had witnessed the murder. She got Annelise to say so the next day when she saw what a state of shock her daughter was in. The only thing the mother didn’t find out was who the murderer was; Annelise refused to tell her. So when we brought Annelise Kvist in for questioning at her mother’s insistence, she was a woman undergoing a deep inner crisis.
“Today we also know that the doctor went to see Annelise again a couple of days later. He warned her that if she talked, he’d kill the girls. He used words like ‘flay them alive’ and pushed her so far that he was able to force her to take a deadly cocktail of pills.
“You all know the rest of the story. The woman was hospitalized, her life was saved, and she clammed up completely. But what you don’t know is that our investigation received a great deal of help from our new Department Q, which is headed by Carl Morck.”
Bak turned to Carl. “You didn’t participate in the actual investigation, Carl, but you set in motion several trains of thought. My team and I would like to thank you for that. We’d also like to thank your assistant, whom you used as a messenger between us and Hardy Henningsen, who also provided us with valuable input. We’ve sent Hardy some flowers, just so you know.”
Carl was dumbfounded. A couple of his former colleagues turned toward him and attempted to wring smiles out of their stony faces, but the others didn’t budge.
Lars Bjorn took over. “A lot of people have worked on this case. We also want to thank you boys,” he added, pointing to the two narcotics cops. “Now it’s up to you to unravel the ring of drug-dealing doctors. We know it’s going to be a huge job. On the other hand, those of us in homicide can now turn our attention to other matters, and we’re glad about that. There’s plenty to keep all of us busy up here on the third floor.”
Carl waited until almost everyone had left the room. He knew how hard it must have been for Bak to give him any sort of praise. So he went over to shake hands with him. “I didn’t deserve that, but I’d like to say thanks, Bak.”
Borge Bak looked at Carl’s outstretched hand for a moment and then started packing up his papers. “Don’t thank me. I would never have done it if Marcus Jacobsen hadn’t ordered me to.”
Carl nodded. So once again they knew where each of them stood.
* * *
Out in the hall, panic was spreading. All the office workers were clustered around the boss’s door, and everyone had a complaint.
“OK, OK. We don’t yet know what’s wrong,” said homicide chief Marcus Jacobsen. “But from what the police commissioner has told us, no official database can be accessed at the moment. Somebody has hacked into the central servers and changed all the passwords. We don’t know yet who’s behind it. There aren’t many who’d be capable of doing something like this, so we’re pulling out all the stops to find the culprits.”
“You’ve got to be kidding,” someone said. “How can it be possible?”
Jacobsen shrugged. He tried to look calm and composed, but probably wasn’t.
Carl told Assad that the workday was over since there was nothing more they could do. Without the information from the Civil Registration System they wouldn’t be able to track Lars Henrik Jensen’s movements. It would just have to wait.
As Carl drove north to the Clinic for Spinal Cord Injuries, he heard on the radio that a letter had been sent to the media by an angry citizen who claimed to have infected all the official government databases with a virus. It was assumed the individual was a civil servant who held a key position but may have been laid off due to municipal reforms. But so far nothing could be confirmed. Computer experts tried to explain how it was possible to access such well-protected data, and the prime minister called the culprits “the worst kind of bandits one can imagine.” Security experts specializing in data transmission were already in full swing, he claimed, and everything would soon be back in working order. Of course whoever was to blame could expect a very long prison sentence. The prime minister was just about to compare the situation to the attacks on the World Trade Center, but stopped short of doing so.
The first smart thing he’d done in a long time.
* * *
There was, in fact, a bouquet of flowers from Bak’s team on Hardy’s bedside table, but even the smallest gas station kiosk could have come up with something nicer. Hardy didn’t care. He couldn’t see the flowers anyway since the nurses had moved him over to the window so he could look out.
“I’m supposed to say hello from Bak,” Carl told him.
Hardy gave him a look that might be described as surly, but in reality was indefinable. “What does that fucking creep have to do with me?”
“Assad gave him your tip, and now they’ve made an arrest that’s going to stick.”
“I haven’t given anybody a damn tip about anything.”
“Sure you did. You said that Bak should take a look at everyone who might be giving medical treatment to the key witness, Annelise Kvist.”
“What case are we talking about?”
“The cyclist murder, Hardy.”
He frowned. “I don’t have a clue what you’re talking about, Carl. You’ve tossed that idiotic case about Merete Lynggaard in my lap, and that psychologist bitch keeps harping on the shooting incident out in Amager. That should be plenty. I have no idea what this cyclist murder case is about.”
Now it wasn’t only Hardy who was frowning. “Are you sure Assad didn’t mention the cyclist case to you? Are
