Misterioso

afternoon, in the dazzling spring sunshine. The square was swarming with people. Everything looked normal. A gang of soccer fans wearing AIK scarves stopped behind the enthusiastic figure of the reporter to make V signs.

“At eight-twenty this morning-” said the reporter.

“Eight twenty-eight,” said Hjelm.

“-a man of Albanian-Kosovar origin went into the immigration office in Hallunda, armed with a shotgun. Four staff members were present at the time, and the man took three of them hostage. The fourth managed to escape. The man forced the hostages up to the third floor and made them lie on the floor. After about twenty minutes, police officer Paul Hjelm from the Huddinge police department appeared…”

The ten-year-old photograph now filled the TV screen.

“Where did that come from?” said Hjelm.

“What a cutie,” said Ernstsson, over the phone.

“They came to the hospital,” said Cilla, glancing at him. “Apparently your picture wasn’t in any media archives. That’s the photo that I have in my wallet.”

“Have?”

“Had.”

“… and entered the building. He made his way, unobserved, up the stairs and managed to get inside the barricaded room…”

“Barricaded,” said Ernstsson on the phone.

“… and he shot the perpetrator in the right shoulder. According to the three staff members, Hjelm acted in an exemplary fashion. Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to reach Paul Hjelm for his reaction. Nor would his boss at the Huddinge criminal investigation division, Superintendent Sven Bruun, offer any comment.”

“Good old Svempa,” said Ernstsson on the phone.

The reporter continued, “Bruun did tell us that the investigation is ongoing and confidential. But you, Arvid Svensson, you were one of the hostages. Tell us what happened.”

A middle-aged man appeared next to the reporter. Hjelm recognized the staff member who had pressed the gun to the head of the unconscious Frakulla. He slurped the last of his beer through his teeth.

“I’ll call you back,” he told Ernstsson, then went into the bathroom.

He studied himself in the mirror. A neutral face. No distinguishing marks. A straight nose, narrow lips, dark blond hair cut short, wearing a T-shirt, a wedding ring. No signs of balding. Early middle age. Two children approaching puberty. No distinguishing marks.

No marks at all.

When he laughed, his laughter sounded hollow. The one-sided laughter of a fired, lower-level police officer.

Ulf Martensson said, “Two nasty bruises on the back of his head still haven’t been accounted for.”

Paul Hjelm said, “Haven’t you talked to the hostages?”

“We’ll take care of our job, and you take care of yours. Possibly. Although probably not. According to the medical examiner, the wounds on the skull were caused by the muzzle of the shotgun. Did you take the weapon away after you shot the man and use it to strike him on the head?”

“So you haven’t talked to the hostages.”

Martensson and Grundstrom were sitting next to each other in an ordinary, cold, sterile interrogation room. Maybe they’d got wind of Bruun’s maneuver yesterday with the tape recorder. Neither of them said a word as they waited for Hjelm to go on.

And he did. “When Frakulla went down, the gun landed on the floor near the staff member named Arvid Svensson. Svensson picked it up and pressed it to the man’s head.”

“And you let him do that?”

“I was fifteen feet away.”

“But you allowed this staff member to press a loaded shotgun with the safety off to the head of an unconscious man?”

“Nobody could know whether he was unconscious or not, so staff member Arvid Svensson did the right thing by taking the gun away from him. Although he shouldn’t have pressed it to his head. That’s why I yelled at him to stop it.”

“But you did nothing to stop him, took no physical action?”

“No. But after a moment he put down the gun.”

“After a moment… How long of a moment?”

“As long as it took me to throw up my whole fucking breakfast.”

A pause. Finally Martensson said slowly and maliciously, “So in the middle of your unfinished freelance operation, when you should have been waiting for the experts, you’re put out of commission by your own digestive system. What if Svensson had shot the perpetrator? What if the perp hadn’t been rendered harmless at all? What might have happened? You left a lot of loose ends hanging, without securing the situation.”

“Sounds redundant to me,” said Hjelm.

“What?” said Martensson.

“It was because the perp was rendered harmless that I threw up. Because for the first time in my life I’d shot someone. Surely you must have encountered this type of reaction before.”

“Of course. But not in the middle of such an important and unilaterally determined solo operation.”

Martensson leafed through the papers for a moment, then went on: “This is actually just a minor addition to an already long list of questionable actions. Taken together, it looks like this. One, you chose to go in alone, even though the special unit was on its way. Two, you shouted through the door without warning. Three, you claimed to be unarmed even though your gun was visibly sticking out of your waistband. Four, you lied to the perpetrator when you attempted to talk him down. Five, you fired a shot, aiming at a spot that was not according to regulations. Six, you failed to disarm the person you had shot. Seven, you allowed a desperate hostage to mistreat and almost shoot the perp. Are you starting to understand the dilemma that we’re facing here?”

Grundstrom cleared his throat. “In addition to this formal list, there are two more important elements that are worth taking a look at, pertaining to department policy and discipline. They have to do with discrediting the police department and with the immigrant question. Together they open the door to a freelance mentality, which has no place on the force. I’m not saying that you’re a racist, Hjelm, but your actions and the flood of praise for you in the media risk legitimizing attitudes that are latent in large sectors of the police force. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

“You want to set an example…”

“It’s not a matter of want: it’s something we have to do. The fact is that I think you’re one of the least corrupt members of the force. You speak your mind, and you’re a thinker, maybe even too much of a thinker. But our job is crystal clear. The point is not to get rid of individual rotten apples on the force. We have to ensure that any unpleasant attitudes that may exist in the force are not given official sanction. Because otherwise we’d be damned near approaching a police state.

“It’s the same with our whole society. The abyss is lurking inside us. We project our own failures, the voice of the people, the voice of simple solutions. But the skin of this societal body, so loosely held together, is law enforcement. We’re way out on the periphery, closest to the crimes, the most exposed of all. If the skin is cut open at the right place, the entrails of the societal body will come pouring out. Do you realize what you may have started with your little freelance action? I really want you to understand.”

Hjelm looked Grundstrom right in the eye. He wasn’t really sure what he saw there. Ambition and careerism at war with dedication and honesty, perhaps. Maybe even genuine concern about the attitudes that were doubtless simmering beneath the uniformed surface. Grundstrom could never be just another colleague; his role would always be special, outside. He wanted to be the superego of the police force. Only now did Hjelm understand what a top- level power they had sent after him. And maybe even why.

His eyes bored into the table as he said quietly, “All I wanted to do was resolve a difficult situation as quickly and simply as possible, in the best possible way.”

“There’s no such thing as a simple action.” Grundstrom sounded almost human. “Every act is always linked to a