One officer at position two, and one at position three. Is that clear? We’ll establish a rendezvous point at the very bottom of the hill and take care of liaison from there. That’s where Norlander and I will be positioned, in charge of the operation.”
It was hard to tell whether Norlander was relieved or disappointed. Hultin ensured his goodwill by saying, “Viggo’s role is the most important of all. He’s your closest immediate covering fire. Now, who’s best at picking a lock quietly and quickly?”
The members of the A-Unit looked at one another. “I can do it,” said Chavez.
“Okay,” said Hultin. “You’ll be the first man up there. Hjelm will follow you. When we reach the rendezvous point at the bottom of the hill, you’ll head straight up the slope. It’ll be a bit like mountain climbing at first; then it levels out. The first cottage you’ll reach is visible from the rendezvous point. This one here.” Hultin pointed at the map and drew orange lines that glowed faintly in the night. “Go past that cottage and three more; you can see them here. The path turns right, above position one; you should be able to see it after you’ve passed the fourth cottage. When you see the path, the position-one cottage will be right in front of you. All this applies to you too, Paul.”
“Question,” said Hjelm. “Do we know that the three positions are all unoccupied?”
Hultin looked at him. “No, but in all probability they are. Most people come out here only in the daytime to work in their gardens. But there
“Plus your route will take us across a whole bunch of allotment gardens. What if someone is home in one of the cottages and starts yelling because we’re trampling their prize-winning tulips?”
“Cautious and silent pattern of movement applies, of course,” said Hultin, still looking at him. Could Hultin have overlooked all this? Hjelm wondered. “Stay as far away from the cottages as possible. There’s no question of launching an evacuation. Andersson would be sure to notice.
“All right, position two-Kerstin. Position three-Arto. You’ll take off at the same time as Hjelm, after Jorge gives the all-clear from up at the first position, but you’ll head left from the rendezvous point before making your way up the slope. You’ll run into a small road, here, and follow it around. When the road intersects with the path, here, start counting: one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine cottages. At the ninth, Kerstin will go straight ahead for three more cottages. The third one is position two. The door faces the top of the hill and should be completely hidden from the target cottage.
“Arto will continue along the road, past four more cottages, until the road starts climbing steeply. At the fourth cottage, after Kerstin has turned off, you’ll head in too. Again it’s the third cottage straight ahead. The location of the door is a little trickier and might be visible from the target cottage. Caution will be needed to force the lock in the dark without being heard or seen.”
Hultin paused, then nodded, and they all rushed down the grassy slope and into Tantolunden, which was remarkably pitch-black, an area of silent darkness in the middle of the noisy city’s shimmer of lights.
“This will be the rendezvous point,” whispered Hultin, as he folded up the map and handed out small flashlights and walkie-talkies that he fished out of a shoulder bag. “Use the earpieces. And keep your cells turned on, as backup, but for God’s sake don’t call each other unless it’s a real emergency. The ringtone will be heard. And the flashlights are also only for emergencies. Do Jorge, Kerstin, and Arto have adequate tools for picking the locks? If not, I’ve got some in our little emergency kit here.”
Each of them accepted their lock-pick tools.
“Okay, get going,” said Hultin.
Jorge began making his way up the slope and soon disappeared from sight. They waited five long minutes.
Then they all heard Chavez’s voice in their earpieces: “Okay,” he whispered, out of breath. “Position one has been taken. It’s empty, thank God. Paul, the second cottage that you’ll pass is occupied. A man is sitting on the terrace and looking out toward Arstaviken. You can pass him by going around behind. The other places are empty. As for the target cottage, here’s what I can see: dark shades pulled down in the windows. But there’s definitely movement inside. It looks as if a light is on. Goran Andersson is here. I repeat, our man is here. Let’s get going.”
“I’m sending in the rest of the troops now,” said Hultin. “Don’t do anything before everybody’s in place. Over and out, for now.” Hultin’s sign-off was surprisingly unorthodox.
Holm and Soderstedt headed off to the left, while Hjelm followed in Chavez’s footsteps. The man in the second cottage was no longer sitting on the terrace. He was poking about among his rosebushes in the middle of the night. Hjelm crouched down behind a shrub and waited for three minutes that seemed like hours. The man was a black silhouette against the darkness. He moved slowly, as if slightly drunk, among his precious roses. In his earpiece Hjelm heard Kerstin reach her position, then Arto. Their cottages were also empty. He heard them waiting tensely, but there was nothing he could do. Finally the man seemed to have had enough of his nightly wandering and went back to the terrace. He belched loudly as Hjelm slipped past behind him and joined Chavez, who peered at him, wide-eyed, through the dark.
“What the hell happened?” he said.
“Your guy decided to fuss with his roses for a while. I was crouched down a couple of yards away. Is anything going on?” he asked, and then reported on his walkie-talkie that he was in position.
“No,” said Chavez.
Hultin’s voice came over on the walkie-talkie: “Good. Can anyone see an opening anywhere in the blinds?”
“Position one,” said Chavez. “No opening from here.”
“Position two,” said Holm. “None here either. View of the target not as good as I’d hoped. Can only make out the top half of one window with a shade pulled down.”
“Position three,” said Soderstedt. “I can see a slight gap with some light showing through on one side of the shade, but that’s all. No movement visible in the gap. I’ll let you know if I see anything.”
Hjelm turned to Chavez, who was nothing but a silhouette. “How the hell can you tell that he’s here?” he whispered.
“I could swear that I saw some sort of movement inside,” Chavez whispered in reply. “And Arto can see a light. Oh yes, goddamn it. He’s here all right.”
Seen from their angle, the little cottage on the other side of the path was dark. There was nothing to indicate anyone’s presence.
The night was black and raw, the moon only a thin sliver that gave off almost no light. A few stars glimmered faintly in the background. It was like being way out in the country.
They were shivering in their darkened cottages.
They waited. Hultin was thinking on his feet down at the base of the hill. There was no real plan; that much was clear. The plan was taking shape as it went along.
“Should we make contact?” ventured Hjelm.
There was silence for a moment.
“It’s most likely a hostage situation,” Hultin said pensively. “He’s probably sitting inside, holding Alf Ruben Winge and Anja Parikka. Making contact too abruptly could spell their death.”
“Why would he suddenly take hostages?”
“Because of what you mentioned in your conversation with him. Presumably Winge arrived with Anja. Andersson let Helena Brandberg live, even though it cost him the cassette tape. He doesn’t want to kill Anja. He has his list, and he’s going to follow it to the letter. Right now he’s sitting in there with one person who’s on the list and one person who’s definitely not, and he’s not really sure what to do about it.”
Silence again. A cold wind swept past the little cottage, blowing a few clumps of grass into the air, which tumbled about as if in slow motion.
“There’s another option,” Hjelm said into the walkie-talkie.
“What’s that?” said Hultin.
“He could be waiting.”
“For what?”
“For me,” said Paul Hjelm.
Absolute silence now. The small bursts of noise from the nighttime traffic off in the distance slipped into the silence, becoming part of it. An owl hooted quietly. That too was part of the silence.
