ripped the photo off with the other.
“Bjorn,” Joona says.
Bjorn came here to get this photograph. He wasn’t holding his stomach because he had a stomachache but because he was hiding a photograph underneath his jacket.
Joona turns his head to the side so he can study the palm print in the reflection. He can barely make out the thin lines of the palm.
The papillary lines of a human’s palm or fingers will never change or grow old and are totally individual. Compared to DNA, even the fingerprints of identical twins differ.
Quick steps come stamping up behind him.
“Stop whatever you’re doing right now, damn it!” Saga Bauer snarls. “This is my investigation! You’re not even fucking supposed to be here!”
“I only want to-”
“Shut the fuck up, Joona Linna!” she shouts. “I was on the phone with Petter Naslund! There’s nothing for you to do here and you don’t even have permission to be here!”
“I know. I’ll leave soon,” he says soothingly as he turns his gaze back to the glass pane.
“Damn it, Joona!” she says, but curiosity has taken over a bit and her voice is calmer. “You can’t just come in here and start messing with pieces of tape!”
“There was a photograph taped to the glass,” he answers, unperturbed. “Someone has pulled it off. Leaned over to steady himself with his hand while he pulled off this photograph.”
She still looks at him with irritation, and Joona notices a white scar that cuts straight through her left eyebrow.
“I am perfectly capable of running this investigation,” she reiterates with clenched teeth.
“Chances are the print came from Bjorn Almskog,” Joona replies as he starts toward the kitchen.
“Wrong direction, Joona.”
He ignores her and walks right in.
“This is my investigation!” she yells futilely at his back.
The technicians have set up a work station in the middle of the room. Two chairs, a table with a computer on it, a scanner, and a printer. Tommy Kofoed is standing behind Goran Stone, who is connecting his camera to the computer. They’ve entered the palm print and are doing the initial fingerprint comparison.
Saga comes in right behind Joona.
“What do you see?” Joona asks them, not paying attention to Saga.
“Don’t you speak to him!” Saga says quickly.
Tommy Kofoed looks up. “Don’t be ridiculous, Saga,” he says. “Sorry, this isn’t our guy. This is from the boyfriend, Almskog.”
“Lucky he’s already in the suspect register,” Goran Stone says.
“What do you have on him?” Joona asks.
“Rioting and harming an officer,” Goran replies.
“The worst kind of criminal,” Tommy jokes. “He probably took part in a demonstration.”
“You think that’s funny,” Goran growls. “Not everyone on the force finds left-wing shenanigans and sabotage amusing.”
“Speak for yourself,” Kofoed replies.
“The search-and-rescue effort speaks for it self,” Goran says with a grin.
“What’s that all about?” Joona asks. “I haven’t been able to follow the operation-what’s happened?”
27
When Joona Linna slams open the office door, Carlos Eliasson, head of CID, jumps and dumps too much fish food into the aquarium.
“Why is there no ground search?” Joona demands harshly. “There are two lives at stake and we don’t have any boats out looking?”
“The maritime police make their own decisions, as you well know,” Carlos replies coolly. “They’ve covered the area by helicopter and have decided that the two are either dead or they don’t want to be found… neither of which demands an all-out rush to search further.”
“They have something the killer wants to get his hands on and I actually believe-”
“It’s useless to guess, Joona. We don’t know what happened. Sapo happens to believe these two young people have gone underground and by now could be on a train to Amsterdam-”
“Cut it out,” Joona says forcefully. “You can’t listen to Sapo when-”
“It’s their case.”
“Why? Why is it their case? Bjorn Almskog has no criminal record at all unless it’s become a felony to disturb the peace! These accusations mean absolutely nothing! Nothing at all!”
“I was talking to Verner Zanden and he’s already told me that Fernandez has some connections to left-wing extremist groups.”
“That may be so, but I’m absolutely certain there’s more going on here. This murder is about something else entirely.”
“Of course! Of course you’re absolutely certain!” Carlos yells back.
“I can’t put my finger on it yet, but the killer I met in Penelope’s apartment was a real pro and not some kind of-”
“Sapo believes that Penelope and Bjorn were planning some kind of sabotage.”
“You’re telling me that Penelope is a terrorist?” Joona asks, incredulous. “Have you read what she’s written? She’s a complete pacifist.”
“Yesterday a member of the Brigade was caught by Sapo as he was making his way to Penelope’s apartment.”
“I have no idea what kind of organization the Brigade is supposed to be.”
“It’s a militant movement on the left, loosely connected to the Antifascist Faction and the Revolutionary Front, but it’s freewheeling. They’re close to the ideology of the Red Army Faction and want to be as operative as Mossad.”
“Though you know that’s not true,” Joona says.
“Maybe you don’t want it to be true, but so what?” Carlos says. “Meanwhile, we will search further for those two. We’re going to chart the currents and determine the direction the boat was drifting so we can start dragging the water or maybe send some divers down.”
“Well, good,” Joona mutters.
“All that’s left is to decide if or why they were killed, or else why they went into hiding.”
Joona opens the door to the hallway. He stops and turns toward Carlos again. “What happened to that man from the Brigade?”
“He was released,” Carlos answers.
“Did they find out why he was there?” Joona asks.
“He was just dropping by.”
“Dropping by.” Joona sighs. “That’s all Sapo found out?”
“You are not going to start investigating the Brigade,” Carlos says with new worry in his voice. “I hope you understand me?”
Joona leaves and pulls out his cell as he strides down the hallway. Behind him, he can hear Carlos yelling “That’s an order! ” and “Don’t tread on Sapo’s toes! ” Joona keeps going. He finds Nathan Pollock’s number.
Nathan picks up.
“What do you know about the Brigade?” asks Joona as the elevator doors open.
“Sapo has been trying to infiltrate and keep an eye on all the militant left-wing groups in Stockholm,
