“Yes, Stewe Billgren,” Joona says. “Can he identify him?”
“Stewe didn’t see his face. No one has seen his face,” Saga replies. She turns back to go and sit down again next to Penelope.
They sit together quietly for a long while, leaning back against the wall. Saga calms her breath and speaks slowly as she asks the first question.
“What does he want from you? That guy who’s after you-do you know why all this is happening?”
“No,” Penelope says slowly.
“He’s after the photograph you taped to your door,” Joona says, though his back is to Penelope.
Penelope lowers her head and nods.
“Do you know why he wants that photograph?” Saga asks.
“No,” Penelope answers, and begins to cry quietly.
Saga waits another moment and then says, “Bjorn tried to blackmail Palmcrona-”
“I didn’t know anything about that.” Penelope interrupts her. “I didn’t agree to any of that.”
“We’ve realized that,” Joona says.
Saga takes Penelope’s hand gently in hers.
“Did you take that photo?” she asks.
“Me? No, not me… the picture came to the Swedish Peace… you know, I’m the chairwoman and…”
Penelope falls silent.
“Did it come in the mail?” asks Joona.
“Yes.”
“From whom?”
“I don’t know,” she says quickly.
“Was there a letter with it?” Joona asks.
“No, not that I know of.”
“Just an envelope with a photograph.”
She nods.
“Do you still have the envelope?”
“No.”
“How was it addressed?”
“Just my name and the Swedish Peace… well, not the post office box, just my name.”
“So it was addressed to Penelope Fernandez care of the Swedish Peace and Reconciliation Society,” Saga says.
“And then you opened the envelope and took out the photograph,” Joona says. “What did you think at that moment? What did the photograph mean to you?”
“Mean to me?”
“What did you see when you looked at it? Did you recognize the people involved?”
“Yes… three of them, but…”
She falls silent.
“Tell us what went through your mind when you first looked at the photo.”
“Someone had seen me on TV,” she says, and she collects her thoughts for a second before she continues. “I thought that this picture is just so typical. Palmcrona is supposed to be neutral, but here he is, he goes to the opera and sits and drinks champagne with the head of Silencia Defense and a weapons dealer who sells arms throughout Africa and the Middle East. It’s totally scandalous.”
“What did you plan to do with this picture?”
“Nothing,” she answers. “There’s nothing I could do. It’s just a photograph, but at the same time, I remember I thought, at least now I know where he stands.”
“I see.”
“It reminded me of the idiots at the Immigration Office. They’d just deported a helpless family seeking asylum. Yes, they celebrated with champagne and patted themselves on the back for booting out people who sought refuge in Sweden, a family with a sick child…”
Penelope falls silent again.
“Do you know who the fourth person is? The woman in the picture?”
Penelope shakes her head.
“It’s Agathe al-Haji,” Saga says.
“Really?” Penelope grimaces.
“Yes.”
“Why is she…”
Penelope falls silent and her dark eyes stare at Saga.
“Do you know when the picture was taken?” Saga asks.
“No, but of course the arrest order against al-Bashir was issued in March 2009, and…” Penelope stops abruptly and her face flushes scarlet.
“What is it?” asks Saga.
“The picture was taken after that,” Penelope states, her voice shaking. “Right? The picture was taken after the arrest warrant.”
“What makes you say that?” asks Saga.
“That’s what makes it so important…” Penelope muses and the color fades again from her face.
“It’s the deal with Kenya,” she says with trembling lips. “That’s what the photo is all about, isn’t it? It’s the Kenya contract, and Palmcrona’s just agreed to it. The selling of ammunition to Kenya-I always knew there was something wrong there.”
“Keep going,” Joona says.
“Kenya has ongoing business with Great Britain. Delivery of ammunition will go to Kenya all right, but it’ll end up in Sudan and Darfur!”
“Yes,” Saga says. “That’s what we believe is happening, too.”
“But it’s forbidden! This is terrible… it’s treason, it’s against international law… Beyond that, it’s a crime against humanity…”
Penelope thinks a moment, her face in her hands.
“So that’s why all this has happened,” she says quietly. “Not because Bjorn attempted blackmail.”
“That was the catalyst. It alerted these people to the fact that this photograph existed.”
“I had assumed the picture might have been an embarrassment,” Penelope says. “Embarrassing, yes, but not much more than that.”
“When Palmcrona called them about the blackmail attempt, they went on alert,” Saga explains. “Until then, they knew nothing about any photograph. Now they were worried. They did not know how much or how little it revealed. All they knew was that it was not good. We’re not sure exactly what they reasoned… perhaps that either you or Bjorn was the photographer.”
“But-”
“They couldn’t know how much you both could prove. But they wanted to take no chances.”
“I understand,” Penelope says. “And that’s still the same situation now, isn’t it?”
“Yes.”
Penelope nods.
“They think I might be the only witness to the deal,” she says.
“They’ve invested a great deal of money,” Saga says.
“They can’t get away with this,” Penelope says softly.
“What did you say?”
Penelope looks directly into Saga’s eyes and says clearly, “They can’t pump ammunition into Darfur, they just can’t do it! I’ve seen what happens. I’ve been there twice-”
“They don’t really care. It’s only about the money,” Saga says.
“It’s not! It’s about… it’s about… so much more,” Penelope says and turns her face to the wall. “It’s about…”
She falls silent remembering the crunch as a clay figure is broken underneath the hoof of a goat. A small
