'Why are you telling me this?' Q said in a low voice.
She didn't reply.
'Don't you see what you're doing?'
She drank some water. 'What?'
'You're cooperating with the police. I thought that was beneath your dignity.'
'I don't need to worry about protecting my sources anymore,' Annika replied sharply. 'I don't represent the media, so I can say what I like to the police.'
He gave her an amused look. 'Oh, no, a leopard never changes its spots. If I know you at all, you're writing the lead about our meeting in your head right now.'
'Bullshit,' she said, wincing. 'You don't know me at all.'
'Yes, I do. I know the journalist in you.'
'She's dead.'
'Bullshit to you. She's wounded and tired. But she's just taking a rest.'
'I'm not going back.'
'So you're going to be a croupier in strip joints for the rest of your life? Pity.'
'I thought you thought I was a pain.'
He grinned. 'You are, a big pain in the ass. That's good, we need that so we know we're alive.'
She looked at him suspiciously. 'You're being sarcastic.'
He sighed. 'A little, maybe.'
'You could get him for the bookkeeping. I don't know the law, but there should be enough to at least shut the club down. I'm breaking the law myself, actually- illegal gambling at the roulette table. Joachim said it was okay.'
'You'll get busted. Sooner or later.'
'I'm going back tonight, then I'm done with it. I made eight thousand kronor last night. One more night and I'll be all right until I start getting my unemployment checks.'
'That's what they all say.'
Annika fell silent, shame burning on her face. She knew he was right. She stared at her hands. 'I've done enough talking now. Now I want to listen.'
The police captain got up and returned with a cheese roll. 'This is absolutely off the record. If you ever write a word about it, I'll roast you slowly over an open fire.'
'Unlawful threat.'
He flashed a quick smile, then turned serious again. 'You're right. As far as the police are concerned, the murder of Josefin Liljeberg has been cleared up.'
'Then why don't you bring him in?' Annika said, a bit too loud.
Q leaned forward across the table. 'Don't you think we would if we could?' he said in a hushed voice. 'Joachim has a watertight alibi. Six guys have vouched for him being at the Sturecompagniet club until five A.M. and then they all went in a limousine to another party. They all tell exactly the same story.'
'But they're lying.'
The police officer chewed on his dry roll. 'Of course.' He swallowed. 'The problem is, how do we prove it? A waiter at the club has confirmed that Joachim was there, but he can't say exactly when. Neither can he say when Joachim left. The driver of the limousine confirms that he drove a bunch of drunken guys from Stureplan to Birkastan, and Joachim has the receipt. The driver can neither confirm nor deny that Joachim was there; he couldn't see the guys at the far back. At least Joachim didn't ride in the front or pay. The girl who lives in the flat at Rorstrandsgatan says that Joachim fell asleep on her couch sometime after six. She's probably telling the truth.'
'Joachim was at the club just before five,' Annika said agitatedly. 'He was fighting with Josefin. Patricia heard them.'
Q sighed. 'Yes, we know that. But it's Patricia's word against the seven guys'. And if, and that's a big if-
They sat in silence. Annika finished the by now cold coffee, he his cheese roll.
'One of them might talk,' Annika said.
'Sure,' Q said. 'The only problem is that most of them were too drunk to remember anything. They've been served this story as the truth and they really believe what they're saying. My guess is that only one, possibly two of the guys are actually aware they're lying. They're Joachim's best pals, and both of them suddenly have come into a lot of money, I would imagine. They'll never squeal.'
Annika was tired, to the point of feeling nausated. 'So what do you think really happened?' she said faintly.
'Exactly what you think. He strangled her behind that gravestone.'
'And raped her?'
'No, not there, not then. We found semen inside her, and the DNA tests show that it was Joachim's. They had probably had sex a couple of hours earlier.'
Annika closed her eyes and searched her memory. 'But first you stated that it was a sex murder. You said there were signs of sexual violence.'
The Krim captain rubbed his forehead. 'They were mostly old injuries, especially in the anus. He must have raped her anally.'
Annika felt like throwing up. 'Oh, Christ…'
They were silent.
'That other woman who was murdered in the same park,' Annika suddenly said. 'Eva. That murder was never solved either, was it?'
Q sighed. 'No, but it's the same thing there. We consider it cleared up. It was her ex-husband. We brought him in after a couple of years but had to release him. We never managed to nail him for it. He's dead now.'
'And Joachim's going to get away scot-free?'
Q put on his jacket. 'Not if your information is correct. We won't have time to organize a raid tonight, but we'll go in tomorrow. Stay well away.'
He got up and stood next to her chair. 'There's just the one thing we can't figure out.'
'What's that?'
'How she got those injuries to her hand.'
As Q left, Annika sat on her chair, her body like lead.
The hours at the club crept by. Patricia looked at Annika. 'You look sick. Are you coming down with something?'
Annika wiped the cold sweat from her brow. Her hand was smeared with foundation. 'I think so. I'm cold and I feel sick.'
They were sitting on a wooden bench in the locker room; the blue light made the blisters on Annika's feet shine a glaring red.
'How much money have you made?' Patricia asked.
'Not enough.' Annika looked down at her sky-blue bikini.
Now she really felt as if she was going to throw up. Today was Friday, and several more naked girls were prancing around the place. They would sit on the men's laps, rubbing themselves against their thighs, tempting them inside the private rooms where they would get to work with the body lotion. Generic, economy-size lotion that went a long way and was fragrance free.
'It has to be odorless, that's crucial,' Patricia had explained. 'They've got to go home to their wives afterward.'
Annika was jittery and on edge. What if she'd misunderstood it all? She didn't dare ask Patricia any more questions about the double bookkeeping, and Patricia hadn't brought it up again. What if the police came tonight anyway? What if Joachim had already moved the books?
