“
This stung. Weakly Irene said, “Never home. . it’s not that often that I have to go to Copenhagen or anywhere else. It’s just with this case-”
Jenny interrupted her, “You’re never home anyway. It’s always work, work, work. But the rest of us really want to have a little puppy. He’s so adorable!”
“I haven’t said that I would really like to have a puppy,” Krister protested.
Both of his daughters looked at him meaningfully. Jenny said pointedly, “And who was it who was completely beside himself yesterday when we went to look at him? ‘Oh, so cute and cuddly’!”
“You went to look at the puppy yesterday?” asked Irene.
“The lady called. She wants to get rid of him by the end of next week or the beginning of the week after. Then he’ll be eight weeks old. None of us have found someone who is interested. . so the girls and I went to look at him,” Krister said apologetically.
“And of course he was adorable,” Irene sighed.
“Adorable!” her family said in unison.
“SOMETIMES YOU fall into your own trap,” said Tommy Persson.
He didn’t try to hide his joy. They were sitting in the office they shared, taking an extra cup of coffee to get the Friday morning started. Irene had just given him the short version of what had happened in Copenhagen. And summed up with the fact that the Huss family would probably have to take one of the puppies.
“Everything at our house revolves around the puppy who’s coming. Sara has bought food dishes and chewing toys and God knows what all,” Tommy said, defeated.
“I hadn’t thought about starting over with a puppy again. Vet visits, raising them, and training. Yuck! It’s like having kids again.” In order to change the subject, Irene asked, “How is it going with Jack the Ripper?”
“OK. I have a theory that I’m working on. Two of his victims talked about a certain smell he had. Now the last girl has come up with what it was.”
Tommy stopped and paused dramatically before he slowly said, “Food.”
“Food?”
“Yes. Kitchen odor. The smell seems to come from his clothes or maybe his hair. My theory is that Jack works in the kitchen of a restaurant. The pubs usually stop serving food around twelve. It takes at least one and a half and sometimes two hours to get the kitchen in order. You know that seeing as how you’re married to someone in the business.”
Irene nodded. Krister was rarely home before two when he worked evenings.
“All four times, Jack has made his move between one thirty and three in the morning. Always in Vasastan. I’m thinking about taking a look at the pubs in the area. Especially the kitchen staffs.”
“You can eliminate Krister right away. He’s too big and fat to match the description. And too old. Jack is around thirty if I remember correctly.”
“Krister isn’t the first person I would suspect in this case,” Tommy said.
IRENE SPENTthe rest of the day in front of her computer. The only interruption was lunch at the employee cafeteria of the nearby insurance office. The chicken casserole wasn’t too bad, but Irene thought longingly about the lunches in Copenhagen. Jens and Peter were probably sitting at a nice pub with an ice-cold beer in front of them right now. Suddenly her light beer felt very thin.
The report she had to write about events in Copenhagen turned out to be a long one. She mentioned the photo of Marcus that hung above Emil’s bed. It was too important to leave out. But she sneaked in the little lie she had served the superintendent and Hannu earlier that morning, namely that she had recognized Marcus from the pictures in the photo album that they had found in his apartment. Even if some of the pictures had been naked studies, they weren’t in the same league as that framed photo. It occurred to her that it might be useful to try to locate the photographer. He must be well known. But who could provide information about a photographer who took these kinds of photos? Irene had to get copies of the photos from Copenhagen before she could attempt to find him.
She called Jens Metz. As luck would have it, he was in his office. He promised to arrange to send her a copy of the photo over Emil’s bed.
“Do you need it in the original size?” he asked.
“Not necessarily. But not too small.”
“OK. I’ll take care of it.”
Before they hung up, Irene thanked him again for the friendly treatment she and Jonny had received in Copenhagen, and Jens countered politely by inviting her down again.
After some hesitation Irene took out her cell phone and called Tom Tanaka. It rang several times before he answered. When she heard his hoarse voice she realized that she had awakened him.
“Tom speaking.”
“Hi. Irene Huss. Sorry to wake you.”
Tom mumbled something unintelligible in response. Irene decided to keep the phone call short.
“It’s important. Can you arrange to let me have copies of the photos you have on your bedroom wall?” she asked.
It was quiet for some time. Irene assumed that Tom was trying to wake up and understand what she had said. Finally she heard his gruff voice. “I have a Polaroid camera. Is it good enough if I use that?”
“I don’t know. Maybe. We can always make an enlargement.”
Personally, she wasn’t among the most chipper of morning people so she understood his irritation about being awakened. But it was actually one thirty in the afternoon. As if he had realized how grumpy he sounded, he hurried to add, “I know a guy who can make real copies of the photos. But it will take a bit longer. Then you can have them enlarged.”
“That would be really nice of you. Could I suggest that you take the Polaroid pictures with your camera and send them today and then send the others when they are ready?”
“I’ll take care of it.”
Irene decided to get in one more question. “You haven’t come up with the name of the photographer or the name of the other model?”
“No. Marcus never mentioned them. He had the pictures with him when he came here for the last time. They were ready to hang. Without asking me, he took down the two paintings I had on the wall and put up his instead. He said that they should hang there while he was gone so that I wouldn’t forget him.”
To her surprise, she suddenly heard a man’s voice say something in the background. She also heard Tom say, “Soon.” Who was with him? A vague feeling of concern overcame her. It could be heard in her voice when she said, “You’re being careful, right?”
“Absolutely. You, too.”
After he’d hung up, she was unable to free herself from her feeling of concern.
She spent the time until four o’clock finishing the report, then turned off the computer with a feeling of liberation. Her body felt stiff. Her neck and shoulders popped when she stretched. She would have to take a really long run tonight to chase the stiffness from her body. Not to mention the high living in Copenhagen, which had settled around her stomach. Her jeans had felt tight this morning. But her period would be coming in two days, so that might also be the reason. In any case, she needed some serious workouts over the weekend.
On the way to Hannu’s office she picked up two cups of coffee. When she pushed open his door with her foot, she could see that there was a man sitting at the desk, but it was Hans Pahliss, not Hannu. Irene recognized him from the pictures in Marcus’s photo album. He looked up from the pile of papers he had been reading.
A sharp brown gaze focused on her over the edge of lowered reading glasses. His dark hair was a little too long and hung untidily across his forehead. It looked as though he had run his hand through it several times. His face was pale, with sharp lines, and showed heavy blue-black beard stubble. His body seemed to be thin. Irene got the impression that Pahliss was several years older and significantly shorter than his partner, Anders Gunnarsson.
Irene smiled and said, “Inspector Irene Huss. I brought some coffee. Would you like milk or sugar?”
“Milk, please.”
“Then I’ll go and get one with milk. Hannu can take this one.”
