the arms and legs. In conclusion he took one of Marcus’s legs and lifted it straight above his head. That was the final picture.
“Ten minutes,” Peter said dryly.
“Damn, this stuff is sick!” Jonny exclaimed.
Irene felt ill. At the same time she realized the importance of the videos.
“Have you been able to locate where the dismemberments took place?” she asked tensely.
“With respect to the first murder, we have a theory that the dismemberment may have taken place in an old, abandoned shipyard building. There are several of those out by Frihamnen, a few kilometers from Hellerup. That’s where the sacks were found. We have people going through all of the abandoned shipyard buildings with a fine- tooth comb. If we don’t get anything there, we’ll go through industrial sites. It’s a huge job, but we’re going to do it.”
“How about the location where Marcus was dismembered?”
“Harder. It appears to be a basement. It’s probably located in Goteborg, since he was found here.”
Irene nodded and said, “I think that’s a correct assumption. There was no reason to transport Marcus’s dismembered body to Goteborg. The risk of getting caught at customs would always exist.”
“We know that he was alive when he came to Goteborg at the beginning of March,” Jonny pointed out.
“Yes. He called Anders Gunnarsson. And according to a neighbor lady he had been in his apartment because the plants were watered and his summer clothes were gone,” Irene agreed.
Hannu had been sitting motionless during the entirety of the last film, but now he turned to Peter and said, “That means that Emil and his accomplice also came along to Goteborg.”
“I think the accomplice was already in place. He was waiting for Emil and Marcus here,” Irene said.
Jonny was still noticeably pale but now he cleared his throat and asked, “Why didn’t Marcus drive his car when he came home to pack?”
“A very good question. But that’s the obvious answer to why we haven’t gotten any positive leads when we asked the different ferry lines about the car. His red American vehicle would be very conspicuous,” said Irene.
“That’s why,” Hannu said.
The other three turned their questioning looks toward him. “Because it was conspicuous,” Hannu said.
Irene thought hard but didn’t understand Hannu’s meaning. “They were going to leave from Landvetter,” Hannu continued.
Jonny’s paleness was replaced by a flush of annoyance. “How do you know that?” he hissed angrily.
“They were going on a long trip to Thailand. It wasn’t a good idea to leave the car parked for an even longer time on the street. Marcus didn’t have a garage. Emil did, so they parked Marcus’s car in Emil’s garage, and took Emil’s car to Goteborg. Or maybe his accomplice’s.”
Peter nodded and said, “We’ll go through all of the facts again. But this time we’ll look for Emil’s car. I think you are right.”
“Were all three of them planning on going to Thailand? Or at least is that what Marcus believed?” Irene said thoughtfully.
“It’s very possible,” said Hannu.
“Did you notice that there weren’t any internal organs or muscles left in the bodies in the films?” Peter wondered. He continued without waiting for an answer, “Our theory is that they were placed in different containers. In the film where Carmen is dismembered you can see the rim of a large plastic bucket. It’s standing right next to the table she’s lying on. Our thinking is that the head and the internal organs were placed in that bucket and covered with cement. The bucket was then sunk out in the ocean. The sacks floated, as you know.”
His Swedish colleagues pondered this theory.
“You think the same thing happened with Marcus’s head and organs?” Hannu said finally.
“Yes.”
“And the buttocks and muscles were eaten by those sick bastards?” Jonny exclaimed.
Peter answered neutrally, “Probably.”
He ejected the tape and put it back in its case before he went on, “Blokk watched both videos last night. He said that Carmen had probably been dead for at least eight hours before Emil started dismembering her. Rigor mortis is already fully developed.”
“And Marcus?” asked Irene.
“He was probably dead a shorter period of time. Blokk guessed five hours. As you saw, the leg bent a bit at the knee when Emil picked it up. The jaws and the arms were completely stiff. Blokk said that he was going to analyze the films frame by frame. Then he can see if there is livor mortis and so on.”
Irene realized that it was way past lunchtime but she assumed that the other three didn’t feel particularly hungry either.
“These two videos explain why Isabell and Emil weren’t dismembered. Sawing off the head and the extremities was Emil’s job. He wasn’t there when Isabell was murdered. Certainly, he was there when
“He was indirectly involved in Isabell’s murder. He was the one who tipped off the murderer that I was looking for her, and he must have given him the name of Simon Steiner,” said Irene.
“Emil may have told the murderer his father’s name earlier. But the murderer and Emil must have been in contact directly after Emil spoke with Beate, after your restaurant meeting,” said Peter.
“He couldn’t have known before then that I was looking for Isabell,” Irene agreed.
“Why would he kill an insignificant little whore you were looking for?” Jonny asked.
Before Irene had a chance to answer, Hannu said, “A practical joke.”
It sounded ridiculous, but the more Irene thought about it, the less far-fetched it seemed. Was Bell’s murder a warning from a twisted brain? Or a joke?
“Emil’s accomplice has suddenly become very active. There were two years between the murders of Carmen and Marcus. Then he murders Isabell and Emil within an interval of just a few hours. And a week and half later, Tom is stabbed!” she exclaimed.
“We don’t know if Emil’s partner stabbed Tanaka. It could have been a regular burglar. But as he took the photo in the bedroom, we have to assume that the break-in is connected to everything else,” Peter observed.
“And we can probably assume that it was Emil whom Marcus meant when he spoke about his police officer. The question is, who’s the doctor?” said Irene.
She told them about Pontus Zander’s promise to keep his ears cocked at the next day’s meeting for gays in the health-care field.
“Gays in the health-care system! I’ll be damned if they’re going to look at my ass!” Jonny snorted.
They decided to eat before watching the tapes one more time. Peter wanted a solid lunch because he was planning on driving home directly afterward.
“You’re not going to stay here in Goteborg for one night?” Irene asked.
“No. We’re short-staffed. Jens has had to take over as superintendent for Beate. She’ll be on sick leave a few more weeks.”
He wouldn’t let himself be persuaded. Finally, Irene gave up. She wanted him to leave with a good impression of Goteborg’s pub life so she decided that they would eat at Glady’s Corner. She lifted the phone receiver to reserve a table. If you’re married to the master chef, it should be possible to arrange things on short notice.
THEY WERE given a table but had to wait until two o’clock. Jonny excused himself by saying that he had work piled up, but Irene had the suspicion that it was mostly out of fear that he would have to pay for himself. Glady’s was one of Goteborg’s best pubs, with a star in
Irene quickly realized that the three police officers weren’t really dressed for the establishment. Peter might be able to pass as business casual. But since it was after the lunch rush and the dinner guests hadn’t started streaming in yet, there shouldn’t be a problem. The headwaiter was among the snootiest Irene had ever come across; they had never gotten on well. Not that they had that much to do with each other, but sometimes she couldn’t avoid needing to speak with her husband. If the headwaiter happened to be the one who answered the phone, an icy chill soon floated over the wires. Irene suspected that she wasn’t chic enough to be the wife of the golden pub’s master chef, in his estimation.
