The Preacher. Camilla Lackberg
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things have actually slowed down the past few days. So we were able to get to your case sooner than we thought.’
‘Let’s hear it.’ Martin held his breath. Much of the progress of an investigation depended on how much Forensics had to offer.
‘Well, it’s clear that you’re not dealing with a pleasant fellow. The cause of death was easy to determine: she was strangled. But it’s what was done to her before she died that’s really remarkable.’
Pedersen paused, and Martin pictured him putting on a pair of glasses.
‘Yes?’ Martin couldn’t hide his impatience.
‘Now let’s see … You’ll be getting this by fax as well … Hmm,’ said Pedersen, apparently skimming the report. Martin’s hand began to sweat from his tight grip on the receiver.
‘Yes, here it is. Fourteen fractures to various parts of the skeleton. All inflicted before death, judging from the varying degrees of healing that had taken place.’
‘You mean –’
‘I mean that somebody broke her arms, legs, fingers, and toes over the course of about a week, I would reckon.’
‘Were they broken on a single occasion or on several? Can you tell that?’
‘As I said, we can see that the fractures show a varying degree of healing, so my professional opinion is that they occurred sporadically over the entire period. I’ve made a sketch of the order in which I think the fractures occurred. It’s included in the report I faxed to you. The victim also had a good number of superficial incisions on her body. Also in varying stages of healing.’
‘Good God!’ Martin couldn’t help blurting out.
‘I’m inclined to agree with that opinion.’ Pedersen’s voice sounded dry over the telephone. ‘The pain she experienced must have been unbearable.’
For a moment they contemplated in silence how cruel people could be. Then Martin pulled himself together and continued, ‘Did you find any evidence on the body that might help us?’
‘Yes, we found semen. If you find a suspect, he could be tied to the murder with DNA. Naturally we’re searching our database as well, but it’s rare that we get any hits that way. So far, the register is just too small. We can only dream of the day when we’ll have the DNA of every citizen in a searchable database. Then we’ll be in a totally different position.’
‘Dream is probably the right word. Complaints about infringing on the freedom of the individual and all that will probably stop that plan cold.’
‘If what this woman went through can’t be called restricting an individual’s freedom, then I don’t know what can …’
This was uncharacteristically philosophical for the normally prosaic Tord Pedersen. Martin realized that for once he had actually been moved by the victim’s fate. This was usually not something a pathologist could allow if he wanted to sleep well at night.
‘Can you give me an estimated time of death?’
‘Yes, I got the results from the samples that the techs took on-site, and then I supplemented them with my own observations, so I can give you quite a reliable time interval.’
‘Let’s hear it.’
‘In my estimation she died sometime between six and eleven o’clock, the evening before she was discovered in the King’s Cleft.’
‘You can’t give me a more exact time than that?’ Martin sounded disappointed.
‘It’s standard practice here in Sweden never to give a narrower interval than five hours in such cases, so that’s the best I can do. But the interval’s probability is 95 per cent, so at least it’s very reliable. However, I can confirm what you must have suspected: that the King’s Cleft is the secondary crime scene. She was murdered somewhere else and lay there for a couple of hours after death, which is evident from the livor mortis.’
‘Well, that’s something, anyway.’ Martin sighed. ‘What about the skeletons? Did they give you anything? You got the message from Patrik, I suppose, about who we think they might be.’
‘Yes, I did. And on that we aren’t really clear yet. It isn’t quite as simple as you might think to obtain dental records from the Seventies, but we’re working on it as fast as we can. As soon as we know more we’ll let you know. But I can say that they are two female skeletons, and the age seems to be about right. The pelvis of one women also indicates that she had borne a child, and that agrees with the information we have. The most interesting thing of all is that both skeletons have fractures similar to the recent victim’s. Between us I would even venture to say that the fractures are almost identical on the three bodies.’
Martin dropped a pen on the floor from pure shock. What had actually landed in their laps? A sadistic murderer who let twenty-four years pass between his evil deeds? Martin didn’t even want to think about the alternative: that the murderer might not have waited twenty-four years, and they simply hadn’t found the other victims yet.
‘Were they also stabbed with a knife?’
‘Since there is no soft-tissue material left, that’s more difficult to say, but there are some scrape marks on the bones that might indicate they were subjected to the same treatment, yes.’
‘And the cause of death for them?’
‘The same as for the German woman. Bones that were compressed at the throat correspond to injuries resulting from strangulation.’
Martin was rapidly taking notes during the conversation. ‘Anything else of interest you can give me?’
‘Just that the skeletons were probably buried. There are traces of dirt on them, and we might be able to get something out of them in the analysis. But it isn’t clear yet, so you’ll have to be patient. There was dirt on Tanja Schmidt and the blanket she was lying on also, so we’ll be comparing that to the samples from the skeletons.’ Pedersen paused. ‘Is Mellberg leading the investigation?’
There was some apprehension in his voice. Martin smiled to himself, but he could set the pathologist’s mind at rest on that point.
‘No, Patrik has been given the case. But who will get the credit once we solve it is quite another matter …’
They both laughed at the remark, but it was a laugh that at least on Martin’s part stuck a bit in his craw.
After saying goodbye to Tord Pedersen, he went to collect the pages that had arrived in the station’s fax machine. When Patrik came to work a while later, Martin had done his homework well. After Patrik heard a summary of the forensic report he was just as depressed as Martin. This was developing into a hell of a case.
Erica’s sister Anna let the sunshine bake into her skin as she lay stretched out in a bikini in the bow of the sailboat. The children were taking their afternoon nap in the cabin below, and Gustav was at the tiller. Tiny drops of salt water splashed over her each time the bow hit the water’s surface, and it was wonderfully refreshing. If she closed her eyes she could forget for a moment that she had any cares in the world and convince herself that this was her real life.
‘Anna, phone for you.’ Gustav’s voice woke her from her meditative state.
‘Who is it?’ She shaded her eyes with her hand and saw that he was waving her mobile.
‘He wouldn’t say.’
Damn it all. She knew right away who it was, and feeling hard little knots of anxiety in her stomach she cautiously made her way over to Gustav.
‘Anna.’
‘Who the hell was that?’ Lucas hissed.
Anna hesitated. ‘I told you I was going out sailing with a friend.’
‘So now you’re trying to fool me into thinking that the guy is just a friend,’