Page 23 of The Sleepwalker (Joona Linna #10)

Joona and his team from the NCU met with the Prosecution Authority this morning, to take them through the current state of the investigation.

They have spoken to the family of the second victim, to his friends, colleagues, fellow conference delegates and hotel staff.

Test results, autopsy reports and forensic analyses continue to flood in, but as yet they haven’t made any breakthroughs.

Two targeted victims and one dead witness.

There are no obvious links between the three, which led Joona to say what no one wanted to hear:

‘We’ll have a new victim on our hands soon.’

He is now alone in the investigation room, studying the photographs on the wall and thinking about the similarities and differences between the two primary murders.

Both were married middle-class men with children.

Josef Lindgren’s body parts were scattered between different rooms in the caravan, while Nils Nordlund was found on his knees in the water with his head on the ice in front of him.

The first victim had repeatedly visited free porn sites online, and had on three occasions posted in a thread about buying sex on Flashback, where someone had recommended that he turn to the Darknet.

He had downloaded and installed a Tor browser in the spring, but there is no way of knowing whether he ever actually used it to procure sex.

No trace of pornography was found on either of the second victim’s computers, nor did he use any encryption software.

Nils Nordlund’s phone is still missing, however, which means that they do not yet have the full picture of his activities.

It has likely been destroyed or deactivated, because it no longer seems to be in use.

The door opens and Saga comes into the room. She sits down opposite Joona, leans back and meets his eye.

‘I shouldn’t be here,’ she says quietly.

‘But I really need your help.’

‘You usually get by just fine without me.’

Joona knows that if he manages to solve this case, it will open up an opportunity to talk about recruitment. Noah will be relieved, hold a press conference, and then they can sit down and talk about the future.

Everyone knows that Saga is the only suitable partner for Joona, and it really would do her good to return to operative duty.

Her beautiful face is so open and troubled. Her eyes have a darkness to them, and there is an air of desperation about her. Her hair, which once came down to her waist and was plaited with colourful ribbon, is now tied back in a severe ponytail.

Saga currently works part-time behind a desk in the Intelligence Unit, but she wants to be a detective with the NCU and has already spoken to an HR manager.

He listened to what she had to say, took notes and then asked whether she was ready for it, whether she thought she would be able to cope.

‘Yes,’ she replied with a smile.

‘I’m afraid I don’t agree.’

She very nearly managed to thank him for his time, get up, tuck her chair back beneath the table and calmly leave the room. But instead, four framed diplomas ended up shattering on the floor, and she was left with eight stitches in her knuckles and a disciplinary pay deduction.

‘I don’t want to get you in trouble,’ Joona tells her. ‘But it’s hardly your fault if you happen to hear someone thinking aloud.’

As she gets up and studies the images, he takes her through everything they know so far.

‘Makes me think of medieval punishments,’ she says once he has finished. ‘You know, like being hung, drawn and quartered, disembowelment and .?.?. what else, breaking on the wheel, mutilation.’

‘Punishment,’ Joona nods.

‘Aggravated capital punishment, I think it was called.’

‘If that’s the case, what’s the crime?’

Joona’s work phone starts ringing, and when he sees that the call is from Agneta Nkomo, he tells Saga he needs to take it.

‘It was nice being involved, even for a bit,’ she says with a smile as she leaves the room.

Joona moves over to the window to answer the call, looking out across the bare trees in the park. He sees a bearded man standing beside one of the rubbish bins with a half-empty bag in his hand, trying to shake frozen Coca-Cola out of a can.

‘I just wanted to let you know that Bernard and I have decided to document this period in our lives, with the intention of possibly writing a book about the murders and Hugo’s part in the investigation,’ Agneta tells him.

‘I suspected as much when I saw you at the press conference.’

‘We feel that Hugo gives us a unique perspective.’

‘Tell him that Hugo agrees, too,’ Bernard speaks up in the background.

‘I don’t know whether you heard that,’ she continues. ‘But Hugo is on board with the idea, and he’s promised to help as much as he can .?.?. We think we might be able to get him to remember more details.’

‘If he does, if he remembers anything else, I’d like you to let me know.’

‘Absolutely. I mean, the book is one thing, but we’re not going to feel safe until this is all over.’

‘I can understand that,’ Joona replies, turning back to look at the photographs on the wall.

‘Hugo told us that the victim in the caravan had a pale band of skin on his ring finger,’ Agneta goes on.

‘That’s a good first step.’

‘But not from when he was sleepwalking,’ she points out.

‘No, but I wanted to ask—’

‘I’m just wondering .?.?. Sorry to interrupt,’ she says. ‘I’m wondering if the victim was robbed?’

‘The principle of secrecy is pretty strict when it comes to preliminary investigations.’

‘I know, but we’re not going to publish anything until the case is over.’

‘I’m trusting you not to leak any of this to the press,’ says Joona. ‘But both of the victims seem to have been robbed of their valuables.’

‘But that can’t be the motive, can it?’

‘Who knows?’

Joona returns to his desk, sits down and leans back in the creaky chair.

‘I have an idea I’d like to run by you,’ he continues. ‘You don’t have to give me an answer right now, but hear me out at the very least.’

‘OK .?.?.’

‘My department often works with a doctor specialising in PTSD and other psychological traumas, and he sometimes uses hypnosis to help victims and witnesses heal and remember.’

‘Seriously?’

‘Yes.’

‘But what if Hugo admitted to something .?.?. I don’t know .?.?. something illegal while he was under hypnosis?’ Bernard asks in the background.

‘I understand your concerns, but we wouldn’t be able to use any of it against him in a court of law. It has no evidentiary value, but it could lead to a breakthrough in the case.’

‘We’ll think it over and talk to Hugo,’ says Bernard.

‘Thank you.’