Angel Maker: An Unputdownable Scandinavian Crime Thriller With A Chilling Twist (DI Jamie Johansson Book 1)

Wiik had arrived at HQ ahead of them, and he and Falk seemed engrossed in a heated discussion by the time Jamie and Hallberg got onto the floor and started towards her office.

Falk caught sight of them, raised a hand to Wiik to silence him, and then beckoned them in.

She was sitting down, but Wiik was standing, arms folded, talking at her. She wondered whether Falk was the sort to crack the whip if needed. She still couldn’t really get a gauge on Wiik – he seemed to oscillate between cool-headed and competent, and petulant and impetuous. She was hardly the picture of perfection herself, but Wiik’s regular groove seemed to elude her.

Hallberg moved ahead confidently – probably more so than Jamie had seen yet – and looked at Falk. Right in the eyes.

Ah. She was trying to impress her. No doubt gunning for a promotion away from Wiik’s leash. Jamie didn’t blame her.

The door closed slowly behind them, and they were all inside the office then. Wiik made a point of not moving, so Hallberg had to speak to Falk over the top of her computer monitor, practically getting on her tiptoes to do so.

Jamie moved behind Wiik, nicking the back of his arm with her elbow. He looked at her and she nodded her head to the side slightly, motioning him over.

He furrowed his brow and then took a few steps towards her, giving Hallberg the space she needed.

‘What?’ he asked, voice hushed, as though Jamie wanted to whisper something to him.

Jamie feigned ignorance. ‘What?’

His brow creased further. ‘You just…’ He trailed off, reading the look of confusion on her face. ‘Never mind.’ He turned back to the room now and found Hallberg in his spot.

It probably would have been a little brazen for him to barge her out of the way, so he stood where he was, scowling at Falk.

What had they been talking about before Jamie had come in?

‘Right,’ Falk said, looking at each of them in turn. Her eyes rested on Jamie. ‘From what I gather, things aren’t looking good,’ she said plainly. ‘I just spoke to the head CST at the Johansson house.’ The words came out of her mouth with detached ease. ‘He said that the tracks lead from the path to the back door but that it’s difficult to assess whether entry was gained as the rear door was locked upon inspection. So whoever broke in either locked it after them, or just wanted to peek in the windows.’

He was in there, Jamie felt like saying. But she stayed quiet.

‘This,’ Falk went on, holding her hands out, tapping them on the table as she spoke to emphasise her words, ‘is extra to the fact that Detective Johansson here is being targeted by whom we can only assume is the killer.’

This time Jamie did speak. ‘I wouldn’t say targeted…’

‘Then what would you say?’ Falk answered curtly. ‘Stalked? Hunted?’

Jamie set her jaw. Neither were better alternatives.

Falk drew a slow breath. ‘Wiik, where are we on the case?’

‘We’ve interviewed three suspects. Per Eriksson, Tomas Lindvall, and now, Leif Lundgren.’

‘Do you have anything to tie them to any of the murders, past or present?’

Wiik rolled his lips into a line but didn’t say anything firm. ‘We have a letter from Hans Sjöberg addressed to Per Eriksson in for analysis – and we’re going to see Eva Sjöberg this afternoon to collect Hans Sjöberg’s effects, along with the letter he originally sent to Eriksson.’

Falk didn’t look impressed.

‘And now that we have the note from Rättvik, we’ll compare the two and see what we find.’

Falk looked even less impressed then. ‘You’re resting this case on what, cryptographic analysis?’

‘No,’ Wiik said, bordering on sullen. ‘Of course not.’

Falk shook her head, turning to Hallberg – much to Wiik’s dismay. ‘You interviewed Lundgren yesterday. What did you find?’

‘Uh,’ Hallberg said, surprised to be called upon. Damn, Wiik must really have rubbed Falk up the wrong way. She cleared her throat and gained a little courage. ‘We did, yes. Lundgren maintains that he had no involvement with the original murders, but we noticed that he had a scar on his throat, and told us that he was attacked a few weeks after his daughter was killed.’

‘Attacked?’

‘Garrotted,’ Wiik grunted.

Falk kept her eyes on Hallberg. ‘By the killer?’

‘We don’t know,’ Hallberg said truthfully. ‘He never reported the incident, but we’re looking into the family members of the other victims in order to establish a pattern.’

Falk raised an eyebrow now. ‘You think the families may have been targeted, too?’

Jamie could see Hallberg was on rocky ground, and this was her theory anyway. ‘It’s too early to tell,’ Jamie said without invitation. ‘But if there’s another side to the original case that went unnoticed, then we need to investigate it.’

Falk fixed her eyes on Jamie now. ‘Yes,’ she said. ‘My detectives do need to investigate it.’

That was a shot at her. No doubt about it. Jamie said nothing in response.

‘So where do you intend to go from here?’ Falk asked Wiik now.

He swallowed, tried on a smile. It fell away after a second. ‘We’ll wait to see what the CSTs can pull from Johansson’s house, run analysis on the letters. Hallberg will stay here and dig into the families of the original victims, and Johansson and I will go to Eva Sjöberg’s to see if we can collect her husband’s belongings.’

Falk wasn’t satisfied yet. ‘And what about the current victim? Do we have an ID yet?’

‘No.’

‘Do you have any idea who she is?’

He drew a slow breath. ‘No.’

‘For God’s sake,’ Falk muttered, shaking her head. ‘Four days, Wiik, and you’re telling me you don’t have a damn clue who the girl is?’

‘We have an alert out for missing persons matching her—’

‘I don’t care. Find out who she is. And do it now. If this is anything like the last case, she won’t be the last. The original victims were all connected – and it’s likely these victims will be, too. So getting a positive ID is our number one priority.’

Wiik nodded in confirmation. ‘Of course.’

‘I don’t suppose you have anything on our missing detective, either?’ Falk hazarded to ask.

Wiik just looked down now. ‘No. Again, we’ve got an alert out on his car, but—’

She raised her hand and silenced him once more. ‘Jesus, Wiik. You told me you could handle this.’

‘I can,’ he said firmly, and then glanced at Jamie. ‘We can.’

She offered him a questioning look, then glanced at Falk, who was now staring at her.

‘Right,’ Falk said, taking a moment and brushing a loose strand of hair behind her ear. ‘I want up-to-the-minute progress reports.’

Wiik nodded, looked at Hallberg like she’d cocked her leg and pissed on him, and then exited the office.

‘Wait a second, Johansson,’ Falk said as Jamie began to follow.

The door closed slowly behind Wiik, who looked over his shoulder through the glass, stopping to see why Jamie wasn’t following.

Jamie tore her eyes away from Wiik and focused on the woman in front of her.

‘Sit,’ Falk said.

Jamie did, pulling out one of the leather-and-steel chairs in front of her desk.

‘How are you doing?’ Falk asked, keeping her voice quiet.

‘I’m okay,’ Jamie said, a little hesitation in hers.

Falk measured her reaction. ‘Good. I wasn’t sure if the case would prove too much for you.’

‘I’m fine,’ Jamie reiterated, a little more sternly now.

Falk gave her something like a warm smile. ‘I would understand if you weren’t. This case would be trying for any detective. And considering its nature, how close to home it is, and your history…’

‘I’m fine,’ Jamie said for a third time. ‘Honestly.’

‘Good. Because if you weren’t, I’d have no hesitation in pulling you from this case and shipping you off back to London.’

Jamie didn’t respond.

‘You’re making waves here,’ Falk went on, leaning on her elbow. She cast a quick eye at Wiik, who seemed to have found something interesting to inspect on one of the nearby desks outside the office. ‘But your input on the case has been invaluable so far,’ Falk said. ‘Wiik has said as much.’

‘Has he?’ Jamie asked. ‘He doesn’t seem like the laudatory type.’

That seemed to amuse Falk. ‘Wiik can be… difficult. But he’s a good detective.’

‘I’ve noticed,’ Jamie said.

‘Not beyond reproach though.’

Jamie was the one amused now. ‘I’ve noticed.’

‘He’s headstrong, needs tempering a lot of the time.’

‘He does.’

‘He’s been struggling since he lost his partner. They worked well together.’

‘Are they…’ Jamie asked, not sure she wanted to hear the answer.

‘Dead?’ Falk sat back now. ‘No – her and her husband decided to have a child. She went on maternity leave, and Wiik was assigned Hallberg as an interim partner.’

Jamie saw where this was going. ‘She never came back?’

‘She put in for a transfer to cybercrime. It’s not as exciting, but it keeps her behind a desk. Her priorities changed – I can’t blame her. They’re not all like us, after all.’ Falk chuckled a little and met Jamie’s eye.

What the hell did that mean? Jamie didn’t think they were alike at all.

Falk didn’t give her much time to think about it, though. ‘Wiik’s been sore about it since. Thinks she betrayed him.’

‘Partners can be close,’ Jamie offered. ‘Losing one stings.’ She drew a breath, thinking about the confirmatory looks Wiik had been shooting her. ‘What was she like – his old partner?’

‘Much like you,’ Falk said, glancing at the man outside the office again. ‘Strong-willed, pragmatic, tough. She kept him in line. They were the best I had.’

Jamie saw it now. ‘And he thinks I’ll be the one to replace her.’

‘I don’t know,’ Falk said. ‘In his mind, maybe. He and Hallberg… They don’t really see eye to eye. The first few months they were partnered up, she was in here once, twice a week complaining about him.’

‘There’s a lot to complain about.’

‘He’s giving her a hard time intentionally, trying to break her.’

‘That’s mature.’

Falk shrugged a little. ‘Wiik can be fragile, and he doesn’t take criticism very well.’

‘Who does?’

Falk smiled again. ‘Olsen was a good investigator. It was a blow to the department to lose her, but a bigger one to Wiik. This is his first big case since he and Hallberg have been partnered up. I was reluctant to give it to him, and I’m starting to regret it,’ Falk said honestly. ‘But you seem to have a positive effect on him.’

‘Do I?’ Jamie was surprised.

Falk nodded. ‘You do. But my priority is making sure that you’re alright. Wiik is a big boy, he can deal with his own mess. You on the other hand…’

‘I’m fine.’ Jamie did her best not to grit her teeth. Falk was clearly repeating the question to get a rise out of her.

‘Okay then,’ Falk said, ending the conversation there.

Jamie pushed up out of the chair.

‘One more thing,’ Falk said as Jamie was halfway out the door.

‘Yeah?’

What are your plans after the case?’ Falk asked, her expression neutral. Almost disinterested.

‘I hadn’t given it much thought,’ Jamie answered truthfully, a little thrown by the question.

‘Well, make sure Wiik doesn’t get the wrong idea if you haven’t got any intentions of sticking around.’

Sticking around? Jamie set her jaw.

Falk watched her for a moment, smiled briefly, and then looked at her screen.

Jamie took that as a cue to go, and then left the office without another word.

She hadn’t even thought about what came after. Whether it was back to Scotland – back to the Met… Or something else entirely.

Wiik stepped away from the desk he’d been hovering at and into Jamie’s path. ‘What was that about?’ he asked, licking his bottom lip nervously.

Jamie studied the man with the slicked-back hair, the expensive watch, the look that told her that everything had to be just so for him. That if his life didn’t fit into the nice, neat little boxes he felt comfortable with, that it was like having pins shoved in his eyes.

‘Nothing,’ she said. ‘Just making sure I’m okay to carry on.’

‘Are you?’ He looked expectant.

‘Yeah,’ she said, putting a hand on his shoulder and squeezing. ‘I’m okay.’

‘Good.’ He seemed relieved. ‘Now come on. Let’s get out of here before Hallberg sees us.’ He turned on his heel and strode quickly away.

Jamie started after him, looking back at Falk’s office.

The woman was sitting back in her chair, massaging her lips with her thumb, watching Jamie through the glass.

Jamie turned away and headed for the lifts, and though she didn’t turn around again, she knew that Falk’s eyes never left her.