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

Jan Hansen’s voice carried from inside the house down the street to where Jamie was standing. He was yelling at the officers walking up his steps and in through his door, protesting and telling them to get out. But they had written consent to be there – courtesy of his wife – and whether he was a controlling piece of shit or not, her name was on the deed too, and that was all they needed.

Jamie tore her head away as the last of the officers filed in to do their sweep and looked at Wiik. He was watching her.

‘You did good,’ he said.

‘Do you think we’ll find anything?’

He raised his shoulders into a shrug and then let them fall. ‘I don’t know. But Hansen never moved from my shoulder, and every time I opened a drawer, he’d say, “There’s nothing in there.”’

‘Like he knew?’

‘Like he’d already emptied the room out.’ Wiik scowled up at the pretty townhouse.

‘The question is whether he was smart enough to get rid of whatever was left altogether, or if he just thought hiding it was enough.’

Wiik smirked a little. ‘I’m more curious as to why he removed or hid anything to begin with. And if he did – how he knew Emmy wasn’t coming back.’

Jamie clicked her teeth together, listening to Jan Hansen’s diatribe at the presence of the officers in his house carry on the cold wind. She shivered and pulled her peacoat tighter around her body. ‘Any word yet from Hallberg on the Gunnarson thing?’

Wiik cracked his neck, reached up and flattened his hair against his head, and then replaced his hands in his pockets. ‘Hallberg has followed up with Gunnarson’s lawyer, but hasn’t got anything back. Gunnarson’s too grief-stricken to answer our questions, supposedly. She also managed to make a list of agencies in the city that supplied nannies and au pairs between ’95 and ’96. Though most of them aren’t operating anymore. She’s going to reach out to the owners today and see if any of them had Mikael and Åsa Gunnarson listed as clients. Then we’ll see if we can track down the nanny in question and get her talking.’ He sighed. ‘But that’s a lot of ifs.’

‘Shit,’ Jamie said. ‘In the meantime, we should probably put a watch on Leif Lundgren, just in case the killer wants to take another swing at him.’

‘Already done.’ Wiik said, looking at her and smiling a little.

‘I’m guessing by your face he didn’t take to the idea.’

‘No. But his options were being left to the wolves or being followed by a police car. He chose the lesser of two evils.’ This seemed to amuse Wiik. Jamie recalled that he’d said Leif Lundgren was a bit of an asshole.

‘Leif Lundgren and Jan Hansen,’ Jamie muttered after a few seconds.

‘What was that?’

‘It’s just weird, right? Both Hanna Lundgren and Emmy Berg weren’t Lundgren’s and Hansen’s biological children. Hanna Lundgren was adopted, Emmy Berg was being fostered. Have Hallberg go back and check the relationships of the deceased parents with the original victims.’

‘What are you thinking?’

Jamie shook her head. ‘Not sure. Just a thought. But I’d bet they’re not biological relatives. At least not all of them. Step-parents, foster parents…’

‘Okay, I’ll get her on it.’ Wiik nodded, seeming to trust her instincts more now. He pulled his phone out and started tapping away.

Jamie turned to look back at the sea of police cars up ahead, wondering what the neighbours would think. She’d task a uniform with getting statements from them too. See if they knew anything about Emmy Berg.

It was now getting late in the afternoon and the sky had dimmed to a dull and lifeless grey. The streetlights would be coming on any minute now.

They had an interview set up for the following morning with William Martinsson – the boy that Anna and Jan were fostering. She was bringing him to HQ at nine, and they’d conduct the interview there. When Jan had come downstairs and found out that officers were on their way in force to toss the house, he’d all but blown his top. There was no way that they were going to do an interview at the home with Jan anywhere near it. If Emmy was avoiding him like the plague, there was a good chance the boy wasn’t too fond of the man either. And they needed him talking. And if that meant him being as far away from Jan Hansen as possible, then they were happy to oblige.

Jamie heard Wiik’s phone buzz in his hand and turned back to him. ‘That was quick, even for Hallberg,’ Jamie said, trying to lighten the mood. But Wiik’s expression told her that nothing would have done the job. ‘What’s wrong?’ she asked.

He swore under his breath and lowered the phone, looking over at her. ‘Tomas Lindvall has just been found.’

‘That’s good, isn’t it?’ Jamie asked, knowing it wasn’t.

‘No, it’s not. He’s dead.’

‘Dead?’ Jamie was surprised. ‘How?’

‘He threw himself off a bridge.’ Wiik looked angry about it.

Jamie wasn’t missing something here. ‘Jesus,’ she said. ‘When?’

‘About an hour ago,’ Wiik replied, the anger draining out of him. He hung his head now. ‘I just got an email from Avdelningen för Särskilda Utredningar. They want to interview me. Immediately.’

Special Investigations Division. The SPA’s equivalent to the Professional Standards departments back in the UK.

‘They’re investigating my conduct when it came to Lindvall’s apprehension and interrogation.’ Wiik ran his hand over his head again, blowing out a hard breath. ‘Apparently, he made a phone call to his estranged sister while he was on the bridge – telling her that he was sorry for what he did and that he’d been made to realise the man he really was. That the world would be better off without him. She tried to talk him down but he wouldn’t listen. And she’s also saying that the last words he said before he jumped were “the detective was right.”’

Jamie swallowed, watching Wiik closely. This was the last thing the investigation needed.

‘I, uh,’ Wiik said, rubbing the back of his head and looking around quickly. ‘I’ve got to go and deal with this.’

She reached out and put her hand on his shoulder, squeezing hard. ‘It’ll be okay.’

He looked at her briefly but said nothing.

‘You did nothing wrong – Lindvall was unstable, off his medication, on drugs. He wasn’t in his right mind. A psychotic break,’ Jamie tried to reassure him.

‘Yeah,’ Wiik said, shrugging her hand off. ‘And that’s because I pushed him into it.’ He exhaled hard again and started walking. ‘You okay to find your own way?’ He turned, back-pedalling, but not stopping.

‘Sure,’ Jamie said. ‘Good luck.’

He gave her a weak smile and then showed her his back, making up ground on his car quickly. A second later he was in it and peeling away from the cluster of marked cars assembled outside the Hansens’ house.

The tyres scraped, spun on the damp asphalt, and then gripped, slingshotting the car into the distance, leaving Jamie alone in the street, with nothing but the biting wind and darkening sky for company.