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

It was just after seven when Jamie’s phone began buzzing on the nightstand.

She roused slowly, pulling her head up from the pillow, and reached across the bed for it, sweeping the letter, photograph and knife all onto the floor.

‘Shit,’ Jamie muttered, coming around instantly. She rolled over to the edge, grabbing her phone and answering while she bent to collect the things from between her feet. ‘Yeah?’

It was Hallberg’s voice. ‘Hey – how fast can you get ready?’

‘Uh,’ Jamie said, collecting the items in her hand and laying them on the bed. ‘I don’t know. Ten minutes or something. Why?’

‘Prelim on the cabin has come back – and Tech heard back from the forum. Falk wants everyone on the same page today before we wrap up.’

‘Wrap up?’ Jamie detected an uncertainty in Hallberg’s voice. Not a nervousness as such, more disappointment than anything.

Hallberg didn’t respond to the question. ‘I’ll pick you up.’

Then, the line went dead, and Jamie was left sitting on the bed, wondering what the hell was going on.

After the day she’d had yesterday, the last thing Jamie wanted to do was hang around on the kerb. And yet, here she was.

Hallberg arrived in her Mercedes hatchback about five minutes later than agreed. And while usually that sort of thing wouldn’t bother Jamie in the slightest, she was functioning on very little sleep, and the last week had been hell.

The car braked hard and stopped in front of Jamie. She wasted no time getting in. ‘What’s going on?’

Hallberg pulled away, not looking around. Her face was flecked with little cuts. One, just on her cheek, was held together by a butterfly stitch. She seemed tense. ‘Falk is on the warpath.’

Jamie scoffed a little. ‘I’m not surprised.’

‘The case is being taken off us. The Chancellor of Justice has ordered the National Operations Department to step in and take over the manhunt for Eriksson.’

Jamie raised an eyebrow. ‘The NOD?’

Hallberg nodded. ‘We’re doing a handover to the Nationella Insatsstyrkan this afternoon.’

The National Task Force, or the Nationella Insatsstyrkan, were a counterterrorism and high-risk intervention unit that were brought in to manage the worst cases. Hostage situations. Terror threats. Mass shootings. Serial killers… The bodies were stacking up, and Jamie suspected that Falk would be glad to get rid of the case now. Her best detective was under review from the SID for misconduct, a former detective and current consultant of the Stockholm Polis was seemingly complicit in and responsible for several murders, and a uniformed officer under her command had left his post and allowed that former detective to have his throat cut open by a fugitive in the middle of a public hospital. And that wasn’t even mentioning the visiting London Met detective who had put a bullet into their prime suspect. Jamie swallowed hard.

‘Why did the officer leave his post outside Nyström’s room?’ Jamie asked.

‘Bathroom, apparently.’

Jamie could hear the scorn in her voice. ‘Jesus,’ she muttered a little disbelievingly. ‘Seriously?’

‘He said it was late – there was no one around. No one knew Nyström was there. And the bathroom was only down the hall.’

Jamie was shaking her head. ‘I don’t know what’s worse. That he left his post to go and take a piss, or that he missed Eriksson standing twenty feet away.’

Hallberg looked around at her. ‘What?’

‘Well, think about it. If we’re operating under the assumption that this is a two-person job – that Eriksson and Sjöberg did this together twenty-five years ago, and now Eriksson had recruited Nyström to take Sjöberg’s place – he’d have plenty of reason to try and make sure that Nyström didn’t wake up, right?’

‘Right.’

‘And he didn’t slip into that room coincidentally when the officer went to the bathroom, did he?’

‘Unlikely.’

‘So he must have waited – in sight of Nyström’s room – until he had opportunity. And then…’

Hallberg’s frown turned to a scowl. ‘How could he miss him?’

Jamie shook her head. ‘I don’t know,’ she said, sighing. ‘But I suspect he’ll be paying for it for a while.’

Jamie, Wiik and Hallberg were all in Falk’s office, the rest of the floor deserted. Wiik was in jeans and a pair of brown walking boots, a faded T-shirt and a thick charcoal parka jacket. He’d not shaved again and his hair was decidedly untidy.

He seemed to be taking the hiatus from the case seriously. How was his review going? She’d never asked.

‘Johansson,’ Falk said.

Jamie looked up from Wiik’s boots. ‘Yes.’

‘You with us?’ Falk looked even more tired than before, the circles under her eyes darker, her mouth now a puckered, sour circle.

Jamie nodded.

Falk put her fingers on her brow and scanned the documents in front of her. ‘The NTF will be here by mid-morning, and they want a full rundown of the case so far, as well as all of our forensics reports, case notes and anything else we have that will help them track Eriksson down. He’s slipped through our fingers twice now.’ She held up two fingers to illustrate.

Three times, Jamie thought about saying, if you counted the original case. But she didn’t.

‘The prelim has come back from the hunting cabin. They found the original case files – or what was left of them. CSTs have done their best to pull fragments from the hearth, but they were all but incinerated.’ She looked down at the reports again. ‘They also recovered a disposable mobile phone, several sets of clothing and two hunting rifles from the scene – a Sauer 202 and a Remington Model 700.’ Her eyes went to Jamie now. ‘I presume the second one is yours?’

Jamie nodded reservedly.

‘And am I right to presume that it is the weapon you used to shoot the suspect?’

Jamie nodded again, breaking eye contact.

Falk kept her eyes on her. ‘And am I right to presume that it belonged to your father?’

Another nod.

‘But that you don’t have any of the paperwork to show that?’

Jamie stopped nodding now, but Falk kept going.

‘Or any paperwork showing that you now own it?’

Jamie met her eye, but kept her expression blank.

‘And seeing as it wasn’t in the chattels catalogue that the technicians carried out when they swept your house, I won’t even ask when you took possession of it, where you’ve been storing it, and why you were carrying around live ammunition.’

Jamie cleared her throat. When Falk said it like that, it did sound bad. She’d not really thought about anything other than making sure the CSTs didn’t take it. An unlicenced firearm like that needed to be seized. Jamie had no intention of using it, and she’d only taken the ammunition because if the CSTs had found it, they’d ask what weapon it was for. The fact that it had saved hers – and Hallberg’s – life seemed almost inconsequential.

Falk smiled at her now – a thin veneer laid over the bitter disappointment. ‘Let’s just hope that the NTF don’t scrutinise it too hard. Otherwise we’re all in trouble. Okay?’

Jamie tensed her jaw and looked down. She could see Wiik eyeing her out of the corner of his eye.

Falk turned the page emphatically and shook her head, refocusing her eyes. ‘The cabin was rife with both Nyström’s and Eriksson’s DNA. And along with the van from the church, that places Eriksson as our top priority. For the next few hours, anyway. He’s on the loose, he’s dangerous, and he’s not letting up anytime soon. We know from the original pattern that he’ll be lining up Jan Hansen. And I have no doubt that Mikael Gunnarson will be on his radar, too. Have we had anything back from Gunnarson’s solicitor or the childcare agencies?’ She looked at Hallberg now.

‘I still haven’t been able to track down the nanny that the Gunnarsons used. The companies operating back then are mostly out of business now, and the ones I have been able to get a response from don’t have a Mikael or Åsa Gunnarson listed as clients. It’s not looking good.’

Wiik jumped in. ‘But I think it’s fair to assume that if Eriksson wanted them dead, it was because of what they did to Tilde. Gunnarson said that Tilde didn’t like the nanny before he clammed up. That it was the reason they got rid of her… So whether she was the one abusing Tilde or it was the parents…’ He trailed off, exhaled and cradled the back of his head. ‘I don’t know. But Eriksson wanted them dead – and I think that says a lot.’

Falk looked at Wiik. ‘The NTF will follow up with Gunnarson. And I’ll be curious to see what his solicitor does then. They carry a lot more weight than we do and don’t like taking no for an answer. Still, we should make sure to tie up as many loose ends as we can this morning. I don’t want the NTF to have anything to come at us for. Hallberg?’

She nearly jumped out of the chair. ‘I’ll keep going. I have another few names to track down, will follow up with the Vehicle Licensing Agency for updated contact details, and I’ll reach out to Gunnarson’s solicitor again.’

‘Good. Wiik,’ Falk said. ‘Make sure that email states very clearly that the NTF will be taking over the case, and that if he wants to continue to deal with the very amicable and friendly Stockholm Polis, then he needs to do so quickly.’

Wiik sighed and then dipped his chin, showing his reluctant agreement.

Falk went on, intent on covering every base. ‘Forensics are transporting the vehicles back from the scene this morning – including your rental car.’ Falk glanced up at Jamie before going back to the report. It seemed like Falk had had enough of chewing her out, and Jamie couldn’t say she wasn’t thankful. ‘It looks like Nyström was using his car to suffocate the girls. Techs found traces of adhesive residue on the ceiling – their best guess is that he taped a film or screen up to separate the front from the back seats. They’ll conduct a thorough investigation of the car when it’s in the workshop – and are already trying to match hair found in the back seat to Emmy Berg. We should have the results in the next hour or so to confirm.’ She closed the file on the cabin and pulled another one in front of her. ‘Our cyber techs were able to get in contact with the hosts of the forum that Emmy Berg used and recovered a set of private messages that tie Nyström to the abduction.’ She coughed into her fist and then picked up the file to start reading. ‘Message sent from username WeCanHelp: “Hi sweetheart, I read your message and I wanted to tell you that you’re not alone. I know things seem bleak, but don’t worry, we can help.”’ Falk looked up at each of them.

All three were hanging on her every word.

‘It goes on,’ Falk said. ‘“We’ve helped lots of girls like you. My friend and I have been doing this for a long time. Men like the man who hurt you are everywhere, and it may seem like there’s no way out, but there is. The first thing we need to do is get you somewhere safe. My friend is a policeman. He can pick you up wherever you want, and he can take you somewhere safe. Then, we can deal with the man that hurt you. We can make him sorry for what he’s done. And we can make sure that he never hurts anyone else ever again.”’

Falk laid the papers down. ‘They sent a phone number at the bottom of the message. Emmy didn’t respond via the forum messaging service, but we suspect that she called the number listed.’

Wiik spoke now. ‘Does it match the phone recovered from the cabin?’

Falk shook her head. ‘No, it doesn’t. But Nyström’s phone only shows one number saved.’

‘And it’s the same one from the message,’ Jamie said, putting it together as Falk said it.

‘Right.’

Wiik leaned forward now, his elbows resting on his knees. ‘So we track the phone? Eriksson must be this WeCanHelp person. He goes on the forums, he finds the girls, he approaches them. Then he uses Nyström’s position to make them feel safe.’ Wiik clapped suddenly, making them jump. ‘And that’s how he gets them.’

Hallberg nodded. ‘It explains why he targeted Nyström to help him.’

‘It does,’ Falk said. ‘But it doesn’t explain why Nyström actually did. And to answer your question, no, we can’t track the phone. It was last pinged by a data tower outside the city three days ago. Since then, it’s been off. And if Eriksson is half as smart as we’re giving him credit for, he’ll have destroyed it and will be using another disposable phone by now.’

‘What about the forum?’ Wiik sounded desperate now. ‘Has he messaged anyone else? Replied to any other posts?’

Falk shook her head slowly. ‘No, that account was disabled and then deleted less than twenty minutes after the message was sent. Tech have tracked down the IP address used to register it and send the message, but it traced back to a popular internet cafe in the city.’

‘CCTV?’ Wiik asked hopefully.

‘That’s what makes it popular,’ Falk said tiredly. ‘There is none. They also offer free use of VPNs. Tech spent forty minutes trying to figure out why the account seemed to have been registered from Turkmenistan before it clicked. The place is owned by an outspoken leftist who is very much in favour of online privacy and freedom, data protection, etcetera, etcetera.’ She cycled her hand through the air in front of her. ‘Makes the place very popular with white-hat hackers and the like.’

‘Son of a bitch,’ Wiik muttered.

Jamie took it all in. Eriksson really was smart. And he had it all worked out. He needed someone to do the heavy lifting for him – to take the girls, to kill them, to display them. To go after the parents. Someone with skill. Sjöberg was perfect – military background, smart. Nyström would be a good substitute. He was trained to use weapons, trained in the use of tactics and strategy. He was police, which gave Eriksson something to lull the girls into a sense of security with. And crucially, he’d killed before, Jamie would bet. If she looked up Nyström’s service record, she knew she’d find that he’d shot someone in the line of duty. And the first one was always the hardest.

She could attest to that herself.

Jamie grimaced. ‘What’s the connection between Nyström and Eriksson? How did he find him after all these years? He would have known him from the original case, but to reach out after two decades?’

Falk addressed Jamie directly, already ahead of her. ‘We’re looking into Nyström now. I have Tech and Forensics combing through his life, looking for anything Eriksson could use. Debts, medical troubles, anything like that.’

Jamie pursed her lips. ‘Eriksson wouldn’t need that.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘He’s a master manipulator. A chameleon. He emulates, he mirrors. And he’s good at it. One of the best I’ve ever met. And trust me – I’ve met them before. But he didn’t set anything off for me. Not a single alarm bell. He was charming, easy-going, funny.’

‘I didn’t like him,’ Wiik interjected.

Falk ignored it, focusing on Jamie.

She went on. ‘He wouldn’t try to blackmail or bribe Nyström into this. The Angel Maker has always been a planner and a manipulator. He got Hans Sjöberg to do his killing for him, and then to go to prison for him too. Hans Sjöberg could have rolled on Eriksson in a heartbeat for a reduced sentence. Gone home to his wife instead of dying behind bars. But he didn’t. And that’s loyalty you can’t buy, and you can’t threaten to get. That’s earned – whether the victim realises it’s insincere or not. No, Eriksson didn’t leverage Nyström into it. He chose him, he studied him, and then he closed in on him. Was Nyström lonely?’

‘I’m sorry?’ Falk seemed thrown by the question.

‘Was he lonely?’

‘I don’t… I don’t know.’

‘Family? Wife?’

‘Widower, no children.’

‘Brothers, sisters?’

‘Only child,’ Falk confirmed.

‘And he was retired.’

‘Semi-retired.’

‘Stayed on to consult, right? Because he had nothing else in his life but his job. What about friends?’

Falk didn’t have an answer.

‘I know his best friend died nineteen years ago,’ Jamie said.

Falk’s eye twitched a little.

‘He was alone, he was vulnerable, and he was an easy mark,’ Jamie finished. ‘You dig into Nyström and you’ll find that. And that’s the link. An innocuous friendship that built up to one important question: how would you like to make a difference in this world again? That’s how he got him.’

Falk watched Jamie, something like a smile creeping onto her face. She looked down before it took hold and then began speaking again. ‘Well, whether we can surmise the reasoning behind Nyström’s involvement or not, our top priority is finding Eriksson. I’ve already got Tech scrubbing through CCTV at the hospital for any sign of him, but it looks like the camera in the hallway facing Nyström’s door was covered before the attack. CSTs found a latex glove stretched over the lens.’ She shook her head in disbelief. ‘Looks like the moment the guard left his post, Eriksson blinded the camera, and then killed Nyström.’ She sighed. ‘Tech are combing the other cameras for any sign of Eriksson, but so far, there’s nothing. The man is a damn ghost.’

‘We’ll get him,’ Wiik said with something like confidence in his voice.

‘Right – well, it looks like we won’t have to. Or at least we won’t get the chance to. Hallberg, can you make sure this is all in the handover report for the NTF? I want everything summarised, itemised and laid out neatly. Wiik, make sure your paperwork is all up to scratch and that you’re available to field any questions. Forensics and Tech are bringing everything up in boxes this morning, too so that NTF have it all in both physical and digital. The place is going to be a zoo today.’ She looked out at the empty office floor almost wistfully, and then back at Wiik. ‘I want this to go smoothly, and I want it to work to the benefit of the relationship between the SPA and the NOD. As far as they’re concerned, they’re stepping in to save our asses, and I don’t want them to think for a second we’re not seeing it the same way. Got it?’ She reiterated to Wiik specifically.

Jamie glanced over and saw his temple vein bulging slightly, teeth clenched. He was sitting forward in the chair, fists curled between his knees.

‘Got it,’ he said quietly.

No detective liked having their cases taken from them – especially when they were this close to being solved. The NTF would step in, they’d find Eriksson, and they’d take all the credit for bagging the Angel Maker. Something that the Stockholm Polis had failed to do. Twice.

And whether it was on Wiik or not, it still left a sour taste in the mouth.

‘Okay then,’ Falk said. ‘You all have your jobs. Go.’

Jamie noticed that Falk wasn’t meeting her eye now. ‘What about me?’ she asked before anyone could get out of their seats.

‘You?’ Falk seemed almost amused by the question. ‘You’ve done your part. And in about’ – she checked the clock on her phone screen, her thin wrists absent of a watch – ‘two hours, this won’t be our case anymore. As such, Jamie – as thankful as we were for your help – I think it’s time that you went home.’