Part 55 (2/2)

'When did he meet her?'

'She was with us one time when Adam and I were round at his,' she replies. 'And Susanna Kern worked at the Karolinska as a nurse, she was on a course where Erik was one of the lecturers ... We've got security camera footage of him talking to her.'

Joona gestures with his hand as if to say that the information is irrelevant.

'So why would Erik be known as the preacher?' he asks.

'He's smart, he's tricked you ... he can make Rocky remember anything he wants him to.'

'Why?'

'Joona, I don't know everything yet, but Erik has been close to the investigation, and has been hampering our progress ... We've finally got a witness statement from Bjrn Kern and it's very clear that Erik didn't tell us that Susanna's body was posed with her hand over her ear.'

'Did he see that when he was hypnotised?'

'Erik knew the information about the ear would lead us to Rocky, and then to him, and-'

'That doesn't make sense, Margot.'

'And Erik visited Rocky at Karsudden a few days before I asked him to go.'

Joona's eyes turn cold as ice as he puts his hand on the folder.

'This isn't evidence,' he says. 'You know that, don't you?'

'It's enough to bring him into custody, and enough for a search warrant, enough for a national alert,' she replies stiffly.

'It sounds to me like he's been conducting his own investigations, and the rest is just coincidence.'

'He fits the perpetrator profile. He's divorced, single, has a history of substance abuse, and-'

'So have half the police force,' Joona interrupts.

'The murders are extremely voyeuristic ... we know that Erik is obsessed with filming his patients, even under hypnosis, when they don't know anything about it.'

'That's just to stop him having to take notes.'

'But he's got thousands of hours in his archive, and ... and a stalker is almost always slow, methodical ... The investment in time is part of the owners.h.i.+p process, part of the quasi-relations.h.i.+p that develops.'

'Margot, I hear what you're saying, but could you at least entertain the possibility that Erik is innocent?' Joona asks.

'That's possible, certainly,' she replies honestly.

'In which case you also have to consider the possibility that we're losing sight of the real murderer, the one we're calling the preacher.'

She forces herself to look away from him and glances at the time.

'The meeting's about to start,' she says, getting to her feet.

'I can find the preacher if you want me to,' Joona says.

'We've already got him,' she replies.

'I need my gun, I need all the material, the reports from the crime scenes, the post-mortems.'

'I really shouldn't agree to that,' she says, opening the door.

'And can you arrange for me to see Rocky Kyrklund in prison?' Joona asks.

'You don't give up, do you?' she says with a smile.

They walk slowly along the corridor together. Margot stops Joona outside the meeting room.

'Bear in mind that the people waiting in here are Adam's colleagues,' she says with her fingers on the door handle. 'The tone of the meeting is likely to be pretty tough, they need to vent their anger. It's their way of showing their support for him, and the force as a whole.'

96.

Joona follows Margot into the large meeting room. She makes a gesture that simultaneously say h.e.l.lo to everyone and tells them to remain seated.

'Before we start ... I know emotions are running high at the moment, and we're a tolerant bunch, but I'd still like to encourage everyone to stick to a civilised tone,' she says. 'The preliminary investigation is entering a new phase, and will now be actively led by the prosecutor while we focus on making a quick arrest.'

She stops and catches her breath.

'But our bosses have asked me to bring in Joona Linna, seeing as he is the homicide detective with the best results ... there's no contest, frankly, and ...'

A few of the officers clap while others sit there staring at the table.

'Naturally he won't be officially involved in the preliminary investigation, but I hope he'll be able to give the rest of us mere mortals a few tips along the way,' Margot jokes, even though her eyes show no sign of amus.e.m.e.nt.

Joona takes a steps forward and looks at his former colleagues seated around the pale wooden table before speaking: 'Erik is no murderer.'

'What the f.u.c.k?' Petter mutters.

'Let's hear him out,' Margot says curtly.

'I appreciate that there's a lot of evidence pointing at Erik ... and he should certainly be brought in for questioning, but seeing as I'm here to tell you what I think-'

'Joona, I just want to say that I've had a meeting with the prosecutor,' Benny says. 'Her opinion is that we have very compelling evidence.'

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