Unseen Read Free Page A

had shoved a piece of striped cloth between her lips. It looked like a pair of panties.
    Without a word Knutas pulled his cell phone from his inside pocket and called the forensic medicine division in Solna. He needed a medical examiner to fly over from the mainland as quickly as possible.
    The first report on the wire service was typed in at 4:07 p.m. Information was scanty.
VISBY (TT)
A woman was found dead on a beach on the west coast of Gotland. According to a statement from the police, she was murdered. The police will not yet say how she was killed. All roads in the vicinity have been blocked off. A man is being interviewed by the police.
    It took two minutes before Max Grenfors noticed the message on his screen.
    He picked up the telephone and called the duty officer at the Gotland police department. He didn’t learn much more, except that the police could confirm that a woman, born in 1966, had been found murdered on the beach near Gustavs, the Baptist summer camp, in Fröjel Parish on the west coast of Gotland. The woman had been identified as a resident of Stockholm. Her boyfriend was being interviewed by the police. The area was being searched with dogs, while the police were busy going door to door in the vicinity, looking for possible witnesses.
    At the same moment, the direct line belonging to reporter Johan Berg rang. He was among those who had worked the longest in the newsroom. He had started in television ten years ago, and it was by chance that he became a crime reporter right from the start. On his first day on the job, a prostitute was found murdered at Hammarby Harbor. Johan was the only reporter in the newsroom at the time, so he was given the assignment, and that night it was the top story. Because of that, he had continued as a crime reporter. He still thought it was the most exciting area of journalism.
    When the phone rang, he was engrossed in his story about the strike at Österåker Prison, polishing up the wording on his computer screen. The piece was due to be edited soon, and everything had to be ready before he and the editor could start working to put together video footage, the script for the anchorman, and sound bites. Preoccupied, he picked up the phone.
    “Johan Berg, Regional News.”
    “They’ve found a woman murdered on Gotland,” rasped a voice in his ear. “She was butchered, apparently with an axe, and she had a pair of panties stuffed in her mouth. A real lunatic is on the loose.”
    The man on the phone was one of Johan’s best sources, a retired police officer who lived in Nynäshamn. After an operation for throat cancer, he had to breathe through a tube sticking out of his throat.
    “What the hell did you say?”
    “She was found today on a beach in Fröjel, on the west coast.”
    “How sure are you about this?” asked Johan, feeling his pulse quicken.
    “A hundred percent sure.”
    “What else do you know?”
    “She was originally from Gotland but moved to the mainland a long time ago. To Stockholm. She was just over on the island to spend a few days with her boyfriend. He’s being interrogated right now.”
    “Who found her?”
    “Someone who happened to come past. An old fellow they’ve taken to the hospital. He’s probably suffering from shock. That’s all I know. You’ll have to check it out yourself.”
    “Thanks. I owe you a couple of beers,” said Johan as he got up from his chair and then put down the receiver.
    The relaxed mood in the newsroom was replaced by feverish activity. Johan reported what he knew to the editor, who quickly decided that Johan and a cameraman should take the first plane to Gotland. Someone else could put together the Österåker story. Right now it was a matter of getting out there and being first on the scene.
    Actually Max Grenfors was obligated to inform the managing editor at the big central desk, who was in charge of the news reports for the whole TV station, but that could wait. We’ll just get a little head start ,