Page 64 of Hidden in Memories
Nadim taps away on his keyboard as the minutes pass.
“Okay, her name is Annika Wäster. She’s sixty years old and lives in Storlien—one of about seventy people who are permanent residents. She has children and grandchildren.”
There is nothing in Annika’s profile to suggest that she is capable of violence. Nor is she responsible for the worst comments, the ones Hanna has read and reacted to.
“Can you take a look at those who’ve been the most active in the group?”
“No problem.”
Nadim taps away again.
“That’s interesting,” he says, sounding surprised. “One of the IP addresses seems to come from the council offices in Järpen.”
Hanna is so taken aback that she sits bolt upright on her chair. “What did you say?”
“It’s an anonymous contributor who calls himself Storlien Man,” Nadim goes on. “I’d say it is a man, judging by the way he expresses himself.”
Hanna scrolls through the posts to find him. He has written delightful comments such as “That fucking cunt should be shot” andhis latest little gem, posted after the murder became public knowledge: “That bitch finally got what she deserved.”
Charming.
“Any chance of a name?” she asks Nadim.
“I’ll see what I can do—I’ll have to speak to the council’s IT department.”
“Okay—call me as soon as you find anything.”
Hanna gets up and goes along to Anton’s office. He too is staring at his computer. She sinks down in his turquoise chair and quickly tells him what Nadim has found out—that it looks as if someone at the council has been particularly active in the group called Preserve Storlien.
“Do you think Bengt Hedin could be involved?” she asks her colleague.
Anton ponders for a moment while Hanna glances toward the dark corridor. At this time of day, the lights work on motion sensors. She and Anton are only a few doors apart, but the lights have already gone out following her short walk.
“Of course it could be pure coincidence,” she adds.
“You mean Hedin seems suspiciously mixed up in both the land purchase and the planning permission at the same time that aggressive posts emanating from the council offices appear on the Facebook group?” Anton frowns. “Plus Charlotte sent him threatening text messages.”
Hanna is also finding it difficult to believe in coincidence in this case.
“Could Hedin have been playing some kind of double game?” she wonders. “Taking money in return for supporting the project, while at the same time working against it by posting vicious comments online?”
“It’s not impossible. He didn’t sound especially fond of Charlotte when I spoke to him, and given their exchange of text messages, itsounds as if she was definitely threatening to expose him if he didn’t do what she wanted.”
Hanna tries to process the latest information.
“Do you think Hedin might have resorted to murder in order to protect himself? The message was sent on Saturday evening, and Charlotte was killed two days later. That’s enough time to plan an attack.”
“You could be right,” Anton agrees. “One way or another, Hedin is involved.”
During the course of the day Hanna’s conviction that the murderer is a hotel employee has grown stronger—but the person who stabbed Charlotte and the person who planned it aren’t necessarily one and the same.
Incitement to homicide also counts as homicide. For the right amount of money, there are those who kill on behalf of others.
Paul Lehto could be that man.
Unless he’s just a receptionist who happened to have a bad day?
“What about this?” she says, allowing herself free rein. “Charlotte paid Hedin a considerable sum of money to push through the land purchase, and to make sure she won planning permission without any problems. When things went wrong and he felt threatened by her, he used some of that money to get rid of her.”
